After a three-century wait, Salem’s last “witch” can rest easy now that her name has been officially erased.
Massachusetts lawmakers eventually acquitted Elizabeth Johnson Jr. Thursday, 329 years after she was convicted of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials. She was sentenced to death in 1693, but received a suspension of execution along with a number of other Massachusetts residents who had been charged. She was only 22 when she was convicted.
In 1712, Johnson sought relief from his charges, but his application was never heard in court.
His case has now been picked up by an unlikely group of lawyers: an 8th-grade civic education class. legislative steps needed to make it a reality.
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“They spent most of the year working to get this set for the legislature: actually writing a bill, writing letters to lawmakers, creating presentations, doing all the research, looking at the real testimony of Elizabeth Johnson “Learn more about the Salem witch trials,” Carrie LaPierre, a student teacher, told The Boston Globe.
Johnson’s acquittal was officially approved thanks to legislation introduced by state Sen. Diana DiZoglio, a Democrat from Methuen.
“We will never be able to change what happened to victims like Elizabeth, but (we) can at least make things clear,” DiZoglio said.
LaPierre echoed DiZoglio’s sentiments, saying: that they really have, ”he said of his students.
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According to Witches of Massachusetts Bay, a group dedicated to the history and tradition of seventeenth-century witch-hunting, Johnson is the last condemned witch whose name was erased.
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Very little is known about her. According to Emerson Baker, a history teacher at Salem State, Johnson lived in Andover and never married or had children.
“We’re not even sure when he died,” Baker said in an interview with The Boston Globe.
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Andover is a small town about 17 miles from Salem. The city was engulfed in its own witch-hunting frenzy after the fervor spread from Salem. Forty-five people were arrested for witchcraft in Andover, 28 of whom were members of Johnson’s family, including his mother, Elizabeth Johnson Sr.
Twenty people were killed during the witch trials in Massachusetts and hundreds more were charged. Nineteen were hanged and one man was crushed by the stones. Factors such as superstition, misogyny, fear of disease, and small fights contributed to the Puritan frenzy that was driving the trials of Salem witches.
Over the centuries, dozens of accused “witches” have been officially removed, including Johnson’s mother, but Johnson herself endured a long wait.
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It was ignored in a legislative resolution that authorized one person in 1957 (and referred to “some other people”). In 2001, then-Governor Jane Swift added five more names to the resolution.
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“I’m a little disappointed that we missed a person,” Swift said. “What has always resonated with me is that these are some of the first historical examples in the United States of women being vilified for acting outside their accepted role.”
In a similar vein, DiZoglio said, “Elizabeth’s story and struggle continue to resonate today.”
“Even though we have come a long way since the horrors of witch trials, today’s women still too often find their rights challenged and their concerns rejected.”
– With archives of the Associated Press
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