Another Account of the 1653 Witchcraft Trial of Goodwife Knapp In Which Thomas Pell's Wife Testified

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"When . . . reminded that she was now to die, and therefore should deal truly, she burst into tears, and desired her persecutors to cease, saying, in words that must have lingered long in the memory of those who heard, and which it is impossible now to read without emotion, -- 'never, never, poor creature was tempted as I am tempted; pray, pray for me.'"

-- Words of Goodwife Knapp not long before she was hanged for witchcraft following testimony by Lucy Brewster Pell, wife of Thomas Pell.

"If this [implicating another as a witch while on the gallows] was done in the hope of obtaining a reprieve, as seems likely, the poor creature was disappointed, for she was speedily turned off by the executioner, and hung suspended until life was extinct."

-- Account of the execution of Goodwife Knapp for witchcraft in late 1653.

By the 1650’s a preoccupation with the supernatural and a hysterical effort to root out those who “covenanted” with the spectral world had swept through Connecticut – home of Thomas Pell, the founder of the Manor of Pelham.  Sadly, it seems that Thomas Pell’s family members were not immune from the hysteria. Thomas Pell's wife, Lucy, and his step-daughters were involved in the witchcraft persecution that led to the execution of Goodwife Knapp not long before Thomas Pell acquired the lands that became Pelham and surrounding areas.

I have written on several occasions of the involvement of Lucy Brewster Pell and her daughters in the witchcraft persecution of poor Goodwife Knapp in 1653.  See:

Fri., Jul. 07, 2006:  The Involvement of Thomas Pell's Family in the Witchcraft Persecution of Goody Knapp. 

Thu., Oct. 30, 2014:  Did Thomas Pell Act on Pangs of Remorse After Witchcraft Persecution Involving His Family?

Bell, Blake A., The Involvement of Thomas Pell's Family in the Witchcraft Persecution of Goody Knapp, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 4, Jan. 23, 2004, p. 11, col. 1.

We know a great deal about the witchcraft trial and execution of Goodwife Knapp due to a subsequent lawsuit brought by the husband of Goodwife Staples, an acquaintance of Goodwife Knapp who implicated Staples in witchcraft from the gallows steps in an unsuccessful effort to gain a reprieve.  Mr. Staples sued to clear his wife's name and succeeded.  The depositions taken during that lawsuit, however, paint a horrid, sad, and brutal persecution and execution of Goodwife Knapp.

We may know a great deal about the witchcraft persecution, trial, and execution of Goodwife Knapp, but we do not know precisely what conduct led to the witchcraft accusations against her.  We do know, however, of the torment and anguish that Goodwife Knapp suffered before her execution.  

After her conviction, an ad hoc "committee" of women visited her in confinement.  Lucy Brewster Pell led the group, accompanied by two of her daughters referenced as "Goody Lockwood, and Goodwife Purdy."  These were step-daughters of Thomas Pell, likely the product of Lucy Brewster Pell's first marriage to Francis Brewster who was lost at sea in 1647.  The women tormented Goodwife Knapp, demanding that she confess to witchcraft and threatening that unless she confessed, the devil would take her soul more quickly after her death.  Goody Knapp seemed to believe that the ulterior motive of the women was to have her implicate an acquaintance -- Goodwife Staples -- as a witch.  Goodwife Knapp refused, saying she "must not say anything that was not true" and "must not return evil for evil."  She further warned the women against encouraging such accusations, saying "Take care, that the devil have not you; for you cannot tell how soon you may be my companion."

The women led by Lucy Pell and her daughters continued their onslaught and continued to demand a witchcraft confession from Goody Knapp.  They urged her to confess since, due to her conviction, she would die anyway.  At this, Knapp burst into tears.  She begged her persecutors to cease and piteously cried "never, never, poor creature was tempted as I am tempted; pray, pray for me."

 On the appointed day, a procession of "magistrates and ministers, young persons and those of maturer years, doubtless nearly the entire population of Fairfield" led Goodwife Knapp to the gallows.  Even along the way the local minister urged Goody Knapp to confess to witchcraft.  

At the gallows, Goody Knapp mounted the ladder and had a "moment's grace."  She then descended the ladder and approached Roger Ludlow, one of the magistrates involved in her trial.  She whispered in his ear and then returned to the gallows where she "was speedily turned off by the executioner, and hung suspended until life was extinct."

Once dead, the body of Goodwife Knapp was cut down and laid next to a grave that had been dug nearby.  Once again, a group of women stepped forward and demanded to examine the body for marks of the devil.  One of those women was Goody Staples.  According to one account:

"Calling upon her companions to look at the supposed witch-marks, she [Goody Staples] declares that they were naught but such as she herself or any woman had.  'Aye, and be hanged for them, and deserve it too,' was the reply of one of the older women present.  Whereupon a general clamor ensued, and seeing that there was now nothing to be gained, and much to be apprehended if she persisted, Mrs. Staples yielded, and returned home."  

What did Goodwife Knapp whisper in the ear of magistrate Roger Ludlow immediately before she was hanged?  Apparently in hopes of a last minute reprieve, she repeated a story she had told before about an acquaintance and neighbor, Goodwife Staples.  She told Ludlow that Goodwife Staples had admitted that an Indian had visited her and shown her glowing objects as bright as day that were Indian gods that would bring wealth and power to their possessor.  

Goodwife Staples saw Goody Knapp whisper in the ear of Magistrate Ludlow at the gallows and must have feared what Goody Knapp told him.  Indeed, Goodwife Staples was the one who exclaimed to the women who examined the body for marks of the devil that all the marks present "were naught but such as she herself or any woman had."

After these sad events, Roger Ludlow repeated Goodwife Knapp's last words about Goody Staples and the glowing Indian objects.  The husband of Goody Staples sued Ludlow to clear his wife's name.  The records of that lawsuit preserve the story of this terrible moment in the history of the family of Thomas Pell and the settlement of Fairfield.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes the text of yet another account of the witchcraft persecution, trial, and execution of Goodwife Knapp.  The text, from a book published in 1886, is followed by a citation and link to its source.

June 10, 1692 Hanging of Accused Witch,

Bridge Bishop of Salem, Massachusetts.

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"'In October, 1653, about two and a half years after the event just narrated, the General Court passed another resolution in the following words:  'Mr. Ludlow, Mr. Wells, Mr. Westwood and Mr. Hull, are desired to keep a perticulier Courte at Fairfield, before winter to execute justice there as cause shall require. 4  [Footnote 4 reads:  "Col. Rec., i. 249."]

'The unfortunate person on whose account justice was to be executed was, as before, a woman, charged with witchcraft.  She is designated simply as 'Knapp's wife,' or 'goodwife Knapp,' in the only account we have of the proceedings; namely a number of depositions in the case of Thomas Staples of Fairfield, who in the spring of 1654, sued Roger Ludlow of that place, for calling his wife a witch.  It is not impossible that goody Knapp may have been the wife of Roger Knapp of New Haven, who removed to Fairfield, although his name is not mentioned among the residents there until 1656.  His son, Nathaniel, lived in Pequannock in 1690, and joined the church afterwards organized there, his name occur- [Page 148 / Page 149] ring frequently upon the early records of the North Church in Bridgeport.

'The trial took place in the autumn of 1653, before a jury and several 'godly magistrates' (the same probably that are named in the order of the General Court), and doubtless lasted several days.  There were many witnesses, but the indictment and the substance of the greater part of their testimony are wanting.  We learn, however, that a strong and perhaps decisive point against the accused, was the evidence of Mrs. Lucy Pell and Goody Odell, the midwife, who by direction of the Court had examined the person of the prisoner, and testified to finding upon it certain witch marks, which were regarded as proof positive of intimacies.  Mrs. Jones, wife of the Fairfield minister, was also present at this examination, but whether as a spectator or as one of the examiners, is not clearly stated.

'The jury brought in a verdict of guilty, and goodwife Knapp was sentenced to death.  After her condemnation she was visited by numbers of the towns-people, who constantly urged her to confess herself a witch and betray her accomplices, on the ground that it would be for the benefit of her soul; and that while there might have been some reason for her silence before the trial, since a confession then might have prejudiced her case, there could be none now, for the reason that she was sure to die in any event.  The pains of perdition were held up to her as sure to be her position, in case of a refusal.

'Upon one of these occasions, the minister and a number of the towns-people being present, the poor woman replied to her well-meaning tormentors that she 'must not say anything that was not true,' she 'must not wrong anybody,' but that if she had anything to say before she went out of the world she would reveal it to Mr. Ludlow, at the gallows.  Elizabeth Brewster, a bystander, answered coarsely, 'if you keep it a little longer till you come to the ladder, the devil will have you quick, if you reveal it not till then.'  'Take care,' replied the prisoner indignantly, 'that the devil have not you; for you cannot tell how soon you may be my companion.' 'The [Page 149 / Page 150] truth is,' she added, 'you would have me to say that goodwife Staples is a witch, but I have sins enough to answer for already, and I hope that I shall not add to my condemnation; I know nothing against goodwife Staples, and I hope she is an honest woman.'  She was sharply rebuked by Richard Lyon, one of her keepers, for this language, as tending to create discord between neighbors after she should be dead, but she answered, 'goodman Lyon, hold your tongue, you know not what I know; I have been fished withall in private more than you are aware of.  I apprehend that goodwife Staples hath done me wrong in her testimony, but I must not return evil for evil.'  When further urged, and reminded that she was now to die, and therefore should deal truly, she burst into tears, and desired her persecutors to cease, saying, in words that must have lingered long in the memory of those who heard, and which it is impossible now to read without emotion, -- 'never, never, poor creature was tempted as I am tempted; pray, pray for me.'

