Difficulty Talby

Artist's interpretation of a Puritan woman preparing to be hanged

**Difficulty Talby** was an toddler murdered by her Puritan mother Dorothy Talby in 1638. Dorothy was hanged in Boston, Massachusetts for the crime, making her the third known woman to be executed in the United States.

## Events

### Dorothy Talby

Dorothy Talby was born Dorothy Rawlinson in November 1598 in Lincolnshire, England. She married John Talby in Threekingham, Lincolnshire and moved to Whaplode. They had five children.

Lincolnshire, England in the early 17th century was a centre of Puritanism. At some time Dorothy and John Talby were drawn into the Puritan community, and in January 1635 their names first appeared in the Massachusetts records. John was granted an acre of land in Salem, Massachusetts and two months later another thirty acres.

Dorothy became pregnant with a sixth child soon after moving to Massachusetts with her husband. She gave birth on June 27, 1636. In October their sixth child was baptised at the First Church of Salem and christened 'Difficulty'. Such names were not totally uncommon. In the first years of the records of the Church in Salem there are children named Recompense, Exercise, Remember, Provided, Experience and Deliverance.

### Dorothy's mental health goes downhill

In April 1637 Dorothy, who previously showed no signs of mental distress, was convicted at the Salem Court. The record book states "John Talby's wife Dorothy, for frequent laying hands on her husband to the danger of his life to be chained to a post, being allowed only to come to the place of God's worship until she repents". To Christians of that era mental illness was the same as being possessed by the devil. The Puritan view of life was strict. Punishments were harsh. Whippings were frequent.

A few months later, Dorothy was sentenced to be whipped for misdemeanours against her husband.

### Difficulty's death

Five months after that, in December 1638, Dorothy confessed to the "unnatural and untimely death of her daughter Difficulty Talby". She was found guilty by the jury and was condemned to be hanged.

The Journal of State Governor, John Winthrop noted that Dorothy was hanged at Boston on December 6 for the murder of Difficulty. "She had been a member of the church of Salem, and of good esteem for godliness. but falling at difference with her husband, through melancholy or spiritual delusions, she sometimes attempted to kill him, and her children, and herself, by refusing water. Soon after she was so possessed with Satan, that he persuaded her to break the neck of her own child, that she might free it from future misery. This she confessed upon her apprehension."

Dorothy Talby was hanged in Boston, Massachusetts, United States on December 6, 1638. She's the third known woman to be executed in the United States.

John Talby was excommunicated from the church later for what was called "unnaturalness to his wife" and "much pride". He died in Salem six years after his daughter in January 1645 at 50 years old.

## News

*For news articles on Difficulty Talby, see here.*

## External links

* American female hangings 1632 to 1937 • Capital Punishment UK
* Difficulty Talby (1635-1638) • Find a Grave
* Difficulty Taylbye (c. 1636-c. 1638) • Geni
* Dorothy Talby (1598-1638) • Find a Grave
* Dorothy Talbye trial • Wikipedia
* Talby family tree • Ancestry (paywall)

## Sources

1. ↑ Dorothy Talby (1598-1638) • Find a Grave
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 20 February 2016: Grantham Civic Society Column: Braceby to Massachusetts and murder • Grantham Journal
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Talby family tree • Ancestry (paywall)