Margaret Stevenson Scott

Accused of Witchcraft

Born Margaret Stevenson in England in about the year 1615, she first appeared in the record books in 1642, when she married Benjamin Scott. Initially the Scotts lived in Braintree, Massachusetts, but later moved to Cambridge where they had four children between 1644 and 1650. The Scott family arrived in Rowley (a small town north of Salem) in 1651, where Margaret gave birth to three additional children.

The Scotts lacked the money to purchase their own land, and in 1664 the town donated land to Benjamin Scott. In March of 1665, Benjamin Scott was convicted of the crime of theft, for which he was “fined and admonished.” However, six months later he took the Freeman’s Oath, indicating he was both a householder and a church member.

Benjamin Scott died in 1671 leaving an estate worth only 67 pounds and 17 shillings, not much by the standards of that time. Margaret had to live on that estate for the next twenty-one years, and by the time of the Salem trials must have been very poor.

The Accusations
At first glance, Margaret Scott seems to have lived an uneventful life, but certain aspects of her character made her a very likely candidate as a witch suspect. One such aspect was the high infant mortality rate among her children. Women in New England who had trouble raising children were very vulnerable to witchcraft charges.

Out of Margaret’s seven children, only three made it to adulthood. Only one of her three children born in Rowley lived to adulthood. The residents of Rowley would have been well aware of her high infant mortality rate. Still, by the time of the witchcraft trials, 77-year-old Margaret Scott had as many as eleven grandchildren.

Another factor that made her vulnerable to accusations was her status as a widow for twenty-one years. Being a widow did not in itself expose a woman to suspicion, but Scott suffered from the economic and social effects of being a widow for a prolonged period. The most dangerous aspect of being a widow was the lack of a husband for legal support and influence.

Often widows who were over fifty and not wealthy, were unable to find a new spouse, and were reduced to poverty and begging. By begging, the widow exposed herself to witchcraft suspicions, according to what historian Robin Briggs calls the refusal guilt syndrome. This occurred when a beggar’s needs were refused, which caused feelings of guilt and aggression on the refuser’s part. The refuser projected this aggression on the beggar and grew suspicious of her.

Some of the depositions against Scott did involve misfortunes occurring to people who had denied her a service or food. Perhaps Scott actually used her reputation to receive favors, which could be very effective. If people believed that Scott was a witch, they might have eagerly given her what she asked out of fear of retaliation. However, if someone refused Scott and then fell on bad circumstances, witchcraft accusations were almost a certainty.

Evidence suggests that Scott’s suffering and dependence on begging resulted in part from a lack of familial support. Only Margaret Scott’s son Benjamin stayed in Rowley. When she was accused of witchcraft, Benjamin, who had six children of his own at the time, probably lacked the time and money to pursue a legal defense of his mother.

Margaret Scott was formally accused of witchcraft by Rowley’s most distinguished citizens – the Wicoms and the Nelsons. Formal charges were filed after the daughter of Captain Daniel Wicom became afflicted by witchcraft. The Nelsons helped produce witnesses, and one of the Nelsons sat on the grand jury that indicted her.

The Trial
By the time Margaret Scott appeared in front of the court, critics of the Salem Witchcraft Trials had become more vocal, expressing concern over the wide use of spectral evidence – testimony that the accused witch’s spirit (spector) had appeared to the witness in a dream or vision – in the Salem trials.

Both the Nelsons and the Wicoms also provided maleficium evidence – a witch’s destruction of one’s property, health, or family – against Margaret Scott. Both testimonies show evidence of the refusal guilt syndrome.

Of the six depositions presented before the Salem Court on September 15, 1692, four described the spectral image of Margaret Scott tormenting others. The spectral evidence came from the depositions of young women who may have been influenced by their paranoia surrounding Indian hostilities, social pressures, and religious beliefs. Some depositions showed that many people suspected Scott was a witch long before 1692.

Frances Wicom testified that Margaret Scott’s specter tormented her on many occasions. Several factors may have led to her testimony, including her home environment and its relationship with Indian conflicts. She undoubtedly heard firsthand accounts of bloody conflicts with Indians from her father, who was a captain in the militia. New evidence shows that a direct correlation can be found between anxiety over Indian wars and witchcraft accusations.

Another girl tormented by Margaret Scott’s specter was Mary Daniel. Records show that Mary Daniel probably was a servant in the household of Rowley’s minister, Edward Payson. If Mary Daniel worked for Mr. Payson, her religious surroundings could well have had an effect on her actions. Recent converts to Puritanism felt inadequate and unworthy, and at times displaced their worries through possession and other violent experiences.

The third girl to be tormented spectrally was Sarah Coleman. Sarah was born in Rowley, but lived most of her life in the neighboring town of Newbury. Sarah testified that the spector of Margaret Scott started to afflict her on August 15, which was only four days before the execution of five other accused witches, which would have brought considerable attention to the Salem proceedings.

