Wilmot Redd was one of the victims of 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. She was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts

Marblehead, Massachusetts

Marblehead is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 19,808 at the 2010 census. It is home to the Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary and Devereux Beach...

, and executed by hanging

Hanging

Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...

 on September 22, 1692. Her husband was Samuel Redd, a fisherman. She was known for her irritability, but she was given little serious attention and, to her neighbors, was "probably more bitch than witch."

Redd was apprehended on May 28, 1692, by local constable James Smith. The warrant was signed by Magistrates Jonathan Corwin and 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....

. The charge brought against her was one of having "committed sundry acts 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...

 on bodys of Mary Wolcott & Mercy Lewis and others in Salem Village to their great hurt."

A preliminary examination took place on May 31, 1692, at Nathan Ingersoll's house in Salem Village. This was Redd's first meeting with the children she allegedly bewitched. They promptly fell into fits, and when asked what she thought ailed them, Redd said, "I cannot tell." Urged to give an opinion, she stated, "My opinion is they are in a sad condition."

Indicted as a witch, Redd was accused of "detestable arts called Witchcraft and Sorceries wickedly, mallitiously [sic] and felloniously used, practiced & exercised at the Towne of Salem."

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