At length the people had become so thoroughly prepared for the work, that it was concluded to begin operations in earnest. In the mean time, the excitement spread and deepened.
The question, of course, in all minds and on all tongues, was, ‘Who are the agents of the Devil in afflicting these girls? There must be some among us thus acting, and who are they?’ For some time the girls held back from mentioning names or, if they did, it was prevented from being divulged to the public. “It must be borne in mind, that it was then an established doctrine in theology, philosophy, and law, that the Devil could not operate upon mortals, or mortal affairs, except through the intermediate instrumentality of human beings in confederacy with him, that is, witches or wizards. When questioned by adults about who was causing these fits, the girls accused Sarah Good along with Tituba and Sarah Osburn, according to the book Salem Witchcraft: Good was officially accused of the witchcraft in February of 1692 after two girls, Abigail Williams and Betty Parris, began behaving strangely and having fits. Sarah Gadge also testified that after she refused to let Sarah Good into her home one day, Good muttered something under her breath and the following day one of her own cows died mysteriously as well. Sarah Abbey testified during the trials that three years prior she had allowed Sarah Good and her husband to stay in her home but eventually kicked her out because she was “spiteful” and “malicious” and ever since then the Abbey family lost numerous cattle to mysterious illnesses, which she believed was the work of Good’s witchcraft. Good was the wife of William Good and, at the time of the Salem witch hysteria, was a poor, pregnant beggar who would often wander door to door in Salem Village asking for handouts while her husband worked as a day laborer.Īs a result, Good was a prime target for the accusation of witchcraft in the small Puritan-run community where nonconformity was frowned upon.įor years before the hysteria even began, Good and her husband had a number of disagreements with other Salem residents that made them very unpopular in the village. Sarah Good was one of the first women to be accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
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