In the spirit of Halloween, here’s a list on Maryland Witch Trials:
1-Mary Lee 1654: Technically Mary was “tried” (and I use the term loosely) and hanged at sea on the way to Maryland. When the ship arrived in St. Mary’s, the Council of Maryland investigated, at least to the point of hearing two depositions from men aboard. They testified that the ship Charity encountered storms, and the crew concluded Mary had caused the storms with witchcraft. The captain attempted to defuse the situation by offering to put Mary ashore in “Barmudoes [sic].” However, the winds prevented this option. The crew persisted and the Captain may have been facing a mutiny, “In the Interime two of the Seamen apprehended her without order and Searched her and found Some Signall or Marke of a witch upon her”.
At some point, Mary may have confessed (apparently under great duress). At this point she was hanged and dumped in the sea along with her belongings.
(Deposition of Henry Corbyn & Darby Gent regarding the hanging of Mary Lee while at sea aboard the Charity en route to Maryland, page 611-613)
http://aomol.msa.maryland.gov/000001/000003/html/am3–306.html
http://www.mdhs.org/underbelly/2013/08/08/double-double-toil-and-trouble-witchcraft-in-maryland/
See Also: “Father Francis Fitzherbert, a Jesuit traveling to Maryland aboard the Charity, recalled the sailors reasoning that the foul weather “was not on account of the violence of the ship or atmosphere, but the malevolence of witches.”
( “The Maryland Witch Trials” by William H. Cooke)
2-Elizabeth Richardson 1659: Like Mary, Elizabeth was also hanged at sea en route to Maryland. The case was brought before the Provincial Court of Maryland by complainant “John Washington of Westmerland [sic] County in Virginia” (George’s great-granddad). Washington charged Edward Prescott with causing “a Woman to bee [sic] Executed for a Witch” aboard his ship. Prescott did not deny the hanging, but laid the blame on Master of the ship John Greene. Since Washington had failed to show up, Prescott was acquitted. This accusation may have been part of a nasty exchange between Washington & Prescott regarding a shipment of tobacco lost when a ship ran aground in the Potomac (but these subsequent events were no help to the unfortunate Elizabeth).
(Provincial Court Proceedings, page 327-329)
http://aomol.msa.maryland.gov/000001/000041/html/am41–327.html
3-John Cowman 1674 (Calvert County): John was the first person convicted of witchcraft on Maryland soil.
“That whereas John Cowman being Arraigned Convicted and
Condemned upon the statute of the first of King Iames England &c. for Witchcraft Conjuration Sorcery or Enchant-ment used upon the Body of Elizabeth Goodale
He was sentenced to be hanged, but Governor Charles Calvert pardoned him. Calvert’s pardon included a condition that bordered on the sadistic. The pardon required Cowman to first be taken to the gallows and the noose placed around his neck.
(Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, page 425)
http://aomol.msa.maryland.gov/000001/000002/html/am2–425.html
http://www.mdhs.org/underbelly/2013/08/08/double-double-toil-and-trouble-witchcraft-in-maryland/
4-Hannah Edwards 1686 (Calvert County)
Acquitted
5-Rebecca Fowler 1685 (Calvert County): Rebecca was the first person both convicted of and executed for witchcraft in Maryland, no last-minute pardon would be forthcoming.
(Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, page 678)
http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000034/html/am34–678.html
http://www.mdhs.org/underbelly/2013/08/08/double-double-toil-and-trouble-witchcraft-in-maryland/
6-Moll Dyer, 1697 (St. Mary’s County): I listed Moll Dyer last because her story does not involve an actual trial, and I believe the Moll Dyer story is folklore. Real or not, the Moll Dyer story is such an essential element of Maryland folklore, I felt I would be remiss if it were not included.
See Also:
http://www.mdhs.org/underbelly/2013/08/08/double-double-toil-and-trouble-witchcraft-in-maryland/
7-Virtue Violl 1715 (Talbot County): I couldn’t find a primary source on Virtue Violl. If the sources cited below are accurate, she was the last person in Maryland actually tried for witchcraft. She was acquitted.
(Witchcraft in Maryland, By Francis Neal Parke, page 286-291)
(William Bladen of Annapolis, 1673?-1718: “the most capable in all Respects” or “Blockhead Booby”? by C. Ashley Ellefson, page 166)
http://www.mdhs.org/underbelly/2013/08/08/double-double-toil-and-trouble-witchcraft-in-maryland/
8-Sarah McDaniel, 1753 (Annapolis):
In Annapolis in 1753. Sarah McDaniel, reported to be a fortune teller & witch, made a remark at the launching of a ship. As the ship The Lovely Nancy was about to be launched, she said “The Lovely Nancy will not see water today”. At the launch, the ship did get stuck on the ways, but ultimately launch ed without incident. Nevertheless, a launched ship getting “stuck on the ways” is a powerful superstition among sailors. Sarah was hunted for a few days, Captain Slade & crew were intend on “ducking the old woman” to see if she was a witch.
I found no report of them finding Sarah or of the ship meeting calamity. I actually found as yet no primary source on Sarah or the ship, so it might well be folklore.
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) · 19 May 1949, Thu · Page 117
9-Alexander Kirk, 1809 (Cecil County):
Alexander Kirk was accused of witchcraft and expelled by his church. He appealed to the Quarterly Conference of Methodist Church in Cecil County. The conference ruled in Kirk’s favor:
“Resolved: That in the opinion of this conference it is criminal to apply to any man as a conjuror on the subject of witchcraft or the like and every Methodist is esteemed culpable for so doing.”
(“Sorcery in Cecil? Maryland also has ties to witches”, The Cecil Whig, October 26, 2013)
Reccomended Reading:
“Witchcraft in Maryland”, Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol. 31, No. 3 (1936)
“Colonial Women”, Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol. II, No. 3 (1907)
“Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft”
by Paul S. Boyer, Stephen Nissenbaum (1974)
baltimorehistorybuffdotcom 