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
May 1692
May 2: Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne examined Sarah Morrell, Lydia Dustin, Susannah Martin and Dorcas Hoar. Philip English was reported as missing.
May 3: Sarah Morrell, Susannah Martin, Lydia Dustin and Dorcas Hoar were taken to Boston's jail.
May 4: George Burroughs was arrested in Wells, Maine (Maine was at the time a northern part of the province of Massachusetts) on charges of witchcraft after being accused on April 30. Burroughs had been serving as the minister in Wells for nine years.
May 7: George Burroughs was returned to Salem and was jailed.
May 9: George Burroughs and Sarah Churchill were examined by Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne. Burroughs was moved to Boston's jail.
May 10: Sarah Osborne died in jail. Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne examined Margaret Jacobs and George Jacobs Sr., granddaughter and grandfather. Margaret implicated her grandfather and George Burroughs in witchcraft. A warrant was issued for the arrest of John Willard, who had himself been a constable in Salem Village bringing in the accused. He attempted to flee, but was found and arrested later.
May 12: Ann Pudeator and Alice Parker were arrested. Abigail Hobbs and Mary Warren were questioned. John Hale and John Higginson observed part of the day's proceedings. Mary English was sent to Boston to be jailed there.
May 14: Sir William Phips arrived in Massachusetts to take up his position as royal governor, accompanied by Increase Mather . The charter they brought also restored self-government in Massachusetts and named William Stoughton as lieutenant governor. The Salem Village witchcraft accusations, including the large and growing number of people overflowing the jails and awaiting trial, drew Phips' attention quickly.
May 16: Governor Phips was given the oath of office.
May 18: John Willard was examined. Mary Easty was set free; existing records do not show why. Dr. Roger Toothaker was arrested, accused of witchcraft by Elizabeth Hubbard, Ann Putnam Jr., and Mary Wolcott.
May 20: Mary Easty, set free only two days before, was accused of afflicting Mercy Lewis; Mary Easty was charged again and returned to jail.
May 23: Boston jail ordered additional shackles for prisoners, using money loaned by Samuel Sewall.
May 25: Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse, Dorcas Good, Sarah Cloyce and John and Elizabeth Proctor were ordered transferred to Boston's jail.
May 27: Seven judges were appointed to a Court of Oyer and Terminer by Governor Phips: Bartholomew Gedney, John Hathorne, Nathaniel Saltonstall, William Sergeant, Samuel Sewall, Waitstill Winthrop and Lieutenant Governor William Stoughton. Stoughton was appointed to head the special court.
May 28: Wilmott Redd was arrested, accused of "sundry acts of witchcraft" on Mary Wolcott and Mercy Lewis. Martha Carrier, Thomas Farrar, Elizabeth Hart, Elizabeth Jackson, Mary Toothaker, Margaret Toothaker (9 years old) and John Willard were also arrested.
May 30: Elizabeth Fosdick and Elizabeth Paine were accused of witchcraft against Mercy Lewis and Mary Warren.
May 31: John Alden, Martha Carrier, Elizabeth How, Wilmott Redd and Philip English were examined by Bartholomew Gedney, Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne. Cotton Mather wrote a letter to John Richards, a judge, with advice on how the court should proceed. Mather warned that the court should not rely on spectral evidence. Philip English was sent to jail in Boston to join his wife there; they were treated quite well due to their many connections.
