No doubt there were numerous papers in her case but they have been lost or destroyed. Only a few remain. Her preliminary examination took place on August 5, the arrest having probably been made on the previous day. The record of her examination has been lost so it is not known what happened that day or what Scott said at the examination.
What is known is that Scott was indicted on two charges of witchcraft, one for bewitching Mary Daniel and one for bewitching Frances Wicom. A handful of people testified against Scott at her trial:. Philip and Sarah Nelson testified that two or three years ago before Robert Shilleto died they often heard him complain that Margaret Scott was afflicting him and he often said she was a witch and that he would never be well so long as Margaret Scott lived.
John Burbank testified that five or six years ago Margaret Scott came to his house and asked for some corn from his field. When he told her to stay while the corn was retrieved from the field, she reportedly told him he would not be able to remove his corn from the field that night so he should let her do it.
His wife then gave Scott some corn and she left but Burbank said when he later went to harvest his corn, his oxen refused to pull the cart. Thomas Nelson testified that six years ago, Margaret Scott asked him to bring her some wood but he refused. The day after he found one of his cattle dead in its stall, still standing on its hind legs while kneeling on its front legs. Shortly after he found another one of his cows dead with its neck under a plank of wood as if it had been choked.
Sarah Coleman testified that ever since August 15 she had been afflicted by Margaret Scott, who would pinch, prick and choke her. The afflicted girls, Mary Warren , Elizabeth Hubbard and Ann Putnam Jr all testified that they saw the specter of Margaret Scott afflicting Mary Daniel in the courtroom in the presence of the grand jury. As the cart carrying the prisoner turned to ascend the hill, the cart suddenly became stuck.
The lawmen struggled to get the wheels to move while the afflicted girls in the crowd began to call out that they saw the Devil holding the cart back. Eventually the men were able to get the cart moving again and the prisoners arrived at the ledge. These were the last executions of the Salem Witch Trials. After the victims were cut down they were temporarily placed in a nearby rocky crevice but it is not known what happened to their bodies after that.
In September of , a committee was sent to Salem to make restitution to the victims of the trials after a number of the surviving accused had filed petitions with the court asking that their names be cleared. When numerous families of the victims failed to seek restitution, Nehemiah Jewett, a member of the Massachusetts General Court, sent a letter to Judge Samuel Sewall, a member of the committee, asking that these cases still be considered:.
Finally, on October 31, , the Massachusetts legislature amended the bill and officially exonerated five victims not named in either the bill or in the bill: Wilmot Redd, Bridget Bishop, Alice Parker, Susannah Martin and Margaret Scott. They all asserted their innocence; and their deportment gave no ground for any unfavorable comment by their persecutors, who were on the watch to turn every act, word, or look of the sufferers to their disparagement.
More Genealogy Tools. Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA. Login to find your connection. Margaret Stephenson Scott abt. Margaret Scott formerly Stephenson. Born about [location unknown]. His daughter Frances, another accuser, was my 9th g-gmother. I am so ashamed! I was horrified to find this in my family tree. I came looking for more info on Margaret to try to honor her memory and suffering and extend my condolences to all affected even to this day.
Hi cousins! Feel free to contact me on Facebook or email me kellyrosner hotmail. Hello All, Margaret Scott was my 11 generation great-grandmother. I was so happy to have this post shared with me by a niece. Are any of you related to her daughter Hannah Scott Webb?
Lani, I stumbled into your blog while researching Margaret Stephenson Scott, my 8th great grandmother. Interesting that someone from my other side of the family, Aaron Way, protested the trials and was put in stocks!
Thank you for all the interesting topics you cover. She was my 8th great grandmother. My great grandmother was a Scott from this line. After reading the sayings of the accused carved into stone, I was left with a profound sense of injustice: I am wronged.
I am innocent. O, Lord, help me! I am wholly innocent of such wickedness. Please contact me so we can see if we are related. I posted my connection to Margaret on Sept.
My connection is also through my mother, Anna Conant Root. I would really appreciate hearing from William Root, who posted on Nov. Have you ever seen this? I uncovered her just a couple days ago. I had no idea I was related to this famous event. I discovered my relationship to her way back in and was bowled over. I visited Salem and her memorial stone in Such a day. We took a drive 13 miles up the road to Rowley today to see another village where my ancestors lived and to visit their graves.
We found the grave of my 8th great grandma who died in Fortunately, I was traveling with a trained sleuth. While Jake and I flaked lichen off headstones and poured water on them trying to read centuries old writing, Dan went into the library next to the cemetery which was connected to the town hall.
No idea why it stayed open so late in the day. Dan had us come in. I showed her my info and told her I found Susannah and was looking for Benjamin. Anyway, she whips open a book and goes right to my family. She asked where I ended on that line and I said Benjamin Scott. She proceeds to tell me all about the family. But wait! His father passed away and left his wife, Margaret Scott, a widow. She was older and did not remarry and after 21 years had become a burden on the community.
She was accused of being a witch, tried, and hanged September 22, in Salem. So the witch trials affected our family twice. One accused released and one not. Of the 20 hanged in Salem, my 9th great grandmother was one of them.
She was not a witch. None of the accused were witches. We doubled back to Gallows Hill and to the memorial, as there is no burial spot for the victims. As we arrived at her memorial look what was lying on the stone.
Today was a day where we were led around by angels. What was there? Margaret was my 11 times Great Grandmother. I had the privilege of going to Salem last November. Margaret was my 10th great grandmother also but through her son William. Having read her story it just made me sick to my stomach. To all of you who believe you are descended from Margaret and Benjamin Scott, there is an excellent genealogy of a Scott family that is now available on line.
Many family trees on Ancestry combine these two families, however is not hard to find on line documents in Ancestry that are clearly the records that Holman used. Most descendants of John Scott of Roxbury of whom I am one claim the connection to Benjamin and Margaret, but I have not found anyone who has found a source document establishing that connection.
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Share: Tweet. Theresa L. Ouimet says: September 7, at am. Brooke Austin says: November 23, at pm. Jocelyn Jones Watkins says: September 12, at pm. Under oath they both affirmed that they saw Margaret Scott afflict Mary Daniel, when they were questioned on September They both claimed Scott hurt them as well. Scott denied this and all charges, but she was held for trial.
Members of the Nelson family contributed their stories about Widow Scott. Thomas Nelson was the son of original Rowley settler Thomas Nelson who established the first fulling mill in the country in Two of his cows died. Philip Nelson and his wife Sarah described how another neighbor, Robert Shilleto, had complained for years that Scott was a witch. Shilleto had since died. Although she claimed her innocence to the end, Margaret Scott was found guilty of witchcraft, based on neighborhood stories and gossip.
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