Timeline: Before 1692 | January 1692 | February 1692 | March 1692 | April 1692 | May 1692 | June 1692 | July 1692 | August 1692 | September 1692 | October 1692 | November/December 1692 | 1693 | The Aftermath
Note that in Old Style dates, January through March of 1693 (New Style) were listed as part of 1692.
1693
1693: Cotton Mather published his study of satanic possession, Wonders of the Invisible World. Increase Mather , his father, published Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits, denouncing the use of spectral evidence in trials. Rumors circulated that Increase Mather 's wife was about to be denounced as a witch.
January: The Superior Court tried Sarah Buckley, Margaret Jacobs, Rebecca Jacobs and Job Tookey, who had been indicted in September, and found them not guilty of the charges. Charges were dismissed for many others of the accused. Sixteen more were tried, with 13 found not guilty and 3 convicted and condemned to hang: Elizabeth Johnson Jr., Sarah Wardwell and Mary Post. Margaret Hawkes and her slave Mary Black were among those found not guilty on January 3. Candy, another slave, was cleared by proclamation on January 11, and she returned to her master's household when he paid her jail fees. Forty-nine of the accused were released in January because the cases against them relied on spectral evidence.
January 2: The Rev. Francis Dane wrote to fellow ministers that, knowing the people of Andover where he served as senior minister, "I believe many innocent persons have been accused and imprisoned." He denounced the use of spectral evidence. A similar missive signed by 41 men and 12 women of Andover was sent to the Salem court. Several of Rev. Dane's family had been accused and imprisoned, including his wife Deliverance, and two of his family members, his daughter Abigail Faulkner and his granddaughter Elizabeth Johnson, Jr., had been sentenced to death.
January 3: William Stoughton ordered the execution of these three and several others whose executions had not been carried out yet or had been delayed, including women whose executions were temporarily stayed because they were pregnant. Governor Phips pardoned all of those named, countering Stoughton's orders. Stoughton responded by resigning as a judge.
January 7, 1693: Elizabeth Hubbard testified for the last time in the witchcraft trials.
January 17: A court ordered a new committee be selected to govern Salem Village church, on the grounds that the previous committee had neglected to fully raise the minister's salary in 1691 - 1692.
Late January / early February: Sarah Cole (of Lynn), Lydia and Sarah Dustin, Mary Taylor and Mary Toothaker were tried and found not guilty by the Superior Court. They were, however, held in jail pending payment of their jail fees.
March: Rebecca Eames was released from prison.
March 20, 1693: Abigail Faulkner, whose execution was only delayed because she was pregnant, and whose sister, sister-in-law, two daughters, two nieces and a nephew had been among those accused of witchcraft, gave birth to a son she named Ammi Ruhamah, meaning "my people have obtained mercy."
Late April: The Superior Court, meeting in Boston, cleared Captain John Alden Jr. They also heard a new case: a servant was charged with falsely accusing her mistress of witchcraft.
May: The Superior Court dismissed the charges against still more of the accused, and found Mary Barker, William Barker Jr., Mary Bridges Jr., Eunice Fry and Susannah Post not guilty of the charges against them.
May: Governor Phips formally pardoned those still in prison from the Salem witch trials. He ordered them released if they paid a fine. Governor Phips formally ended the trials at Salem.
May: elections for the General Court saw Samuel Sewall and several others of the judges from the Court of Oyer and Terminer gain in votes from the previous election.
July 22: Robert Eames, husband of Rebecca Eames, died.
