Ebook: Connecticut witch trials: the first panic in the new world

"Connecticut's witch hunt was the first and most ferocious in New England, occurring almost fifty years before the infamous Salem witch trials. Between 1647 and 1697, at least thirty-four men and women from across the state were formally charged with witchcraft. Eleven were hanged. In New Haven, William Meeker was accused of cutting off and burning his pig's ears and tail as he cast a bewitching spell. After the hanging of Fairfield's Goody Knapp, magistrates cut down and searched her body for the marks of the devil. Through newspaper clippings, court records, letters and diaries, author Cynthia Wolfe Boynton uncovers the dark history of the Connecticut witch trials"--;Cauldron of fear: Connecticut executes first accused witch in America -- Conjuring hysteria: beliefs about witchcraft in the 1600s -- Dark spell: the impact of Mary Johnson's confession -- Dangerous brew: the Hartford and Fairfield witch panics -- The devil's familiars: some of the more infamous Connecticut witchcraft cases -- New incantation: A quiet cry to stop the witch hunts -- Wicked democracy: Government and gallows in Connecticut -- The wallingford witch: Connecticut's final witchcraft trial -- Bewitched: Myths and mistruths about Connecticut's witch trials.