On This Day - May 26th 1647
The first hanging of a witch occurs in America, portending the Salem witch trials several decades later.
On 26 May 1647, the first person was hanged in America for the crime of witchcraft. Alse Young was arrested, tried in Windsor, Connecticut, and hanged at Meeting House Square in Hartford, on what is now the site of the Old State House. Her execution anticipated the Salem witch trials which occurred later that century.
The Salem witch trials involved a number of convictions and executions for witchcraft in 1692, not in Salem, Massachusetts but in nearby Salem Village, which is now known as Danvers. Between June and September 1692, twenty people in all were executed for witchcraft, mostly by hanging. Many more were imprisoned until the witch hunt hysteria passed. In retrospect, it is believed that those who were afflicted and charged with being witches may have been victims of poisoning by ergot. Ergot is a poisonous fungus that often grows on cereal grains, especially rye and wheat, which were commonly grown around Salem. Poisoning produces symptoms of convulsive jerking, stupor, delirium, and hallucinations, the very symptoms which created suspicion of the witch hunt victims in the first place. Ergot poisoning has been linked to the European witch trials which occurred in the 1600s where rye was grown. Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) is an hallucinogenic drug that is derived from ergot today.