Margaret’s case included spectral evidence, but it also involved a lot of maleficium evidence, and she exhibited many characteristics that were believed to be common among witches in New England. To the judges at Salem, Margaret Scott was a perfect candidate to highlight the court’s effectiveness, and silence the opposition. They might have taken the opportunity to prosecute her to bolster their own reputation.

In the end, Margaret Scott was found guilty of witchcraft due to prolonged suspicion of her character, the spectral and maleficium evidence provided at her trial, and the prominence of the accusers in her community.

The Execution
On September 22, 1692, Margaret Stevenson Scott was hanged by the neck until dead on Gallows Hill, Salem, Massachusetts – the last of the executions there during the witchcraft trials

In the spring of 1693, Governor William Phipps signed pardons for the accused who were still in prison. It took until 1697 for the court to admit wrongdoing. The General Court ordered a day of fasting, and declared the 1692 trials unlawful. During the early 1700s, Salem passed a bill stating that those accused had their good name and rights as citizens restored – a bit late for those who had been hanged.

SOURCES
Salem Witch Trials
The Events and Causes of the Salem Witch Trials

52 comments

  1. Very interesting Mrs. Scott is my great great great however many grandmother

    1. I can trace my great grand parents to salem mass in the 1600’s during the witch trials. They were the john and hester sanders family. I am also a scott and am having trouble finding my grandparents back befoe about 1800. Can you give me margrets geneology to see if we connect

      1. She is my ninth great grand mother. I have a public family tree (Morris Family Tree) on Ancestry.com that traces the Scott side of my family back to England.

        1. My names jeffrey philip welch and i just found out margret scott is my 9 great grandmother to if you like you could call me 405 9772801

      2. Well wassup fam, Margaret Scott is apperently my 12th great grandmother. Nice to meet you all

    2. Then we must be cousins, several times removed! She was my 10 x great-grandmother. ~ Kim Johnson Birnbaum

      1. She was my 10X Great Grandmother as well! Were from Scott, Hayden, Webb, Sanders and Stinson line!

      2. Me too! 10th granddaughter here.

    3. Carol we must be cousins! Margaret is my great grandmother ten times removed. Deb in Charlottesville.

    4. Mine too. 10th!

    5. She’s my 10th great gma

  2. Carol, she’s my 9th great- grandmother. Hello cousin

    1. Well… I’m a Stevenson… I’m not exactly sure where she is in my particular family tree, but I’ll definitely be doing some digging. Interesting to say the least.

  3. Margaret is my 17th (?) great grandmother! Also learned that a second ancestor died in prison 7 days later after refusing to confess to witchcraft.

    1. My 10th! We’re related!

  4. Margaret & Benjamin Scott are my 12th generation grandparents.
    John Scott
    Joseph Scott
    Joseph Scott
    Abijah Scott
    Lemual Scott
    George Edmond Scott
    Moses Cook Scott
    Sanford McClain Scott
    Douglas Cummings Scott
    Douglas Gordon Scott

    Missing one?
    [email protected]

  5. How does this work she is my 9th great grandmother as well.
    I think I want reparations Lets all sue Mass. And Salem for this killing

  6. My 13th great grandmother

    1. Hey there i just found out that margret was my 9 great grandmother if you like you can reach me at 405-977-2801

  7. Hello i am also a descendent of Margaret Scott. She is my 12th Great Grandmother on my mother’s side. Something else i found out is that my great grandmother’s maiden name is Scott. When i found all this out it kinda made me proud and happy. I love Massachusetts with a passion and knowing that my 12th great grandmother was hanged during the Salem witch trials made me feel more connected to Massachusetts and this lands history.

    1. She was my 9th great grandmother. I hope she knows that we all think of her often♥️

  8. My ancestor, too! It was so exciting to get a large ancestral chart from a relative and up toward the top was listed “Margaret Scott (the witch)!”

    1. I think we might be more closely related than some of these other folks. My ancestor John Turner was the first to come over here from my mother’s family line. Are you from that branch as well?

  9. She’s my 8th great grandmother. At least I think. The records are conflicting. It looks like her son William is my 7th great grandfather. I live in Oregon and am leaving for a short vacation to Boston tomorrow! Definitely going to make another trip to Salem and probably Rowley. I also want to visit Procter Ridge, the actual site of the hangings (not Gallow’s Hill).

    1. I hope you were able to find more data on William Scott during your visit to Boston. Benjamin and Margaret Scott did not have a son, William, and I do not see any of that name among the next generation either.

      1. I do believe they had a son named William who lived 1633-1718. He married Hannah Allis. That’s the information found by my family ancestry. My husband is a 13th generation descendant of Margaret.

