Salem Witchcraft Trials: 1692 - Evidence Questioned

An independent opinion from New York clergy criticized almost every type of evidence accepted by the Massachusetts court. When the next court convened, spectral evidence was eliminated as a basis for conviction. Only three were convicted. Eventually Phips reprieved all the condemned.

But the reprieved still had legal and financial problems caused by the trials. The simplest was that jail residents had to pay their prison (lodging) fees before they were released.

As the emotional temper of the colony quieted, qualms about the witch trials grew. In January 1697, the General Court ordered a day of prayer and fasting. In 1703 and 1710, in response to petitions, the legislature reversed most of the convictions and voted compensation to the convicted or their families. Even Ann Putnam eventually repented in church. The convictions of seven, for whom no one submitted petitions, remain on record.