Salem With Trials-Sarah Osborne
Sarah Osborne
Dear Boston Globe,
I am writing to you from my jail cell in the hope that you will publish my letter and let the world know my story.
I was born as Sarah Warren in Watertown, Massachusetts in 1643. In 1662, at age 19, I married Robert Prince, a Salem Villager. He purchased a 150-acre farm, in Salem Village, next to Captain John Putman’s farm, and I moved in with him. Putman was our neighbor, my husband’s brother-in-law, and the executor of my husband’s will. We had two sons, whom we named Joseph and James, and a daughter, whom we named Elizabeth. James was the oldest of the three children, and Joseph was the youngest. When my husband died in 1647, he left his land entrusted to me with the provision that, upon my coming of age, it be given to our two sons. Soon after his death, I hired an indentured Irish immigrant by the name of Alexander Osborne. By working as a farm hand, he paid off his indenture. Rumor quickly spread about our living together and we eventually became married. I attempted to overtake my children’s inheritance of land and seize control of the estate for my new husband and myself. This broke the will of my deceased husband and a legal battle ensued between me and my two sons, who were the rightful owners of the land. John Putnam and his brother Thomas defended my sons and the conflict continued until I was accused of witchcraft. Society believed that because of my living arrangements with Alexander, and the fact that I did not follow the suggested “patterns of land tenure and inheritance”, I must be practicing witchcraft.
In February of 1692, I, along with Tituba and Sarah Good, was accused of witchcraft in Salem. I was accused by Thomas and Edward Putman, Joseph Hutchinson, and Thomas Preston for afflicting Ann Putman, Jr., Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, and Elizabeth Hubbard. Betty Parris and Abigail Williams. Betty Parris and Abigail Williams became ill with an unknown sickness and claimed that we were afflicting
Dear Boston Globe,
I am writing to you from my jail cell in the hope that you will publish my letter and let the world know my story.
I was born as Sarah Warren in Watertown, Massachusetts in 1643. In 1662, at age 19, I married Robert Prince, a Salem Villager. He purchased a 150-acre farm, in Salem Village, next to Captain John Putman’s farm, and I moved in with him. Putman was our neighbor, my husband’s brother-in-law, and the executor of my husband’s will. We had two sons, whom we named Joseph and James, and a daughter, whom we named Elizabeth. James was the oldest of the three children, and Joseph was the youngest. When my husband died in 1647, he left his land entrusted to me with the provision that, upon my coming of age, it be given to our two sons. Soon after his death, I hired an indentured Irish immigrant by the name of Alexander Osborne. By working as a farm hand, he paid off his indenture. Rumor quickly spread about our living together and we eventually became married. I attempted to overtake my children’s inheritance of land and seize control of the estate for my new husband and myself. This broke the will of my deceased husband and a legal battle ensued between me and my two sons, who were the rightful owners of the land. John Putnam and his brother Thomas defended my sons and the conflict continued until I was accused of witchcraft. Society believed that because of my living arrangements with Alexander, and the fact that I did not follow the suggested “patterns of land tenure and inheritance”, I must be practicing witchcraft.
In February of 1692, I, along with Tituba and Sarah Good, was accused of witchcraft in Salem. I was accused by Thomas and Edward Putman, Joseph Hutchinson, and Thomas Preston for afflicting Ann Putman, Jr., Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, and Elizabeth Hubbard. Betty Parris and Abigail Williams. Betty Parris and Abigail Williams became ill with an unknown sickness and claimed that we were afflicting