Margaret Matson
Encyclopedia
Biography
Margaret Matson and her husband Neals Matson lived on a farm near Ridley CreekRidley Creek
Ridley Creek is a tributary of the Delaware River in southeast Pennsylvania in the United States. The entire drainage basin is in the suburban Philadelphia area, but the upper creek and extensive park lands on the creek retain a rural character, while the mouth of the creek has long been heavily...
in present-day Eddystone, Pennsylvania
Eddystone, Pennsylvania
Eddystone is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,442 at the 2000 census.-Early history:The area at the mouth of Ridley Creek was first called "Tequirassy" by Native Americans. The land was owned by Olof Persson Stille, one of the early settlers from New...
. Part of Eddystone township at the mouth of Ridley Creek
Ridley Creek
Ridley Creek is a tributary of the Delaware River in southeast Pennsylvania in the United States. The entire drainage basin is in the suburban Philadelphia area, but the upper creek and extensive park lands on the creek retain a rural character, while the mouth of the creek has long been heavily...
, had been taken up by Olof Persson Stille
Olof Persson Stille
Olof Persson Stille was a pioneer settler in the Swedish colony of New Sweden. He served as the first chief justice of the Upland Court.-Background:...
, one of the early settlers of the Swedish colony of New Sweden
New Sweden
New Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement. New Sweden included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
who had arrived during 1641. One hundred acres of the Stille land was patented to Neals Matson on June 13, 1670.
Of Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
descent, Neals and Margaret Matson were also likely members of the former New Sweden colony which occupied much of the lower Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
Valley from 1638-1655. Matson was a reputed healer working from Finnish tradition. After New Sweden was taken over by the British, some of her neighbors claimed that she had bewitched cattle.
Accused by several neighbors, as well as her own daughter, Matson's alleged crimes included making threats against neighbors, bewitching and killing livestock and appearing to witnesses in spectral form
Spectral evidence
Spectral evidence is a form of evidence based upon dreams and visions. It was admitted in court during the Salem witch trials by the appointed chief justice, William Stoughton. The booklet A Tryal of Witches taken from a contemporary report of the proceedings of the Bury St...
. On December 27, 1683, Matson and a neighbor Gertro (a.k.a. Yeshro) Hendrickson were brought before a grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
in overseen by the colony's proprietor, William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
. According to the minutes of the Provincial Council
Pennsylvania Provincial Council
The Pennsylvania Provincial Council helped govern the Province of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1776.-References:*----...
, dated December 21, 1683 the jury returned with a verdict of guilty for "having the common fame of a which, but not guilty in manner and forme as shee stands indicted."
Margaret was found guilty of having the reputation of a witch, but not guilty for bewitching animals. Neither woman was convicted of witchcraft. The prisoners were released with fines and a promise of six months good behavior.
Like other British Colonies, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
was subject to the 1604 James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
Statute against witchcraft, however Matson's and Hendrickson's is the only such trial recorded from the colony.
A popular myth tells of Penn dismissing the charges against Matson by affirming her legal right to fly on a broomstick. The record fails to show any such commentary but this legend probably reflects popular views of Penn's socially progressive Quaker values.
Other sources
- Jordan, John W. A History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York. 1914)
- Benson, Adolph B. and Naboth Hedin, eds. Swedes in America, 1638-1938 (The Swedish American Tercentenary Association. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 1938) ISBN 978-0838303269