Sarah Good

Reverend Samuel Parris from Salem village attended one of the synod gatherings in 1690. In January and February 1692, just before the Salem witch-hunt started, he was preaching that people had failed God and God had abandoned them. Parris insisted all men were evil by nature.

Rather than console his congregation in these difficult times, Parris constantly stirred up trouble in Salem. Yet he claimed the work of the devil was causing all the problems. Villagers were determined to find and punish those responsible; under these circumstances the 1692 Salem witch-hunt began.

Both men and women and occasionally children were accused of witchcraft, but the vast majority were women. The women accused were often poor, widowed, perhaps childless, particularly quarrelsome, or bad tempered. Most were between the ages of forty and sixty, did not attend church, and were in conflict with family friends or neighbors. Those whose lifestyles were outside what was considered normal and proper came under close scrutiny. Examples of deviant life patterns included those who cursed, had questionable morals like prostitutes, and those who wandered the streets, homeless.