Sarah Osborne was one of the first people to be accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts Bay.
She was accused around the same time as Tituba and Sarah Good.
The Salem Witch Trials would become one of the most tragic events in Colonial America.
Family Life
Sarah Osborne (Warren) was born in Watertown, Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1643.
She would be married two times, with her first husband being a wealthy man named Robert Prince. Prince was the brother-in-law and neighbor of Captain John Putnam, a member of the notable Putnam family that would eventually include the Revolutionary War General, Israel Putnam.
Sarah and her husband moved to Salem in 1662 and had two sons and a daughter:
- Joseph
- James
- Elizabeth
In 1674, Robert Prince died, and to help with the kids, Sarah hired an Irish indentured servant, Alexander Osborne.
In a classic love story, Alexander and Sarah fell in love, but he needed to pay off his indenture before he could remove that status from him. He did, and the two married. However, the two were guilty of fornication, which was looked on with shame in Salem.
Controversy arose when Sarah Osborne took over the estate of her deceased husband. This was against social norms and against her late husband's will.
She and her new husband, Alexander, took over the estate, which would cause a problem with her kids and Thomas Putnam, who was the executor of Prince's will.
Accusations
Like Tituba and Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne was an easy target. She had committed fornication with her indentured servant and seized her late husband's assets, which he had willed to his sons. These actions broke social norms.
In addition, she had not been to church in some time and suffered from an illness that had left her bedridden.
However, the primary reason she was accused was probably due to Putnam's family's economic stability, which grew less secure by Osborne's attempt at economic independence. Hence, it makes sense that it was the Putnam family that accused Osborne.
Salem Witch Trial
Elizabeth Parris, Reverend Samuel Parris' daughter, became ill with an unknown sickness. While recovering from her illness, she claimed that Sarah Osborne, along with Tituba and Sarah Good, had been afflicting them.
Elizabeth Hubbard also began accusing Osborne and described it as her pinching and poking her with knitting needles.
The three women were easy targets for different reasons. However, Sarah Osborne had a unique situation.
She was still embroiled in a legal battle with the Putnam family, and Ann Putnam was one of the more notable accusers. The accusations against Sarah Osborne most certainly came from the Putnam family.
A warrant was issued for Osborne on March 1, 1692, and she was placed in the Boston jails for the duration of the trial. She had been sick for almost 3 years, and the treatment during the imprisonment certainly did not help her.
She stood trial with Tituba and Sarah Good on March 7th, 1692. During her examinations, she claimed she was innocent and denied being involved with evil spirits or hurting the children. She did not confess, nor did she accuse anyone else.
This contrasts Tituba's account, who confessed to witchcraft and claimed that Osborne and Sarah Good participated in witchcraft with her. The court found her guilty of witchcraft.
Osborne died in jail on May 10, 1692, believed to have been 49 years of age.
Since she was not executed, she did not receive a memorial for her death. Her estate went back into the hands of Thomas Putnam, and nothing else is known of Alexander Osborne.
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