SOCIAL MEDIA


Salem Witch Trials in Colonial New England

Friday, April 19, 2013
Colonial Houses

Now that I have your attention, let me tell you that there is no telling where your ancestor's fit in history. My Sis is the family historian. She has been at this for about 43 years...starting with someones information in the 1960's. She has traced our mother's family (both sides) to colonial New England. They came to this land from England on the second group of ships after the Mayflower, carrying Pilgrims to settle in the Massachusetts colony.

I have an ancestor, a woman, who was tried and executed as a witch in a colony very near Salem. That is an unexpected find in the family tree. I gather that she had children who survived and continued the direct line.

Sometimes, my Sis finds dead ends, that happened with my Great Great Grandmother Elvira Riley Hawley. It appears that her family is definitely Irish. (That fact makes complete sense... where my red hair gene came from on that side of the family tree.) However, the immigrant parents must have been illiterate. The family name was probably spelled many different ways, and is not traceable past immigration.