1 jan 1673 ano - Mercy Lewis, age 19

Descrição:

Mercy is an afflicted girl from Salem Village. She was born in Falmouth, Maine. She lost both parents in an Indian attack by Wabanaki Indians and became an orphan at a young age.

Mercy was sent to live as a servant with Reverend George Burroughs, who had earlier lived in Salem. Mercy then joined a group of refugees migrating to Salem Village and sometime later, she was sent to live with the Thomas Putnam, Jr. family in Salem Village, with whom she was distantly related.

At the Putnam household, Lewis befriended Ann Putnam Jr. and her cousin Mary Walcott who were among the first to make claims of affliction by specters of witches. Mercy would become one of the most consistent and vocal accusers during the 1692 witchcraft trials in Salem.

From her previous experience, Mercy was the chief source of information about Reverend George Burroughs and the Hobbs family in Maine. It suspiciously appears that the afflicted girls seemed to have entered into something of a conspiracy as time went on so that in the case of Reverend Burroughs, Ann Putman initiated an accusation against him. Mercy was also responsible for preventing Mary Eastey from being freed when all other accusations had been withdrawn.

After Lewis began showing symptoms of being afflicted, other villagers, such as John Walcott, Nathaniel Ingersoll, Thomas and John Putnam, filed complaints against various people suspected of bewitching Mercy Lewis.

Lewis accused the following people of afflicting her: John Alden Jr, Arthur Abbott, Nehemiah Abbott Jr, Daniel Andrew, Sarah Bassett, Bridget Bishop, George Burroughs, Sarah Buckley, Edward Bishop Jr, Sarah Bishop, Mary Black, Martha Carrier, Elizabeth Cary, Bethiah Carter Sr, Bethiah Carter Jr, Elizabeth Colson, Martha Corey, Sarah Cloyce, Giles Corey, Lydia Dustin, Sarah Dustin, Mary Easty, Philip English, Mary English, Elizabeth Fosdick, Thomas Farrer, Elizabeth Hart, Dorcas Hoar, Abigail Hobbs, William Hobbs, Deliverance Hobbs, Abigail Hobbs, Elizabeth Howe, George Jacobs Jr, George Jacobs Sr, Rebecca Jacobs, Mary Lacey Sr, Susannah Martin, Sarah Morey, Elizabeth Proctor, Sarah Proctor, Elizabeth Paine, Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor, Susannah Roots, Wilmot Redd, Sarah Rice, Ann Sears, Mary Toothaker and her daughter, Mary Witheridge, John Willard, Mary Warren, Sarah Wildes.

In addition, Lewis also served as a witness against the following people: Martha Corey, Giles Corey, Lydia Dustin, Philip English, Mary English, Thomas Farrer, Dorothy Good, Abigail Hobbs, George Jacobs Sr, Elizabeth Johnson Sr, Susannah Martin, Sarah Osbourne, Elizabeth Proctor, John Willard.

After the trials, Mercy was said to have given birth to an illegitimate child. Long after the trials, when folk discussed the afflicted girls, Mercy would be used as an example to discredit them and suggest they were nothing more than trollops looking for attention.

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