Elizabeth Hubbard is best known as the primary instigator of the

Salem Witch Trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...

. Hubbard was 17 years old in the spring of 1692 when the trials began. In the 15 months the trials took place, 20 people were executed.

Early life

Elizabeth Hubbard was born in

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

in 1674. Hubbard was an orphan who lived with her uncle, Dr. William Griggs. She served as his

maidservant A handmaiden, handmaid or maidservant is a personal maid or female servant. Depending on culture or historical period, a handmaiden may be of slave status or may be simply an employee. However, the term ''handmaiden'' generally implies lowly ...

Involvement in Salem Witch Trials

A group of girls ranging in age from 12 to 20 were the main accusers in the Salem witch trials. This group, of which Elizabeth Hubbard was a part, also included Ann Putnam Jr., Mary Walcott, Elizabeth “Betty” Parris, Abigail Williams, Elizabeth Booth, Mercy Lewis, and Mary Warren. Abigail Williams and Betty Parris were the first to experience mysterious "fits", of which symptoms included throwing of objects, screaming, and contortion of the body. Dr. Griggs, acting as town physician, concluded that the source of the girls' behavior was supernatural. As Elizabeth Hubbard was the maidservant of Griggs, it is likely that she was intimately aware of the symptoms involved in the fits. Hubbard had her first recorded fit on February 1, 1692. Hubbard's age allowed her to testify under oath, leading her to have a major role in the trials. Her testimony was considered especially convincing, and she was known for being particularly susceptible to being thrown into fits during trials. During Elizabeth Proctor's trial, Hubbard purported to be under a deep trance and unable to speak:

"I saw the apparition of Sarah Good, which did torture me most grievously, but I did not know her name until the 27th of February, and then she told me her name was Sarah Good, and then she did prick me and pinch me most grievously, and also since, several times, urging me vehemently to write in her evil’sbook”

As the trials progressed, Hubbard began instigating more and more accusations. She gave her last testimony on January 7, 1693. Records show that she filed 40 legal complaints and testified 32 times. As a result of her testimonies, 17 people were arrested, 13 were hanged, and two died in jail.

Life after trials

It is unclear what happened to Hubbard after the trials concluded. American historian Mary Beth Norton states in her book ''In the'' ''Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692'' that Hubbard moved from Salem to Gloucester in Massachusetts. Norton purports that Hubbard married a man named John Bennett, with whom she had four children. Norton cites a published marriage record of a woman named Elizabeth Hibbert, but it is not known with certainty that Elizabeth Hibbert was Elizabeth Hubbard.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubbard, Elizabeth 1670s births Year of death unknown Place of death unknown Accusers in witch trials American children Colonial American women Date of birth unknown American indentured servants People from Boston People of the Salem witch trials American domestic workers