Connecticut Witch Trial History Trail

The Black Rock neighborhood in Bridgeport is the location of the Goody Knapp Memorial.

The Compo neighborhood of Westport was home of Mercy Holbridge Disborough, who was accused of witchcraft in the 1692 Stamford-Fairfield Witch-Hunt. She was convicted and condemned to die but was reprieved.

Once a part of the Connecticut Colony, Easthampton, as it was then known, was home of Elizabeth Garlick, who was tried for witchcraft in 1658 and acquitted.

While in town, visit the East Hampton Historical Society.

A key location in the 1692 Stamford-Fairfield Witch-Hunt. Also home of Goodwife Knapp, Goodwife Miller, Mary Staples, Mary Harvey, and Hannah Harvey, who were all accused of witchcraft. Goodwife Knapp was hanged in 1653. Goodwife Miller was accused informally in 1692. Mary Staples, her daughter Mary Harvey, and her granddaughter Hannah Harvey were all accused in 1692 but the cases were dismissed.

Visit the Fairfield Museum & History Center.

Home of Mary Barnes, who was hanged for witchcraft on January 25, 1693, as part of the Hartford Witch Panic. Farmington’s Stanley-Whitman House is home to the Mary Barnes Society, which is dedicated to preserving the memory of the last victim of the Connecticut Witch Trials.

Epicenter of the Hartford Witch Panic of 1662-1663. Site of most of Connecticut’s witch trials and the primary execution site. Home of witchcraft suspects James Wakeley, Judith Varlet, Andrew Sanford, Mary Sanford, William Ayers, Judith Ayers, Rebecca Greensmith, Nathaniel Greensmith, Elizabeth Seager, and an unnamed person accused in 1682. All but the unknown person were victims of the Hartford Witch Panic. Wakely fled to Rhode Island, Varlet was released, Andrew Sanford was acquitted, Mary Sanford was hanged, the Ayers escaped, the Greensmiths were hanged, and Elizabeth Seager was tried 3 times, acquitted twice, and convicted but reprieved the 3rd time.

The South Green at Barnard Park was site of an illicit Christmas party, which one of the key events precipitating the Hartford Witch Panic.

The Traveler’s Tower was built on the site of a colonial tavern, where initial examinations of witchcraft suspects may have been conducted.

The plaza adjacent to the Old State House was the location of the old jail, and the Old State House is on the location of the old meetinghouse.

An ancient tree known as the Witch Elm stood in Hartford until 1930. According to William DeLoss Love, Hartford’s hanging site was here in 1712 and possibly stood here much longer. The tree was located near the present intersections of Albany and Irving.

While in Hartford, visit the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, the Connecticut State Library, and the Museum of Connecticut History.

Home of Elizabeth Godman, Goodwife Bailey, Nicholas Bailey, William Meaker, and Goodwife Bowden. Mary Staples of Fairfield filed her 1654 slander suit against Roger Ludlow in New Haven.

Saybrook was home of an unknown person or persons accused of witchcraft in 1659, Margaret and Nicholas Jennings (acquitted 1661), and Hannah Griswold (slandered 1657).

Check in with the Old Saybrook Historical Society while you’re in town.

A key location in the 1692 Stamford-Fairfield Witch-Hunt, during which multiple people were accused of witchcraft by Katharine Branch, who displayed symptoms similar to those observed in the afflicted persons of the Salem Witch-Hunt.

While here, visit the Stamford History Center.

Home of Goody Bassett (hanged, 1651) and Hugh Crosia.

Winifred Benham and her daughter, also Winifred, were both accused of witchcraft. Their 1697 trial was the last known witch trial in New England.

Visit the Wallingford Historical Society to learn more about the Benhams, who were among the founding families of the town.

Home of Elizabeth Blackleach, John Blackleach, Mary Johnson, Joan Carrington, John Carrington, Katherine Palmer, Katherine Harrison, Goodwife Burr, and Alexander Williamson. Wethersfield is the setting for the novel The Witch of Blackbird Pond, a fictionalized account of a witch trial.

Home of Alice Young (hanged, 1647) and Lydia Gilbert (hanged, 1654). Alice was the first person executed for witchcraft by colonial authorities in America, on May 26, 1647. Lydia was hanged for witchcraft in 1654 for supposedly bewitching a gun which misfired during a training exercise, killing a man. Goodwife Messenger was slandered here in 1673. The town of Windsor was also one-time home to a variety of others later involved in witchcraft accusations elsewhere.

While in town, drop by the Windsor Historical Society to learn more about this historic town.

Windsor’s Town Hall has a meeting room named the Alse Young and Lydia Gilbert room in honor of Windsor’s two witch trial victims.