The story of Mary Johnson is a somber chapter in the history of colonial Connecticut, marking her as the second individual known to be hanged for witchcraft in the burgeoning colony. Her unfortunate fate unfolded in Wethersfield, a community that would later gain fictional notoriety through Elizabeth George Speare’s novel, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and was indeed a site of real-life witchcraft accusations, with eight residents facing such charges in the 17th century.
Little is definitively known about Mary Johnson’s early life. Records fail to specify her birthdate or birthplace, nor when she arrived in Wethersfield. Her consistent referral without the title “Goodwife” suggests she remained unmarried throughout her life in colonial New England.
Early Legal Troubles and The Road to Accusation
Mary Johnson’s troubles began years before the witchcraft accusations. In 1646, she was convicted of theft, a serious offense in the austere colonial society. Her punishment was severe: she was ordered to be whipped immediately in Hartford and then again a month later in Wethersfield. This incident foreshadowed a life plagued by hardship and judicial scrutiny.
Tragically, her legal woes did not end with the thievery conviction. On December 7, 1648, Mary Johnson was brought before the court once more, this time on the grave charge of witchcraft. The jury’s verdict of guilty rested entirely upon her own confession, a common and deeply problematic practice during the era of witch hunts.
Cotton Mather’s Account and the Nature of Confession
More than four decades after Mary Johnson’s trial, the prominent Puritan minister Cotton Mather recounted her story in his 1689 work, Memorable Providences Relating To Witchcrafts And Possessions. Mather asserted that Mary Johnson was coerced into her confession by Reverend Samuel Stone. According to Mather, Johnson confessed not only to engaging in witchcraft but also to infanticide and to
