Susannah Martin

Salem Witch Trials

Susannah North Martin
Reading her Bible in Salem Jail

Susannah North was baptized at Olney, Buckinghamshire, England, September 30, 1621. Her mother died when she was a child, and her stepmother was named Ursula. She came to America with her father, stepmother, and at least one sister. Her family moved to Salisbury, Massachusetts, around 1639. On August 11, 1646, Susannah became the second wife of George Martin, a blacksmith with whom she had eight children.

First Accusation
In 1669, Susannah was first formally accused of witchcraft by William Sargent. Susannah was required to post 100 pounds bond to appear in court on a charge of witchcraft, a capital offense. George Martin sued Sargent for slander against Susannah for accusing her of being a witch, but the Court upheld the accusation of witchcraft. A higher court later dismissed the witchcraft charges.

Second Accusation
George died in 1686, leaving Susannah an impoverished widow by the time of the second accusation of witchcraft in 1692. Inhabitants of nearby Salem Village, Massachusetts, stated that she had attempted to recruit them into witchcraft. Susannah was tried for these charges, but she proved by all accounts to be pious and quoted the Bible freely, something a witch was said to be incapable of.

Descriptions of Susanna say that she was short, slightly plump, active, and “of remarkable personal neatness.” She was also said to be very outspoken, contemptuous of authority, and defiant in the face of slander which had followed her for years.

The Arrest
On April 30, 1692, a warrant was issued for Susannah’s arrest on a charge of witchcraft, and she was arrested an May 2nd. “When she saw Orlando Bagley approaching on the morning of her arrest, little did she dream of his errand. He was a personal friend of long standing, and we can but faintly imagine her surprise when…” he read the warrant.

On May 2, Susannah was taken to Ingersills Tavern in Salem Village for examination. She pleaded not guilty, and vigorously answered the charges against her. She underwent the indignity of a physical examination on June 2, 1692. The examinations were intended to discover whether the accused had any physical abnormalities, especially anything that could be used to suckle a familiar or even the devil himself. Susanna was examined twice during the same day; at neither examination was any abnormality discovered.

The Reverend Cotton Mather said of Susannah: “This woman was one of the most impudent, scurrilous, wicked creatures of this world; and she did now throughout her whole trial discover herself to be such a one. Yet when she was asked what she had to say for herself, her chief plea was that she had led a most virtuous and holy life.”

Mr. Merrill, in his History of Amesbury described Susanna differently. “The idea of snatching this hardworking, honest woman from her home to be tried for her life by those who never knew her, and witnesses who were prejudiced against her….is almost too much for belief. …Allowed no counsel, she was her own lawyer, and her answers are remarkable for independence and clearness. She showed herself to be a woman of more than ordinary talent and resolution.”

The Trial & Execution
Susannah was tried on the June 29th session of court. During the trial, it is said that she laughed out loud at the afflicted persons as they writhed about the floor in great pain, which they said was caused by Susannah’s bewitching arts. She later stated in her testimony that she did not think the afflicted were bewitched.

Many of her neighbors came to court to testify to her bewitching arts. All the while Susannah stuck to her faith, knowing that if she admitted she was a witch, it would save her life. At the trials end, Susannah Martin, at the age of 71, was found guilty and condemned to death.

On Tuesday, July 19, 1692 Susanna Martin, Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Wilde, and Elizabeth Howe were taken from their cells, put into a cart and driven up the rocky road to Gallows Hill at Salem, Massachusetts.

Susannah North Martin and the others were hanged by the neck until dead for allegedly committing acts of witchcraft.

In 1711, the General Court granted compensation to many of the victims or their heirs, but Susanna’s children made no application to the authorities and they received nothing. Susanna was not among those whose attainder was lifted.

