Poppets, Confessions, and New Arrests: Salem, May 12, 1692

We head to Salem on May 12, 1692, as magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin issue an arrest warrant for Ann Pudeator and Alice Parker and question Abigail Hobbs, Pudeator, Parker, and Mary Warren while specters torment Mary Walcott, Mercy Lewis, and Ann Putnam Jr. Hobbs details poppets, thorns, and covenants with the devil, tying her actions to George Burroughs in Falmouth, Maine and naming deaths she claims resulted. Warren levels a cascade of accusations against Parker, Pudeator, and the Proctors—ships cast away, poisonings, drownings, and threats with needles and images—while testimonies collide with contradictions and spectral claims. We close with the aftermath of Sarah Osburn’s death in the Boston jail and unanswered questions about her body, mourners, and disputed property linked to the Putnams.

00:00 May 12 Overview

00:36 Abigail Hobbs Confession

02:03 Alice Parker Accused

03:22 Mary Warren Poppets

04:47 Proctors and Devils Book

05:29 Shipwrecks and Murders

06:52 Osburn Aftermath

Links

Salem Witch Trials History YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCliis4vjMIUgg3wcA0pXeYQ/

⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub: https://aboutsalem.com/salem-witch-trials-daily/⁠

⁠The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials: https://aboutsalem.com⁠

⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts: https://aboutwitchhunts.com⁠

⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780375706905⁠

Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781107689619⁠

⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience:

https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780190627805⁠

⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781589791329⁠

High Quality Scans of Original Court Documents - Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection: https://pem.quartexcollections.com/collections/salem-witch-trials-collection

May 11, 1692: Willard’s Dish Crossing and the Jacobs & Martin DepositionsWe take you straight into May 11, 1692, as Susannah Sheldon claims she saw accused witch John Willard and an old man cross water in a dish and later tempt her with the devil’s book, while Elizabeth Hubbard reports Willard’s apparition tormenting her to sign. Salem magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin press George Jacobs Sr. amid violent fits, pin-pulling accusations, and long-running claims that he has practiced witchcraft for decades, alongside fresh depositions from Ann Putnam Jr., Thomas Putnam, and John Putnam Jr. We then shift to Salisbury testimony revived against Susannah Martin—nighttime spectral assaults, mysterious blood in a bucket, bewitched lights on the road, and a prolonged affliction doctors call supernatural—linking earlier accusations to her 1692 conviction and July 19 execution.00:00 Welcome and Hosts00:10 Willard Apparitions Reported00:47 George Jacobs Examined01:53 Depositions Against Jacobs02:34 Peach vs Susannah Martin04:05 Corn Husking Threat05:03 Pressy Haunted by Light07:06 Brown Family Affliction09:31 Old Charges Resurface10:00 Outcome and Wrap Up

Links

Salem Witch Trials History YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCliis4vjMIUgg3wcA0pXeYQ/

⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub: https://aboutsalem.com/salem-witch-trials-daily/⁠

⁠The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials: https://aboutsalem.com⁠

⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts: https://aboutwitchhunts.com⁠

⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780375706905⁠

Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781107689619⁠

⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience:

https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780190627805⁠

⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781589791329⁠

High Quality Scans of Original Court Documents - Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection: https://pem.quartexcollections.com/collections/salem-witch-trials-collection

Spectral Evidence and the First Death: Salem, May 10, 1692We’re visit Salem and Boston on May 10, 1692, as warrants fly, accusations harden into “evidence,” and a single day reshapes lives. George Jacobs Sr. and Margaret Jacobs are hauled to Thomas Beadle’s Tavern, where Jacobs—an elderly man with two walking sticks—spars with Hathorne and Corwin while Sarah Churchill and Mercy Lewis describe chilling spectral attacks and pressure to sign the devil’s book. The theological fight over whether Satan can assume an innocent person’s likeness turns deadly in practice, especially when Jacobs falters on the Lord’s Prayer under scrutiny. John Willard bolts rather than face arrest.

The day closes with a grim milestone: Sarah Osburn dies in the Boston jail after weeks of harsh confinement, becoming the first victim of the Salem witchcraft panic without ever being tried or convicted.00:00 Warrants and Arrests00:28 Willard on the Run00:51 Jacobs Examined02:36 Spectral Evidence Debate03:32 Prayer Test and Jail04:27 Mercy Lewis Deposition05:47 Abigail Names Names06:14 Sarah Osburn Dies