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A Witch in the Family: An Award-winning Author Investigates His Ancestor’s Trial And Execution
A Witch in the Family An Awardwinning Author Investigates His Ancestors Trial And Execution Author:Stephen Hawley Martin Between the time in history recounted in Nathaniel Philbrick's Mayflower and that of David McCullough's 1776, a catastrophic event took place in New England that so impacted the minds and attitudes of thought leaders in Colonial America that its repercussions are still being felt today. This was the witch hysteria that spread t... more »hroughout Essex County Massachusetts, left two dozen dead, and caused a significant percentage of the population to become disillusioned with religion and the concept of a spirit realm, thus ushering in The Age of Reason. The standard explanation for what happened is that certain people were accused as witches by malicious young women out to settle old family scores. Some even believe they may have done it just for fun -- others that it was for financial gain. But could these so-called "afflicted" really have faked their extraordinary symptoms? Prizewinning author Stephen Hawley Martin, seven-times-great grandson of one of the women hanged, doesn't think so. One of the afflicted vomited blood in the courtroom in front of the judges and other eyewitnesses. Some had deep skin lesions that appeared to have been made by human teeth. Others coughed up pins. A number of theories have surfaced in the past, but most would agree no fully satisfactory explanation has been put forth -- until now. Writing in a lively and absorbing style, the author provides evidence that contrary to most accounts written in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, witchcraft was being practiced in seventeenth century New England. But this doesn't mean that all of those who were accused were practicing witches, or that the afflicted were bewitched. A skilled storyteller, Martin keeps readers turning pages as he unravels the mystery behind hidden forces and identifies circumstances that combined to bring about the Salem witchcraft tragedy of 1692. A Witch in the Family is a fascinating and enthralling read.« less