SOURCES
Susannah Martin
Susannah North Martin
Susannah Martin – Salem Witch Trial

31 comments

  1. In researching my grandmother Bertha M Martin family from Kentucky. Surprise!
    My 14th great grandmother was Susannah North Martin! Thought how the Martin’s followed the same path down to Kentucky as my Harris line. Berths married Charles T Harris 1920 Chimney Rock, Kentucky. They had 3 children and 9 grandchildren.
    Grandmother Bertha was one of 24 children only 14 lived to adults.
    Her father was Oliver Grant Martin 1874-1952 married Virginia Bell Friend 21 May 1896 born 1879-1950. Looking for cousins!

    1. Hi Linda,

      I believe we might be related somewhere along the line as I am also a descendant of Susannah North Martin.

      1. She was my 11th great grandmother, weird.

        1. Why would that be weird? Be proud of the relative your related too. I love educating people who have a interested in American history. I’m also a relative of John Alden and Precilla Mullins who came over on the Mayflower and founded this great country.

      2. I too am a relative of Susanna Martin North!
        We very well might be related. Good to see other people who are related to Susanna

        1. Susannah North Martin was my 9ggrandmother.
          So sad what happened to her.

    2. Hi! Cousin here!
      I am the 8th Great Grand Daughter of Susannah through her youngest son Samuel. My maiden name is Martin. I have been researching the genealogy for a few years. I am a proud Martin & I laugh because in history her description sounds like a description of myself.
      Hello Family!

      1. I am also from Kentucky.

  2. Hi, I am the 10th Great Grand Daughter of Susannah North Martin. I feel a strong connection to her. I have exactly the same personality as she had. I have read the transcripts repeatedly and I know where I get my strength of character.

    1. Hello Cousin!
      Susanna was a bazillionth grandmother of mine, too. Did you know that she had a son in law who fought in the Revolutionary War?
      I’d be glad to hear from you.
      George Beu
      [email protected]

    2. Hello Cousin!
      Susanna was a bazillionth grandmother of mine, too. Did you know that she had a son in law who fought in the Revolutionary War?
      I’d be glad to hear from you. 480 209 3669
      George Beu
      [email protected]

    3. Funny, I feel the same way and couldn’t be prouder I’m the 8th Grand Daughter of Susanna Martin.

  3. Working on my family tree and I found out Susannah is my 12th great aunt! I was raised as a Wiccan with the understanding that someone in the family was from Salem and was in the witch trials! Now I know and I can’t wait to find out more!

    1. Hi Amanda!
      I come from a long line of Rauschs and I’ve been trying to find connections to the Salem witchcraft participants, but it seems most of our Rausch family spent time as Puritans in PA. I’d love to hear how you made this connection and if our treelines are similar.

  4. Hi all,
    I am the 11th Great Grand Daughter of Susannah North Martin! I love doing research about the trials, and reading about Susannah!

  5. Hello, I have recently discovered I am also a related to Susannah. She is my 11th great grandmother. I have documents to show! I am from a small town in Kentucky. I’d love to get any information from you all!
    [email protected]

    1. I too am a relative of Susanna Martin North and I as well have documentation of Susanna Martin as well as John Alden and Precilla Mullins!

  6. I am also a descendant of Susannah Martin! 10 or 11th Great Granddaughter. We have a letter from Preacher Kennedy that pardoned Susannah Martin

  7. *president Kennedy

  8. Susannah Martin is my 10th Great Grandmother. I have to wonder if a man had the traits that Susannah had wouldn’t he just be characterized as a strong man of strong convictions?

  9. I share family with her according to genealogy done for our family

    1. I as well. I have documentation of her being my Great Grandmother, as well as being a relative of John Alden and Precilla Mullins

  10. I sure have a lot of relatives I didn’t know about. Susannah Martin is my 9th Great Grandmother. Isn’t it wonderful that she lives on through us.

  11. She is also my 11th great grandmother! I feel a very strong connection to her, hoping to visit Salem very soon.

  12. Susannah North is my 10th great grandmother! Looks like we have a proud lime! Hold your heads up high!

  13. Susannah Martin is her married name as far as I understand. I believe her maiden name is North.

  14. Susannah Martin is my 9th grandmother. After learning about her experiences I feel frustrated by people who glamorize the Salem Witch Trials. I’m glad there are records out there to learn more about her.

  15. susannah martin was my family too

  16. If you follow me on Facebook, you may have read my brother Neal traced our paternal grandmother back eight generations to Susanna Martin, who was hung as a witch with four others in Salem in 1692. The term witch hunt has become a metaphor for what seems an American proclivity to categorize people as enemies of the state, think of the House Committee on Un-American Activities and the McCarthy era (although, it seems, some of us can’t tell a witch hunt from an insurrection).

    Cotton Mather considered Susanna to be “one of the most impudent, scurrilous, wicked creatures of this world,” while others saw her as a hard-working and even pious woman. Certainly, she was not intimidated at her trial, where she laughed at some of the testimony. When the judge asked her why she laughed, Susanna replied, “I may at such folly.”

    Anyway, I felt a need to look into Susanna’s life and trial and try to imagine what she might have been thinking on her cart ride up Gallows Hill.

    The Parting Thoughts of Susanna North Martin

    Twice previous, I have been accused of witchcraft. First, William Browne brought the charge I tormented his wife Elizabeth, with my spirit, causing her to go mad (God knows, she was already quite mad). And then William Sargent blasphemed I gave suckle to my son Richard as my imp (such vile imaginations men have) and most damning – of having and strangling a bastard infant, (I who bore eight children in service to my husband George). The record shows I was acquitted of all charges, but only because George stood by me, and sued Sargent for salacious slander.

    Now I am a widow, penniless, unrepresented, deprived of my inheritance by this very court and once again, charged with practicing the Black Arts. John Allen says I bewitched his oxen and drove them to drown themselves in a river (what hogwash); and these girls, who faint and swoon in the courthouse like feverish children, hurling their gloves at me in fits of blubbering, say I have harmed them with sorcery. I am guilty only of speaking my mind, the greatest offence to these pompous officials in their fine robes and vestments. Tis the curse of Eve, seduced to eat forbidden fruit, condemning women to the charge of susceptibility to Satan’s charms.

    The torments I’ve suffered, languishing in a cell, not fit for cattle, for two and a half months and twice subjected to the gross violation of having my body stripped and pierced with needles in search of the devil’s mark, the deformity by which, I am accused of giving suckle to a familiar. They found no such mark, though they probed every inch of me in search of it. Oh, how I bled, my flesh is still a pox of sores, pricked and stabbed with needles like a slab of tenderized meat.

    Yet I am declared guilty, the examiner found my breasts full in the morn, but slack by the evening, evidence of having given suckle while recovering from my wounds. What damnable folly, I am a woman of 71 years, they know nothing of feminine ways.

    As I ride in this rickety cart to be hanged at Gallows Hill with four other unfortunate sorcerers, I will not flinch, even as they tighten the coarse noose around my neck. Death is my only hope of salvation. I will go to it willingly, show no fear, no regret, nor give them satisfaction by confessing to their lies.

    May God find me worthy of his company in paradise.

  17. This is bonkers guys. My 10th great grand dad was a judge in the trials and charged Susan nah Martin guilty and got her executed. So sorry for your loss. I’m from Massachusetts and some people in Salem think i’m a witch because I practice witchcraft and eat kids. Weird right. I’m about to have a baby and cps wants to take her from me because might sacrifice her. Pls fight for my custody of my unborn daughter.

  18. OMG crazy! She is my 8th great-great grandmother’s daughter. This is a family reunion in these comments. Love you family. My 32nd great-great-greatgrandmas birthday is in a few months. My great-grandmother’s tenth cat past owner, cousin’s husband, and third grandma’s friend Susan Good, was related to Sarah Good. Isn’t it crazy how we are all seemingly related??

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