Dorcas Hoar, a widow from Beverly, Massachusetts

Beverly, Massachusetts

Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 39,343 on , which differs by no more than several hundred from the 39,862 obtained in the 2000 census. A resort, residential and manufacturing community on the North Shore, Beverly includes Beverly Farms and Prides...

, was accused of witchcraft

Witchcraft

Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...

 during the Salem witch trials

Salem witch trials

The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...

 of 1692, found guilty and condemned to hang, but then confessed and with the support of several ministers, was given a temporary reprieve.

The order for Hoar's arrest was issued on April 30, 1692 by magistrates John Hathorne

John Hathorne

John Hathorne was an executor in the Salem witch trials, and the only one who never repented of his actions. He was also a merchant in Salem, Massachusetts....

 and Jonathan Corwin

Jonathan Corwin

Jonathan Corwin was a wealthy New England merchant, and a judge in the Salem, Massachusetts area who was involved in the Salem Witch Trials....

, after Capt. Jonathan Walcott and Sgt. Thomas Putnam

Thomas Putnam

Thomas Putnam was a participant in the Salem witch trials. He was the son of Lt. Thomas Putnam and Ann Holyoke . He was also a nephew of Elizur Holyoke and great uncle of General Israel Putnam....

 of Salem Village, Massachusetts

Danvers, Massachusetts

Danvers is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts, Danvers is most widely known for its association with the 1692 Salem witch trials, and for its famous asylum, the Danvers State Hospital.-17th century:The land...

 complained that Hoar, Phillip English of Salem, and Sarah Murrell, also of Beverly, had afflicted Mary Walcott

Mary Walcott

Mary Walcott was one of the witnesses at the Salem Witch Trials of Salem, Massachusetts in the years 1692 and 1693....

, Mercy Lewis

Mercy Lewis

-Brief Overview:Mercy Lewis was born in Falmouth, Maine in 1675 and was a servant in Thomas Putnam’s household. She is also one of the featured characters in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible...

, Abigail Williams

Abigail Williams

Abigail Williams was one of the initial accusers in the Salem witch trials of 1692, which led to the arrest and imprisonment of over 150 innocent people.-Salem Witch trials:...

, Ann Putnam, Jr.

Ann Putnam, Jr.

Ann Putnam, Jr. , along with Elizabeth "Betty" Parris, Mary Walcott and Abigail Williams, was an important witness at the Salem Witch Trials of Massachusetts during the later portion of 17th century Colonial America. Born 1679 in Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts, she was the eldest child...

, Elizabeth Hubbard

Elizabeth Hubbard (Salem)

Elizabeth Hubbard was one of the original girls to begin the Salem witchcraft accusations, and she continued to be a leading accuser throughout the summer and fall of 1692....

 and Susannah Sheldon

Susannah Sheldon

Susannah Sheldon, a refugee from Maine, was eighteen years of age during the time of the witchcraft crisis at Salem Village. As one of the core group of allegedly afflicted girls, Sheldon made claims of afflictions for the first time during the last week of April of 1692...

. Marshall George Herrick

George Herrick

George Herrick was the "Marshal" for the Court of Oyer and Terminer during the Salem Witch Trials. There is no firm evidence that George Herrick was connected with constable Joseph Herrick although George and Henry were referred to as "kinsmen" by Sidney Perley in the History of Salem. Apparently,...

 delivered Hoar and Murrell to Ingersoll's tavern in Salem Village on May 2, but was unable to locate English.

Rev. Deodat Lawson

Deodat Lawson

Reverend Deodat Lawson was the minister of Salem Village from 1684 to 1688. He believed that several members of his family may have previously died there under "the malicious operations of the infernal powers"....

wrote of her, "only one Woman Condemned, after the Death Warrant was signed, freely Confessed, which occasioned her Reprieval for sometime; and it was observable, This Woman had one Lock of Hair, of a very great length, viz. Four Foot and Seven Inches long, by measure, this Lock was of a different colour from all the rest, (which was short and grey) it grew on the hinder part of her Head, and was matted together like an Elf-Lock; the Court ordered it to be cut off, to which she was very unwilling, and said, she was told if it were cut off, she should Dye, or be Sick, yet the Court ordered it so to be."