A Guide to the Primary Sources of the Salem Witch Trials
People Accused of Witchcraft in 1692
What is this? Home
For each person accused during the Salem witchcraft trials, you can access a large number (not all!) of the primary sources on-line, detailing what happened to them, as available in the original legal records and contemporary accounts. This is not an absolute definitive list, but it will get you started. The columns on the right will give you an idea of what kinds evidence exists in the case of each person as found in Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt.
Help using these primary sources
If you are trying to understand what happened to a specific person, please download this helpful guide concerning what sort of information you can find in the primary sources in each of these categories.

Accused: Sarah Buckley, of Salem VillageReturn
No. 151: Complaint of Nathaniel Ingersoll & Thomas Putnam v. Daniel Andrew, George Jacobs Jr., Rebecca Jacobs, Sarah Buckley, Mary Whittredge, Elizabeth Hart, Thomas Farrar Sr., Elizabeth Colson, & Bethiah Carter Jr. √                
No. 152: Warrant for the Apprehension of Daniel Andrew, George Jacobs Jr., Rebecca Jacobs, Sarah Buckley, & Mary Whittredge, and Officer's Return √                
No. 164: Statement of Susannah Shelden v. Philip English, Sarah Buckley, Mary Whittredge, Bridget Bishop, Giles Cory, Mary English, & Martha Cory       √          
No. 165: Statement of George Herrick & Benjamin Wilkins v. John Willard & Sarah Buckley       √          
No. 168: Examination of Sarah Buckley   √              
No. 169: Deposition of Elizabeth Hubbard v. Sarah Buckley       √ √ √      
No. 170: Deposition of Ann Putnam Jr. v. Sarah Buckley       √          
No. 171: Testimony of Mary Walcott v. Sarah Buckley       √          
No. 216: Census of Prisoners and Dates of Prison Transfers     √            
No. 238: Statement of Susannah Shelden v. Giles Cory, Elizabeth Procter, Sarah Buckley, & John Willard       √          
No. 315: Testimony of William Hubbard for Sarah Buckley       √          
No. 618: Indictment of Sarah Buckley, for Afflicting Ann Putnam Jr.         √        
No. 637: Deposition of Benjamin Hutchinson v. Sarah Buckley & Mary Whittredge       √          
No. 746: Testimony of John Higginson Sr. & Samuel Cheever for Sarah Buckley           √      
No. 755: Court Record of the Trial of Sarah Buckley         √ √      
No. 895: Petition of William Buckley for Restitution for Sarah Buckley & Mary Whittredge                 √
No. 930: Summary of the Amounts Requested by the Victims & Their Relatives                 √
What kind of primary source evidence does a check in each column indicate?
  • Complaint or Arrest - Either a formal complaint or an arrest warrant against this person exists.
  • Examination - An account of an examination (interrogation) or confession before local magistrates or in prison exists.
  • Imprisonment - A mittimus to move this person to/from jail, a recognizance or bond to release the person from jail, a reference in a jailer's bill, or a request for compensation for time spent in jail exists.
  • Evidence Entered - At least one deposition, statement, testimony or petition from any proceeding (preliminary hearing, grand jury or trial) for or against this person exists.
  • Grand Jury or Indictment - A deposition, statement or testimony sworn before the grand jury of inquest, a physical examination of the body of this person, or an indictment brought before a grand jury exists.
  • Jury Trial - An entry in a court record book or a contemporary account of the trial exists.
  • Conviction - A death warrant indicating that the person was convicted, a notation about the case in a record book of the conviction, a statement that the person was convicted in either a request for reversal of attainder or for compensation from the Crown exists.
  • Execution - The return of an officer on a death warrant, a statement that the person was executed in a request for reversal of attainder or for compensation from the Crown, or an entry in Samuel Sewall's diary exists.
  • Restitution - Accounts submitted for restitution, orders for payment to survivors, acts for reversal of attainder or for payments of restitution, proclamations clearing the accused

Home Page | Manuscript Archives | Rare Books | Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt | Salem Witchcraft Papers | Woodward | Godbeer | Levin | Search