Elizabeth Hubbard (Salem)
Encyclopedia
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.
Hubbard was the seventeen-year-old orphaned maidservant to Dr. William Griggs, who purchased Hubbard from Boston after the death of his son, Isaac Griggs. Scholars connect the origins of her afflictions to her position in Griggs household. As an indentured servant to Griggs, the doctor to originally diagnose bewitchment, she was familiar with the initial fits of Abigail Williams
and Betty Parris
on January 3, 1692.
Hubbard experienced her first recorded fit on February 27, 1692. Because of her age, she was the first of the accusers old enough to testify under oath, moving the accusations to the legal domain. Along with seeing the apparition of Tituba, she was among the first to accuse Sarah Osborne
and Sarah Good
of practicing witchcraft. Throughout the witchcraft crisis in Essex County she filed forty legal complaints against various tormentors and testified thirty-two times, the last of her testimony given on January 7, 1693.
By the end of the trial Elizabeth Hubbard had testified against twenty-nine people, seventeen of whom were arrested, thirteen of those were hanged and two died in jail. As a strong force behind the trials, she was able to manipulate both people and the court into believing her. One way she and the other girls did this was through their outrageous fits in the courtroom. The fits, they would claim, were brought on by the accused. Elizabeth was especially known for her trances. She spent the whole of Elizabeth Proctor
's trial in a deep trance and was unable to speak. After the trials she moved to Gloucester and eventually married John Bennett in 1711 and had four children.
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...
accusations, and she continued to be a leading accuser throughout the summer and fall of 1692.
Hubbard was the seventeen-year-old orphaned maidservant to Dr. William Griggs, who purchased Hubbard from Boston after the death of his son, Isaac Griggs. Scholars connect the origins of her afflictions to her position in Griggs household. As an indentured servant to Griggs, the doctor to originally diagnose bewitchment, she was familiar with the initial fits of 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:...
and Betty Parris
Betty Parris
Elizabeth "Betty" Parris was one of the accusers during the Salem witch trials. In the winter of 1691–1692, Betty, the nine-year-old daughter of the Salem, Massachusetts' Reverend Samuel Parris and his wife Elizabeth, was the first to claim illness due to being "bewitched"...
on January 3, 1692.
Hubbard experienced her first recorded fit on February 27, 1692. Because of her age, she was the first of the accusers old enough to testify under oath, moving the accusations to the legal domain. Along with seeing the apparition of Tituba, she was among the first to accuse Sarah Osborne
Sarah Osborne
Sarah Osborne was one of the first three women to be accused of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials of 1692...
and Sarah Good
Sarah Good
Sarah Good Born in Salem Village , Massachusetts, was accused of witchcraft in 1692. It has been proved in multiple ways that Sarah Good was falsely accused of witchcraft. She was accused only because of economical and political biases from the families of the accusers...
of practicing witchcraft. Throughout the witchcraft crisis in Essex County she filed forty legal complaints against various tormentors and testified thirty-two times, the last of her testimony given on January 7, 1693.
By the end of the trial Elizabeth Hubbard had testified against twenty-nine people, seventeen of whom were arrested, thirteen of those were hanged and two died in jail. As a strong force behind the trials, she was able to manipulate both people and the court into believing her. One way she and the other girls did this was through their outrageous fits in the courtroom. The fits, they would claim, were brought on by the accused. Elizabeth was especially known for her trances. She spent the whole of Elizabeth Proctor
Elizabeth Proctor
Elizabeth Proctor was accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials. She was the third wife of John Proctor, and remarried after his execution. Part of her life was fictitiously dramatized as part of Arthur Miller's play The Crucible and later adaptations.-Early life:Elizabeth was the daughter...
's trial in a deep trance and was unable to speak. After the trials she moved to Gloucester and eventually married John Bennett in 1711 and had four children.