The Salem witch trials, a disgraceful blot in history, have been all but forgotten through time in the village where they occurred, with descendants of the accused and their accusers still affected by those dark, twisted days.
The old Salem Village, where the madness occurred, is now known as Danvers. The home of one of the trial’s magistrates, the Jonathan Corwin house (otherwise known as the Witch House) was moved from its original foundation in Danvers to the more commercial area of today’s town of Salem. This was one more attempt to distance old Salem Village from its tragic history.
Judge Corwin heard cases against accused witches who were brought to him in this very room of his home in Salem, Massachusetts.
One site that can never be moved, however, one site that will forever remain witness to the horrors of those times, is Gallows Hill. A site unmarked. A site ignored. A site where 19 men and women, and two dogs, were hanged in 1692 for the crime of witchcraft. It was a site wishful thinkers had believed forgotten, buried in some notes from the times, some journal entries of eyewitness accounts…
Over the years, several locations were said to be Gallows Hill…yet each location was proven wrong. Then, in 1921, historian Sidney Perley pinpointed the spot, finally putting all doubt to rest. By indicating the precise location where this final injustice took place, a marker, some sense of remorse, dignity, or closure could be had.
Or so we should think.
Instead, it was ignored. Built upon. Torn down. Disrespected. Forgotten to time once again.
Until now.
Scientists and historians have just confirmed the location of Gallows Hill as a small knoll which now sits beside a Walgreens parking lot in Salem, Massachusetts. It lies just beyond the borders of old Salem Village/Danvers, as was Corwin’s wish at the time when asked where the witches should be hanged. It lies in the precise location Sidney Perley identified nearly a century ago.
I was in this spot this time last year. I had followed the leads myself, the reasonable deductions of historians and descendants alike. I had stood on this hallowed ground and mourned for the victims. And now that word is out that it’s been “proven”, I hope more will remember. I hope more will mourn, forgive and vow never to allow such madness to grip us again.
Thank you for this Arla, I had no idea Gallow Hills existed when I was in Salem years ago.
I’m curious why you feel Salem is distancing itself? They seemed to thrive on the tourist industry based around the Witch Trials.
Although I did get the impression that the town didn’t want to make a fuss on this finding because it wasn’t convenient for their tourist areas (parking, shops).
What’s your take on it all?
I love this question; it gives me a chance to share some of my research for the Immoral Virtue trilogy. 🙂
Current day Salem, where witch-trial tourism thrives, was actually Salem Town. The original “Salem Village”, which is where the horrors occurred, was renamed “Danvers” in 1757, and that’s the name used to this day. So, it seems, that since the end of the trials the people there have been trying to erase that part of their history.
It’s the skeleton in their closet, and though the world is aware of its existence, the residents – and the local governments – have chosen to keep it hidden away. In some ways, I can understand. Descendants of the accused – as well as descendants of their accusers – live in Danvers today. It can’t be easy to know a neighbor of yours had ancestors who caused the suffering of your family.
What I cannot understand is why there wasn’t an official tribute to the victims ages ago. A memorial wasn’t even erected in the town until the late 1990’s, and the accused weren’t fully vindicated until 2001. Three centuries after the fact.
I think of those poor souls and how horribly they were treated in life AND in death.
At least with this discovery, a marker will indeed be placed on the spot where they were murdered. But since the area is between private yards and directly against a busy bit of commercial property – and considering how well and how long the location’s existence was ignored – I don’t think they’ll allow more than that on this sad, hallowed ground.
Maybe that’s why nothing ‘official’ was done to honor the victims until all these years later…because no matter what was done, no matter what was said or erected, nothing would undo the past, and the people of today – the descendants – are nothing like those who so wrongly caused the suffering of others.
This turned into a much longer reply than I anticipated. Sorry about that. 🙂
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We need to arrange a girl’s trip to go up and see this. There’s this trilogy – Immoral Virtue – I believe it is called (tehe), that brings beautiful light to the ridiculousness of those times and hopefully gives voice to the voiceless who suffered those heinous iniquities. It has captured my imagination so I feel inclined to go to Salem and gaze upon Witch Hill.
Oh Gwen. Wow. You can’t know how much this touches me. How wonderful it would be if other readers felt as you described here. I would so love it if these stories made people want to learn more about the time, or pay their respects to the victims. Thank you for this. And about a trip there – I definitely plan to go back again.
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I remember going to Salem and being saddened by all of the commercialism. But I would love to go back an spend more time there and learn more of the history of the Burning Times. We speak of religious persecution yet forget this.
I agree about the commercialism. I don’t think the area should have remained frozen in time but its history is so strong that more of it, in my opinion, should have been preserved, and should be showcased/shared. We need to be reminded of the persecution, and of the fear that grew so easily and quickly into madness and mayhem. We need our children to learn about it, understand it and work to prevent anything like it to be repeated.
When you are able to go back, I hope you’ll have a chance to visit the Rebecca Nurse homestead. That is a powerful site to see. If you do go, I’d love to hear about your experiences afterward.
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