  10. Margaret Scott is my 10x great aunt on my mothers fathers side

    I wish I could find a picture of her

  11. I just found out yesterday, the anniversary of her hanging, that Margaret was my 8th great-grandmother. My second cousin is there right now researching it. “Scott” is a very common name on my mother’s side, going all the way back there.

  12. Margaret Kinsey (Stevenson) Scott is my 10th great grandmother on my mother’s side

    1. Margaret Scott Is my 9th Great Grandmother on my Dads side

  13. Margaret S. Scott is my 11 generation grandmother.
    She had such a hard sad life.
    I am glad some of her grands had good lives and made a name for the Scott.
    My 4th generation grand helped to form the State of Mississippi.

  14. I just found out that Margaret Scott is my 8th great grandmother. Looks like there’s a lot of distant cousins on this list.

  15. Margaret is my 8th great grandmother as well. Her daughter Mary is my 7th as she married a Decker which is my grandmother’s maiden name. Easy line to follow.

  16. I find it ironic that a woman who was suspect it in part because of her difficulty raising children to adulthood has so many descendants! Ha! to her accusers!! (Supposedly, she’s my generation’s 9th grandmother, but the “family” member doing the research is by marriage and prone to jump at suggestions instead of really looking at facts. I’ll have to look into it and see if you’re all my kin.)

  17. I grew up in Rowley and it was family lore that we were related to Margaret Scott. The only connection that I have found is that my great grandmother was Adele Decker Searle. I know that Margaret’s daughter married a Decker. Does anyone have an idea how we are connected to Margaret???

    1. Mary Scott married John Decker in 1680 in Rowley. They appear to have had only one son, John, marry and have children. He married Sarah Bennett in 1706, also in Rowley, and they had at least eight children. I’d recommend checking the Rowley Vital Records in your library to follow the Decker line forward. Both the Bennets and the Searles were also in Rowley since the beginning.

  18. My sister and I just found out Margaret Stevenson Scott is our 9th great grandmother and would love to connect with some of you! Looks like there are a lot of distant relatives on here. 🙂

  19. I found out today she is my 10th Great Grandmother as well. It is good to see we are all here. Generation later. Amazing and good to see you all.

  20. 10th Great Grandmother! A lot of us here are related!

    1. My 10th great grandmother as well!

  21. Wow, there are so many of us! She is my 9th great-grandmother! I find her story incredibly sad… move to a foreign country to struggle through life and be murdered! Is anyone planning a future reunion (after pandemic of course) I’d love to attend!

  22. She is my 10x great grandmother.

  23. She is also my 10th great grandmother through my mother’s paternal side.

  24. Just found out she’s my 8x great grandmother too, on my father’s father’s side. I had no idea there were so many cousins here. Wow!

  25. Mrs. Scott was found in my family tree as my 12th great grandmother.

  26. There is no indication that Benjamin and Margaret Stephenson Scott lived in Braintree. A different Benjamin Scott lived there, with wife Hannah. Their children were Hannah (m. C. Webb) and Benjamin, who never married. He died about 1646, as the next year his widow married John Harbour. Hannah Scott Harbour died before 1677, when her estate was settled in May.
    Benjamin Scott of Cambridge married Margaret Stephenson there on 28 July, 1642, when Benjamin Scott of Braintree was still alive and living with wife Hannah.
    Benjamin and Margaret Scott lived in Cambridge until about 1651, when they moved to Rowley.
    As your article states, Margaret had been a widow for more than 20 years and was living in poverty, forced to beg from her neighbors. Three of her children were adults, living with their own families, and although Benjamin’s will instructed his oldest son to provide a home for Margaret, either that was not done or she had been pushed out of the family. Benjamin, jr.’s home still stands in Rowley, a lovely and large home, surely large enough to hold his family and his mother. When the colony came it its senses in the early 1700s, restitution was offered to those who had spent hard money supporting their family member in jail, or whose property had been confiscated after they had been found guilty of witchcraft. The fact that none of Margaret’s descendants claimed restitution on her behalf may indicate they had wiped their hands of her prior to her arrest – but also that none of them had spent any funds supporting her needs in jail or defending her from the charges in court. It would seem she died a lonely, isolated woman.

  27. My 10th great grandmother on my father’s mom’s side! I was so excited and proud to find this out.

  28. Margaret Scott is my 9th GGrandmother thru her son Henry and his daughter, Mary’s line. I also noticed that her Wiki page shows that actress Claire Danes is also a descendant. I guess we are all cousins.

    From what I can see in my genealogy, Margaret is showing that she is descended from the Walsinghams thru her maternal line. They were English nobility.

    1. Hi Julie, I am also descended through the Walsingham line by my late dad who born in Northern Ireland.

  29. Came here after learning shes my 9th great grandmother. Hey cousins!

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