Connecticut Witch Trials

the long version

"Connecticut's witchhunt was the first and most ferocious in New England, occurring almost fiftyyears before the infamous Salem witch trials. Between 1647 and 1697, at leastthirty-four men and women from across the state were formally charged withwitchcraft. Eleven were hanged. In New Haven, William Meeker was accused ofcutting off and burning his pig's ears and tail as he cast a bewitching spell.After the hanging of Fairfield's Goody Knapp, magistrates cut down and searchedher body for the marks of the devil. Through newspaper clippings, courtrecords, letters and diaries, author Cynthia Wolfe Boynton uncovers the darkhistory of the Connecticut witch trials"-- "A history of witch trials in Connecticut"--