Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-15
IN oLD95sALEM TOWN
Relics From the Days of Puritanical su-
psrstition.
A Washington WOmnn's Letter About
the City and It's, Sur
rOundinYs.
Correspondence of The. Evening Star.

Correspondence of The Evening Star.
SALEM. March II, 1895
To speak of Salem brings swiftly to mind
| the dark days of, witchcraft, when that
terrible -delusion hung like a pail over this
rigid Puritanical community, and brought
nineteen innocent persons to their fate on
"Gallows HILL. The city still preserves
| these memorials of blind Justice, and the
renowned witch house" Is pointed out to
all new corners. The witch house. so called,
which dates pack to 1885, together with the
first church built in America, 1884, are
historical landmarks. The former Is a
treasured relic from the hand of time. Its
| walls are gray with age. and its dull col
oring is thrown into greater contrast by
the modern drug store which has been
built adjoining it.
| A collection Of antiquities was formerly
kept here but they have been removed.
and 1t Is now uninhabited except FOR the
spirit of gloom that abides in these places
| of desolation.
The windows, with their tiny. panes of
glass, the huge square chimney in the CEN
| ter of the roof, were counted as the latest
| Improvement In those days. but the march
| of centuries has robbed of its pristine glory
this residence. In olden tyne, of good Roger
| Williams, who. in consequence of his free
dom of religious views was compelled to
| flee from the Puritans.
| Later it came into the possession of
judges. and here were held-so tradition
says-the examinations Of witnesses in 1852.
In the Court House.
In the clerk Of courts office. in the court
house, are kept. in square glass case. the
pins alleged to be used by the so-cailed
| witches to torment their victims. These
implements are kept in a glass bottle. They
are the ordinary-sized pin, somewhat bent
| and furnished.
There are documents. too. yellow with
| age, pertaining. to the trial OF Bridget
Bishop and Rebecca Nurse. They abound
in the usual legal phrasing and have an
inordinate amount of repetition-such as
Whereas You wickedly and feloniously
have used. practiced and exercised upon
-. whereof said - was and is aflict-
mented." The trial of Rebecca Nurse is the
most noteworthy The jury. finding moth
ing in the evidence to convict her. brought
In verdict of mot guilty" whereupon
| the accusers we're taken with violent fits.
and the jury retired once more. They re-
turned and asked the accused to explain
one expression. The good old dame.
being seventy-one years of age, was
hard of hearing and made no answer.
| This was taken as a confession Of guilt
| and the verdict oft"gu!lty'' was given Her
| residence is still standing. and a monument
was erected on her grave July 10. 1885, An
|
and story. was Giles Corey. aged eighty.
! who, refusing to- plead, was pressed to
death according to the old English law.
= Danyers.
| Danvers Originally part of Salem, was
| the starting point of this superstition.
Here in the house of the Rev. Samuel
| Paris. which is marked by stone. witch
craft first appeared. This clergyman had
two servants brought from the West In
dies. Ttuba and John Indian Tftuba, like
| all of her half-savage race. believed in
necromancy, and could perform many
| tricks and mysterious lamentations. Paris
| daughter Elizabeth. aged nine. and his
| niece. aged eleven, learned these tricks and
told them to other girls in the parish.
A physician was called in, and pro-
nounced the girls as bewitched, and thus
| started that frenzy Of superstition that has
darkened one page Of our history.
| In DanverS still stands the birthplace
| of Maj Gen. Israel Putnam of revolution
| airy fame. Here. too, is "Oak Knoll" the
home of the loved poet, Whittier, where he
passed the winters of his later years. Close
by is Beverly Farms, where kindred
spirit. In Oliver Wendell Holmes, spent the
| summers Of his life.
Peabody.
| A short ride in the horse cars from Sa-
lem brings you to Peabody. the birthplace
| of the great Neutrality-suspicious. Pea
| body. The one hundredth anniversary of
his birth was celebrated a few weeks ago,
when several eminent persons perpetuated
his memory in prose and verse. They will
| show you here the drug store where Pea
| body was apprenticed at eleven years of
age and laid the foundations of that future
| life work that eliminated in the gift of
$12.OOOOOO for charitable work. In the Pea
body Institute is an oval miniature OF
| Queen Victoria painted on solid gold and
given to the philanthropfst in recognition
of his goodness to the poor of London,
together with other gifts amounting to
| $4,000. Salem has reason to be proud of
its historic homes and associations
The old Pickering mansion. built in 1850,
Is still kept up by the generals descend
ants. On Lynde street stands the former
I home of Rufus Choate.
| The Cadet Armory, fine old place. erect
ed on the site of Governor Bradstreet's
mansion, was once occupied by Colonel
Peabody, and an entertainment was given
there in honor of Prince Arthur of Eng
land when he came here. The banqueting
hall itself was decorated at cost of
$4,000. It is of the old Gothic architec-
ture, after the style of the Elizabethan
Chapel at Westminster Abbey. You can
built by a Japanese merchant. who mar
ried Salem girl. All the interior decora-
lions are Japanese and are very unique.
Salem society. without being ostenta-
| tious, is exclusively aristocratic. They
draw the line of thus far and no farther
in the way of admitting newcomers into
| the charmed inner circle.
You would hardly think, to walk through
the quiet streets. with their plain, yet
solid. notwithstanding houses, that you
could count up millions on either side, but
such is the case. of you attend a dinner
here you will have a treat in the display
of heirlooms, rare old china, plate glass
and silver not to mention the feast of
reason and flow of SOUL" if you are so for
tunate as to be present at an authors
breakfast" j. A. B. P.
ERtiRg Horses.
From the Louisville Post.
A gentleman who has just returned from