CENSUS: 1850, Lima Twp. Carroll Co. IL, MILITARY: American LegionHonor Roll. Civil War: pvt. Army K Company, 15th IL Inf.OCCUPATION: Farmer CAUSE OF DEATH: Stroke
Of Salem, MA.
APPENDIX I : Henry True of Salisbury married Jane Bradbury,daughter of Thomas Bradbury and Mary Perkins Bradbury (see p. 2 ofthis document). Mary Perkins Bradbury figured prominently in theinfamous "Salem Witch Trials" in Salem, MA in 1692. -- Bryce BabcockAmongst the records of my father, Oscar True Babcock, is thefollowing handwritten note, with a heading of "Interesting things",then the words "Wills - lists", the meaning of which is unclear.(B.B.) "1680 (?) John Carr in love with Jemima True -- Broken offby his father on account of his youth -- He became melancholy andinsane and died." (This must have been Henry of Salisbury's youngersister Jemima, daughter of Henry of Salem, who had married Capt. JohnMarch in 1679, and not Henry of Salisbury's daughter Jemima, as 1680is the year of her birth and such a passionate infatuation as this isnot usually directed at a new-born babe. -- B.B.) The handwrittennote continues: "1692 (13 years later) Mary Perkins Bradbury, age70, arrested, charged with bewitching John Carr so that he becameinsane and prematurely died. 'The deposition of William Carr whotestifieth and saith that about 13 years ago, presently after somedifferences that happened to be between my honored father, Mr. GeorgeCarr and Mrs. Bradbury, the prisoner at the bar, upon a Sabbath atnoon, as we were riding home by the house of Capt. Thomas Bradbury, Isaw Mrs. Bradbury go into her gate, turn the corner and immediatelythere darted out of her gate a blue boar, and darted at my father'shorses legs which made him stumble, but I saw it no more. And myfather said, "Boys, What did you see?, and we both said, "A BlueBoar." ' " End of quote from the deposition, but my father adds apostscript, "She was convicted (as a witch - B.B.) with 4 others whowere executed Sept. 1692. She escaped hanging." Ah! Atantalizing fragment of information that connects the family -- in away -- with the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Imagine convictingsomeone of a hanging offense on the basis of evidence like this!Someone from a family with whom you've had a history of "somedifferences", accuses you of being a witch since he says he thinks youchanged yourself into a "Blue Boar" and frightened his father's horse.And on the basis of this testimony, you're convicted and condemned tohang! Of course, there was other testimony against her, but of equallyflimsy nature. Was there more that we don't know about? Did othersalso think they witnessed Mary Bradbury in an act of changing herselfinto a dangerous beast, perhaps a purple chipmunk, or a pink elephant?And, how did she escape hanging in the face of such overwhelmingevidence, when the 4 others (actually eight, in all) condemned withher were hanged? And what happened to her? Did she serve a prisonterm, or just have her head shaved and her ears notched? Was themotivation a 12 year old belief that she had bewitched the unhappyJohn Carr, even though it was the aggrieved father who opposed therelationship? (It boggles the mind. And some politicians urge usto return to the "good old days." Perhaps the days of Sen. JoeMcCarthy in the 1950's when scores of academics, writers and the likewere black-listed and had careers ruined on the basis of similarevidence? Not quite the same as hanging, but the same idea.)Fortunately, more of the story can be found in Marion L. Starkey'sbook, "The Devil in Massachusetts," an inquiry into this disturbingpiece of our country's history. In Chapter XVIII, "Eight Firebrandsof Hell," Starkey writes: "The wheels of justice now turned atfull speed. On September 9 the judges tried and condemned sixwitches, and on September 17 nine more. Of the total of fifteen,eight were hanged on September 22. All but one of the seven whoescaped hanging could be judicially accounted for. Five were...condemned but reprieved. The sixth... got a stay of execution bypleading pregnancy. Only with the seventh was there any irregularity.Mary Bradbury of Salisbury 'escaped' or if escaped is too strong aword, she being too feeble to do anything for herself, at least herfriends had in some obscure way managed to hide her fromauthority...." The account goes on to describe Mary Bradbury as"one of the best loved members of her community" and that ninety-threeneighbors presented the court with a statement that "in half a centurythey had never known her to make any trouble." Others, including aRev. James Allen (Allin), testified to her "charity and piety." Thebook continues: "Her husband, Thomas, to whom she had been marriedfifty years and borne eleven children, said that she was 'of acheerful spirit, liberal and charitable,' but now that she was old,'weak and grieved under her affliction, may not be able to speak forherself, not being so free of speech as others may be.'" "Suchtestimony came from the circle of Mrs. Bradbury's affectionateacquaintance. Not everyone in Salisbury belonged to it; at its outeredges were people who took the view that her seeming goodness was afalse front behind which she concealed abominations. The elder AnnPutnam... not having moved in Mrs. Bradbury's social set, knew allabout the abominations. Her kinsman, Richard Carr, had as good asseen the woman turn herself into a blue boar; anyway he saw the boarrush out of a gate which Mrs. Bradbury had just entered and dash atthe feet of his father's horse. Neither he nor another witnessdoubted that the boar was Mrs. Bradbury, and apparently neither didthe judges or jury when the story was duly relayed to them." (The"elder Ann Putnam" was the mother of 12 year old Ann Putnam who wasone of the group of young girls who triggered the hysteria which sweptthrough Salem and the surrounding communities setting off the "witchtrials." -- B.B.) There was also testimony that Mary Bradbury hadeven haunted ships at sea. A man named Samuel Endicott told the courtthat his captain had bought "two firkins of butter" from her prior toa sea voyage, and that these had spoiled. (Not too surprising,Starkey notes, since the ship was bound for the Barbados, and wasequipped with no refridgeration.) Starkey continues: "The spoilingof the butter was, however, only the beginning of Mrs. Bradbury'sdisplay of malefic powers. Soon after the Barbados, the ship ran intoa storm, lost a mainmast, and sprang a leak which ruined several tonsof salt. At this point, Mrs. Bradbury, gloating over heraccomplishment, could not resist the temptation to show off. On abright moonlight night Endicott looked up and there she sat on thewindlass, neat and composed in her white cap and neckcloth as she hadever been at meeting in Salisbury. There could be no plainer evidencethan that. Mrs. Bradbury was sentenced to hang -- yet did not. Herfriends found means of spiriting her away and concealing her...."In the notes at the end of the book is the following: "Thoughextensive testimony both for and against Mary Bradbury remains in therecords (see Woodward, W. Elliot, Vol. II, "Records of the SalemWitchcraft," printed in Roxbury, 1864, Two Volumes), the circumstancesof her trial are mysterious. First complained on May 26, she wasindicted July 26. Her survivors claimed in 1710 that she had beenimprisoned six months, but since notation in the court records (EssexCounty Archives, "Salem Witchcraft," Vol II, pp 34-40) explicitly saysthat she escaped, their statement is obviously erroneous; maybe theymeant six weeks." (The whole story of this sordid chapter of ourhistory is fascinating and well worth looking into. I recomment notonly the book quoted here, but if you have a chance to see ArthurMiller's stage play, "The Crucible," don't miss it. It's one of themost powerful stage plays ever written. -- B.B.) SOURCES: O.T.Babcock, notes. (In posession of his son, Bryce Babcock). Starkey,Marion L., "The Devil in Masachucetts: A Modern Inquiry Into the SalemWitch Trials," Alfred A. Knopf, N.Y., 1949.