Yet it appears that her fortitude sometimes gave way, and that she was induced to make a frivolous confession to the effect that Mrs. Staples once told her that an Indian had brought to her several little objects brighter than the light of day, telling her that they were Indian gods, and would certainly render their possessor rich and powerful; but that Mrs. Staples had refused to receive them.  This story she subsequently retracted.

'The procession to the place of execution, which is stated by an eye-witness to have been 'between the house of Michael Try and the mill,' or a little west of Stratfield boundary, included magistrates and ministers, young persons and those of maturer years, doubtless nearly the entire population of Fairfield.  On the way to the fatal spot the clergyman 5 [Footnote 5 reads"  "Rev. John Jones, who came from England in 1635."] again exhorted the poor woman to confess, but was rebuked by her companion Mrs. Staples, who cried, 'Why bid her confess what she is not?  I make no doubt, but that if she were a witch she would confess.'

'Under the shadow of the gallows the heart of Goody Knapp must again have failed her, for being allowed a [Page 150 / Page 151] moment's grace after she had mounted the ladder, she descended and repeated her former trifling story respecting Mrs. Staples, in the ear of Mr. Ludlow, her magistrate.  If this was done in the hope of obtaining a reprieve, as seems likely, the poor creature was disappointed, for she was speedily turned off by the executioner, and hung suspended until life was extinct.

'When the body had been cut down and laid upon the green turf beside the grave, a number of women crowded about it eager to examine the witch signs.  In the foreground we see Mrs. Staples kneeling beside the corpse, and in the language of one of the witnesses, 'wringing her hands and taking ye Lord's name in her mouth,' as she asseverates the innocence of the murdered woman.  Calling upon her companions to look at the supposed witch-marks, she declares that they were naught but such as she herself or any woman had.  'Aye, and be hanged for them, and deserve it too,' was the reply of one of the older women present.  Whereupon a general clamor ensued, and seeing that there was now nothing to be gained, and much to be apprehended if she persisted, Mrs. Staples yielded, and returned home.  

Among the names occurring in that narrative are some like Gould, Buckly and Lyon, that are common in Fairfield to this day.  The Odells and Sherwoods may have been residents of Pequannock. 6  [Footnote 6 reads:  "There were no settlers at Pequannock as early as 1654."]  Mr. Ludlow saw fit to repeat the story told him by the dying woman, and to further assert that Mrs. Staples had not only laid herself under the suspicion of being a witch, but 'made a trade of lying.'  Hence the suit already mentioned, in which the New Haven Court had the good sense to give a decision in favor of the plaintiff, and allow him fifteen pounds damages."

Source:  Orcutt, Samuel, A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport Connecticut, Part I, pp. 148-51 (New Haven, CT:  Press of Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1886) (Published under the auspices of the Fairfield County Historical Society).

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Location of Lot in Fairfield Purchased by Thomas Pell With Purchase Recorded in 1653

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Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog will attempt to pinpoint the approximate location of a building lot and home purchased by Pelham founder Thomas Pell in Fairfield (in today's Connecticut) in 1653.  

Immediately below is a map published in 1880 showing the ownership of lots in Fairfield in the mid-17th century.  Captioned as "THE FAIRFIELD PLAT BETWEEN 1648 AND 1657," the map is accompanied by text reflecting sales of various of the lots over time including the purchase of one by Thomas Pell in 1653.  Immediately following the image of the map, I have transcribed the accompanying text.  Thereafter I have included commentary in an effort to pinpoint the location of Pell's lot within the confines of today's Fairfield.

"THE FAIRFIELD PLAT BETWEEN 1648 AND 1657."

Source:  Source:  Schenck, Elizabeth Hubbell, The History of

Fairfield - Fairfield County, Connecticut From the Settlement of

the Town in 1639 to 1818 By Mrs. Elizabeth Hubbell Schenck,

Vol. I, p. 65 (NY, NY:  Published by the Author, 1889).
NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

Immediately below is an excerpt of the text that accompanies the map immediately above:

"HAVING traced the principal events of the first decade of the settlement of Fairfield, the opening of the year 1650 introduces us to the early land records of the town.  Whatever of value was contained in the first thirteen pages of 'Letter A of Town Deeds" has been lost; but the following pages afford clues of the original plats of Fairfield and Pequonnock, which the diagram represent between 1648 and 1654, with the names of the settlers who occupied them during the period.

