Bridget Bishop was the first person to be hanged in Salem for being a witch. Born sometime between the years of 1632 and 1637, she would be married three times before being hanged as a witch. Her final marriage was to Edward Bishop, who worked as a “sawyer”, which was a lumber worker.
Bishop had been accused by more people of witchcraft than any other so-called witch had been. Her brazen life style and very colorful way of dressing had made her the target for many close minded citizens of this puritan society.
Bishop was known for fighting with her various husbands in public, entertaining guests in her home until very late at night and for even drinking. Bishop was also known for playing a forbidden game known as shovel board.
Her clothing called for much attention and distress among the citizens. Bishop would dress in a manner that was looked upon in her puritan society as being the “snare and sign of the devil”. Her outfit would consist of a black cape and bonnet and a red paragon bodice bordered and looped with different colors. This outfit was used at her trial and played a large part in her conviction of practicing witchcraft.
Bishop’s first appearance in the courthouse was in 1680 when she was first accused of witchcraft. She was cleared on this charge but twelve years later she would be charged again, but this time she would not be so lucky. Other occasions on which Bishop would appear in court were for public fights with her husband.
April 18, 1692, Bishop had a warrant issued for her arrest on charges of witchcraft. Prior to her questioning Bishop had never seen or met many of her accusers. While John Hathorn and Jonathan Corwin questioned Bishop, many of the so-called afflicted girls would cry out and writher around in pain that Bishop was suppose to be causing them.
Court records show that a Sammuell Gray had testified against Bridget Bishop claiming that he seen her appearing and disappearing one night in his home. He claimed she was standing between the cradle and bed in the room. Gray claimed that the child gave a great screech as if the child was hurt. He went on to claim that the healthy child became sickly and died some months later.
Samuel and Sarah Shattuck also testified against Bishop claiming she came to their house to buy something they had for sale. It is hard to decipher the court record as to what they were selling. They claimed that she pretended to want it but never bought it. They would claim that their oldest child was healthy prior to Bishop coming around and that he would get worse and worse each time Bishop came around. The child would be standing at the door and fall out as if according to them an invisible hand had pushed him. The child would bruise his face when hitting a step stone. They claimed in their testimony that when Bishop brought them a pair of sleeves to dye that the child would start falling and hitting his face a lot.
Many more people would falsely testify against Bishop during her trial, one of which would be her sister’s husband. With all the testimonies given against her and evidence examining, her trial only lasted 8 days.
On June 10, 1692 Bishop was taken to Gallows Hill were she was hung by Sheriff George Corwin in front a large crowd of towns people. While standing there to be executed Bishop showed no remorse and continued to plead her innocence.
