The Apology of Ann Putnam, Jr. (1706) by Ann, Jr. Putnam
The Apology of Ann Putnam, Jr. (1706)
Reprinted in A Delusion of Satan: The Full
Story of the Salem Witch Trials in 1995
Many of the young girls who made accusations in the Salem witch trials apparently moved away from Salem when they became adults. Records do not indicate, however, what happened to Abigail Williams, Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon, or Mary Warren. The most detailed story found by historians is that of Ann Putnam, Jr. (see biography entry), who stayed in Salem Village for the rest of her life. Both of her parents died of an unknown infectious disease within months of one another in 1699, leaving Putnam to raise her nine younger siblings by herself. In 1706, at age twenty-seven, Putnam was admitted to membership in the Salem Village church. During the ceremony she made a public apology for her role in the imprisonment and execution of innocent people during the trials fourteen years earlier. The Reverend Joseph Green, who had replaced the banished Samuel Parris (see biography entry) as minister of the church, read Putnam's statement to a restless and embittered congregation, many of whom had taken part in both sides of the conflict. Putnam admitted that innocent people had been wrongfully accused, but she claimed to have acted not out of anger or malice but instead out of a "great delusion of Satan." In other words, she herself had been bewitched by the devil.
Ann Putnam, Jr. had accused many people of practicing witchcraft; eventually some were executed. Reproduced by permission of Corbis.Putnam opened her apology by saying that she had been a victim of "that sad and humbling providence that befell my father's family in the year about '92": a child at the time of the trials, she was used as "an instrument for the accusing of several persons of a grievous crime." She was referring the fact that the Putnams—her father, Thomas Putnam, and his brothers and their families—had been the main source of witchcraft accusations against certain Salem residents. At the end of the apology Putnam said she was particularly sorry for being "a chief instrument of accusing of Goodwife Nurse and her two sisters."
Things to Remember While Reading the Apology of Ann Putnam, Jr.:
- Ann Putnam, Sr. (Ann Putnam, Jr.'s mother) believed in the occult, and convinced Ann at an early age that there was an evil, hidden world of demons, devils, and witches.
- Ann Putnam, Sr. also played a principle part in accusing people of witchcraft.
- Historians have concluded that one of the motivating factors of the trials was the boundary dispute the Putnams had been waging with their neighbors for over fifty years; the trials were thus a convenient way for them to seek revenge on their enemies (see Chapter 4). The Putnams' main rivals were the Towne family, and three Towne sisters—Rebecca Nurse, Elizabeth Procter, and Sarah Cloyce—were all tried and condemned to death. (Nurse was hanged; Procter and Cloyce were not executed.)
The Apology of Ann Putnam, Jr.
I desire to be humbled before God for that sad and humbling providence that befell my father's family in the year about '92; that I, then being in my childhood, should, by such a providence of God, be made an instrument for the accusing of several persons of a grievous crime, whereby their lives were taken away from them, whom now I have just grounds and good reason to believe they were innocent persons; and that it was a great delusion of Satan that deceived me in that sad time, whereby I justly fear I have been instrumental, with others, though ignorantly and unwittingly, to bring myself and this land the guilt of innocent blood; though what was said or done by me against any person I can truly and uprightly say, before God and man, I did it not out of any anger, malice, or ill-will to any person, for I had no such thing against one of them; but what I did was ignorantly, being deluded by Satan. And particularly, as I was a chief instrument of accusing of Goodwife [Rebecca] Nurse and her two sisters [Elizabeth Procter and Sarah Cloyce], I desire to lie in the dust, and to be humbled for it, in that I was a cause, with others, of so sad a calamity to them and their families; for which I desire to lie in the dust, and earnestly beg forgiveness of God, and from all those unto whom I have given just cause of sorrow and offence, whose relations were taken away or accused.
What Happened Next . . .
After her apology, Ann, Jr. was allowed to rejoin the membership of the church. Her fate was not to be improved, however, as she remained unmarried and was in poor health for the rest of her life. She died in 1716, at the age of thirty-seven.
Did You Know . . .
- Today there are no laws having to do with witchcraft left on the books in Massachusetts. In 1992, however, the Massachusetts House of Representatives decided to pass a legal resolution restoring the good names of people who had been condemned as witches but had never been officially forgiven.
humbled: shamed
providence: the control and protection of God
grievous: causing grief
delusion: deception
ignorantly: unknowingly
unwittingly: without meaning to
malice: harm
calamity: a disaster or something that causes distress
Written by Frances Hill
For Further Study
Demos, John Putnam. Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Hansen, Chadwick. Witchcraft at Salem. New York: George Braziller, 1969.
Hill, Frances. A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials. New York: Doubleday, 1995.
Kallen, Stuart A. The Salem Witch Trials. San Diego, California: Lucent Books, 1999.
Rice, Earle, Jr. The Salem Witch Trials. San Diego, California: Lucent Books, 1997.
This is the complete article, containing 958 words
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