The movement of the Bankside farmers resulted in the sale of their home-lots in Fairfield.  This is recorded on the thirteenth page of Letter A of Town Deeds, where we learn that John Banks, who had previously lived east of Hide's pond, and sold his house and home-lot to Humphrey Hide, on the 12th of May, 1650, purchased Daniel Frost's house and home-lot, consisting of three and three-fourths acres.  On the 4th of March, 1650, Simon Hoyt, of Stamford, who had been granted a home lot west of Hide's Pond, between John Thompson's and George Goodwin's, purchased John Green's house and home-lot.  The sale of Thomas Newton's, on the Ludlow and Newton squares, are not recorded until 1653, at which time [Page 64 / Page 65] they were sold by Alexander Bryan, a lawyer and real estate agent, of Milford.  The same year the one on the Ludlow square was purchased of Bryan by Andrew Ward (who had previously purchased John Thompson's home-lot, west of Hide's Pond), while his place on the Newton square was occupied by Nathan Gold, who removed from Milford in 1649, and first occupied John Foster's lot in the Frost square.  Gold's purchase of this place was not recorded until the 5th of December 1653, he having previously sold it to Thomas Sherwood.  Soon after purchasing Thomas Newton's lot, Nathan Gold purchased the lot next above it first granted to Richard Perry in 1649, and he sold the Newton lot to Dr. Thomas Pell.  Henry Gray left the Frost homestead, the use of which, by William Frost's will, was given to him and his wife during their lives, and entailed to their son, Jacob Gray, and he also became one of the Bankside farmers.

The house and home-lot of John Gray, who appears to have settled at Newtown, Long Island, was purchased by Bryan and sold on the 18th of March, 1649, to Henry Rowland.  Richard Westcoat, who had owned the house and home-lot between  John Gray's and John Nichol's, died soon after he settled at Fairfield.  His widow married Nathaniel Baldwin, of [Page 65 / Page 66] Milford.  Baldwin removed to Fairfield, and by virtue of this marriage occupied the dwelling and lands of Westcoat.  The widow of William Hill, sr., whose husband had first been granted a home-lot on the northeast side of Dorchester street, is recorded in 1649 as living on the northwest corner of Newton square. [footnote omitted]  It was not an unusual thing for the planters to receive grants of home-lots, and also hold others purchased or exchanged.

The Purdy lot was sold to Moses Dimond May 2, 1670, at which time John Purdy, son of Francis Purdy, deceased, lived at Eastchester.  The Frost lot was owned by Jacob Gray until 1886 [sic], when it was purchased by the Rev. Samuel Wakeman for his son Samuel, and deeded to him the 6th of November of that year.

Henry Whelpley sold his lot to Alexander Bryan, who resold it to Alexander Knowles 17th January, 1653.  February 9, 1653, Dr. Thomas Pell purchased Nathan Gold's house and home-lot next the parsonage land. . . ."

Source:  Schenck, Elizabeth Hubbell, The History of Fairfield - Fairfield County, Connecticut From the Settlement of the Town in 1639 to 1818, Vol. I, pp. 64-66 (NY, NY:  Privately Printed by the Author through Press of J. J. Little & Co., 1889).

The foregoing describes two properties associated with Thomas Pell.  The first was a lot originally owned by Thomas Newman located within Newman's Square (as opposed to another lot originally owned by Newman within Ludlow's Square) that was purchased by Pell on an unspecified date but for which the deed was recorded in 1653.  The second was a house and home-lot next to parsonage land owned by Nathan Gold and purchased by Thomas Pell on February 9, 1653.  By following the above-quoted text, it appears that these two purchases by Pell involved the purchase of two adjacent properties fronting on Ludlow Avenue within Newton Square on the map shown above.

In today's Fairfield, Connecticut, Ludlow Avenue is now the Old Post Road.  Moreover, today's Fairfield Historical Society sits, approximately, on the lot depicted on the map shown above as the "JOHN BARLOW" lot that is directly across the street (Ludlow Avenue) from the two lots bought by Thomas Pell.  

This suggests the approximate location of the land and home owned by Thomas Pell in Fairfield in 1653 was roughly near the location of today's Fairfield Historical Society, the Fairfield YMCA, and the Fairfield Public Library.  The map below shows a rough area within which the lot and home likely were located.

Map Detailing Portion of Fairfield Near the Fairfield

Museum and History Center.  NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

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