This document outlines the participation of an ancestor, John Whiting, in a witchcraft trial during colonial times. It will be expanded as more source material becomes available. If you have questions, suggestions, or other comments, please use the e-mail link at the bottom of this page.
The witchcraft hysteria that gripped Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 is well known, having been the subject of both a Broadway play, The Crucible, and a made-for-TV movie, Salem Witch Trials. Less well known are the witchcraft trials in Connecticut, during the mid-to-late 17th century. The high water mark for witchcraft hysteria in Connecticut was in Hartford beginning on March 23, 1662. On that Sunday Elizabeth Kelly, age 8, developed a stomach ache after eating a hot broth. By Wednesday she had died after accusing one Goody Ayres of having tormented her by witchcraft. On the previous day a neighbor named Rebecca Greensmith had been among those who came to help in attending to the sick child. On May 13, 1662, an inquest was held into the death of Elizabeth Kelly, and amid accusations and counter-accusations Nathaniel Greensmith brought suit against William Ayres for having slandered Rebecca, his wife. Goody Ayres was never prosecuted for witchcraft, and the slander suit never came to trial since William Ayres and his wife fled the colony.
Meanwhile, Ann Cole was one of three women in Hartford who were being afflicted with strange fits. During her seizures Ann Cole was occasionally incoherent and later claimed not to remember what she had said. However, during moments of lucidity, she named Rebecca Greensmith as being one of a band of witches living in Hartford and engaged in afflicting her body, spoiling her good name, and preventing her marriage. Four ministers were sent to interview Ann Cole and to record her utterances: the Reverend Samuel Stone and the Reverend John Whiting, both of Hartford, the Reverend Joseph Haynes, and the Reverend Samuel Hooker. When Whiting and Haynes later read the record of this interview in court with Rebecca Greensmith present, she confessed that Ann Cole's account was true and that she and others named in the account had familiarity with the Devil.
On December 30, 1662, a Particular Court in Hartford indicted both Nathaniel and Rebecca Greensmith for "familiarity with Satan" and "performing preternatural acts." The magistrates were Matthew Allyn (moderator), Samuel Wyllys, Richard Treat, Henry Wolcott, Daniel Clark (Secretary), and John Allyn. The jurors were Edward Griswold, Walter Fyler, Ensign John Olmsted, Samuel Boardman, Gregory Winterton, John Cowles, Samuel Marshall, Samuel Hale, Nathaniel Willett, John Hart, John Wadsworth, and Robert Webster. Nathaniel, who maintained his innocence, was allowed to return home until the trial, but Rebecca was jailed pending trial.
The trial was held on January 8, 1663. Rebecca Greensmith retold and embellished her earlier confession and named names of other witches. She denied having signed a covenant with the Devil but said this was to have been scheduled at Christmas. Both Nathaniel and Rebecca Greensmith were convicted along with another defendant, but a fourth defendant was acquitted.
On January 25, 1663, the three convicted witches were all hanged at Hartford. They had been kept at the home of Daniel Garrett, the jailer, and had to bring their own beds and clothing and to pay for their keep.
Following the witches' execution, the seizures of Ann Cole stopped, as reported in a letter written on December 4, 1682, twenty years afterwards, by John Whiting to Increase Mather, who considered the Greensmiths' case to be a convictive proof for the reality of witchcraft. Their case appears in his An Essay for the Recording of Illustrious Providences, first published in 1684.
The Greensmiths' property, including their house, was forfeit, and in 1668 the court sold the house to Andrew Benton, a nephew of Edward Benton. Ann Cole later married Andrew Benton as his second wife and lived in the Greensmiths' house for the rest of her life.
During King Philip's War (1675-76) the Connecticut legislature appointed Reverend John Whiting to be chaplain of all the Connecticut forces. Some of his notable descendants include Jan Masaryk, David Hyde Pierce, Ogden Nash, Felicity Huffman, Roger Sessions, Gloria Vanderbilt, Anderson Cooper, Charles Ives, Rutherford B. Hayes, John Humphrey Noyes, Ernest Hemingway, and Mariel Hemingway.