Outside of the well-known witchcraft outbreak at Salem and Essex County in 1692, there were other cases that resulted in trials of people suspected of covenanting with the Devil in order to harm their neighbors. These crises reveal fascinating details about community life in seventeenth-century New England towns and the fears and recriminations that sometimes resulted in the executions of those deemed to be servants of Satan. The Historic Deerfield three part Winter Lecture Series will take place online on Sundays, January 28, February 25, and March 24 at 2 pm Eastern, and are free. Registration required at https://www.historic-deerfield.org/events/lesser-known-witches-of-new-england/
The January 28 talk is with Malcolm Gaskill, Professor Emeritus of History, University of East Anglia, on The Springfield Witchcraft Outbreak of 1651. On February 25, Paul B. Moyer, Professor of History at SUNY Brockport, will speak on The Hartford Witchcraft Outbreak of 1662. The final installment of March 24 features Emily C.K. Romeo, Assistant Professor of History at Northern Michigan University, examining Witchcraft and Women’s Violence in Colonial New England.
