jan 1, 1662 - Tituba Indian

Description:

Tituba was an enslaved woman who was one of the first to be accused of witchcraft. Tituba's origins are uncertain; it's known that Samuel Parris, the minister of Salem Village, brought her to colonial Massachusetts but it's not clear where she was from.

Many historians, such as Elaine Breslaw and Charles Upham, gathered that Tituba was a Native American based on Samuel Fowler's writing, "Account of the life of Samuel Parris". Tituba may have originally been a member of the Arawak-Guiana native South American tribe. While there is no physical evidence to prove this theory, it is believed that she was taken from her tribe and forced into slavery in Barbados, where she was sold to the Thompson plantation and became the family cook, as most Native American slaves were.

This evidence was concluded through slave-transport documents which described things such as head counts and names of the slaves. As Tituba interacted with a diverse group of people in Barbados, it is assumed that Barbados is the place where she picked up most of her knowledge about witchcraft from mistresses and other slaves. Once the head of the Thompson plantation died, Tituba was inherited by Samuel Parris and then she was brought to Massachusetts.

The often-unreliable records of the enslaved persons’ origins make this information difficult to verify. There are historians such as Samuel Drake who suggest that Tituba was African.

We know that Tituba's husband was, John Indian, an indigenous man of unknown origins, because they appear documented together in Samuel Parris's church record book. John also went on to accuse people of witchcraft.

Tituba was the first person to be accused of practicing witchcraft by Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams. It has been theorized that Tituba told the girls tales of voodoo and witchcraft prior to the accusations.

She initially denied the accusations, but after she was beaten by Samuel Parris, she confessed to making a "witch cake". Later, she also confessed to speaking with the devil and that he ordered her to worship him and hurt the children of the village. She said that learned it from her mistress in Barbados and that it wasn't harmful. She asserted to Parris that she was not a witch but admitted that she had participated in an occult ritual when she made the witch cake. Tituba then accused, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne of being witches and on March 7, 1692, they were all sent to jail in Boston to await trial and punishment. Despite her confessions, there is no proof that she did the things to which she confessed.

Tituba used accusations about other people to stir confusion and deflecting attention away from herself. She proved to be a credible witness and as a result of the recognition she received, her life and her reputation were both saved.

After the trials, Samuel Parris refused to pay her jailer fees and Tituba remained in jail for thirteen months. In April 1693, Tituba was sold to an unknown person for the price of her jailer fees.

In an interview with Robert Calef for his collection of papers on the trials, titled 'More Wonders of the Invisible World: Being an Account of the Trials of Several Witches, Lately Executed in New-England', Tituba confirmed that Parris had beaten a confession out of her and then coached her on what to say and how to say it when she was first questioned.

Added to timeline:

Date:

Images: