June 10, 1692 – Bridget Bishop Becomes First Executed in the Salem Witch Trials
On June 10, 1692, Bridget Bishop, a colonial American woman from Salem, Massachusetts, was executed by hanging after being accused of witchcraft. She became the first person to be put to death during the Salem witch trials, a wave of mass hysteria and legal persecution that would soon engulf the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Bishop, who was around 60 years old at the time of her death, had previously faced accusations of witchcraft but had been acquitted years earlier. However, during the heightened fear and religious fervor of 1692, she was arrested again and brought before the special Court of Oyer and Terminer. She was convicted largely on spectral evidence and questionable testimony.
Her execution marked a grim turning point, opening the floodgates for further trials and executions that would eventually claim dozens of lives and permanently stain colonial American history.
I visited Salem a few years ago, interesting but disturbing history of these 'trials'.
