Ann Glover

2016-09-07T17:15:19Z

205.250.139.226: /* Early life */

{{For|those of a similar name|Anne Glover (disambiguation)}}

'''Goodwife Ann "Goody" Glover''' (died November 16, 1688) was the last person to be hanged in [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] as a [[witch]], although the [[Salem witch trials]] in nearby [[Salem, Massachusetts]] occurred mainly in 1692.

==Early life==
[[File:Witch in the Salem Witch Trials.jpg|thumb|467x467px|An accused "witch" during the witch trials in the late 1600s ]]
Ann Glover was born in [[Ireland]] as a [[Roman Catholic]]. Her birth date and many of her background information is unknown. During [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland|Cromwell's invasion of Ireland]] where Oliver Cromwell was rounding up thousands of Irish and Scots, Ann and her husband were transported as slaves to Barbados to work on the sugar plantations. Many slaves were forced to take their master's name so Ann Glover's name could potentially be completely different. Her husband was executed in [[Barbados]] for refusing to renounce his Catholic faith.<ref name="historical">''Historical Records and Studies, Volume 17'', pp. 70-78.</ref> Historians do not know what the context was but at his death, he said that his wife was a witch.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/goody-ann-glover-irish-native-was-the-last-witch-hanged-in-boston-video-150184495-237445461.html|title="Goody" Ann Glover, Irish native was the last witch hanged in Boston (VIDEO)|date=2015-10-15|website=IrishCentral.com|access-date=2016-05-25}}</ref>

==Life in Boston==
By 1680, Ann and her daughter were living in [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] where they worked as housekeepers for [[John Goodwin (mason)|John Goodwin]]. In the summer of 1688, Martha Goodwin (age 13) accused Ann Glover's daughter of stealing laundry. This caused Ann to have a fierce argument with Martha and the Goodwin children which then supposedly caused them to become ill and start acting strange.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.unamsanctamcatholicam.com/component/content/article/79-history/279-anti-catholicism-in-the-salem-witch-trials.html|title=Unam Sanctam Catholicam|last=Boniface|website=www.unamsanctamcatholicam.com|access-date=2016-05-23}}</ref> The doctor that was called suggested it was caused by [[witchcraft]] because he couldn't diagnose or heal the children. Martha and the other children seemed to be "bewitched" <ref>''The Genealogical Dictionary of New England'' (ed. James Savage).</ref>

Glover was arrested and tried for [[witchcraft]]. It's unclear whether she couldn't speak [[English language|English]] or would just refuse to speak it. It's more likely that she simply didn't know English.<ref name="historical"/> Instead she spoke her native language, [[Irish language|Irish]] and [[Latin language|Latin]]. Reverend [[Cotton Mather]] wrote that Glover was "a scandalous old Irishwoman, very poor, a Roman Catholic and obstinate in idolatry."<ref>[[Magnalia Christi Americana]], Cotton Mather, 1702.</ref> At her trial it was demanded of her to say the Lord's Prayer, she recited it in [[ Gaeilge|Irish]] and broken Latin, but since she had never learned it in English, she could not say it in English.<ref name="historical"/> There was a belief that if someone couldn't recite the Lord's prayer then they were a witch. Her house was searched and "small images" or doll-like figures were found. When Mather was interrogating her she supposedly said that she prayed to a host of spirits and Mather took this to mean that these spirits were demons.<ref name=":0" /> Two puritan men who "supposedly" spoke Gaelic said that she "confessed" to using them for witchcraft. This is unreliable because we know nothing of these men and whether or not they actually spoke Gaelic and if they were even telling the truth. Many of the accusations against Ann used [[Spectral evidence]], which can't be proven. Cotton Mather visited Glover in prison where he said that she supposedly engaged in nighttime trysts with the devil and other evil spirits. It was considered that Ann might not be of sound mind and could possible be mentally ill. 5 of 6 physicians checked her and found her to be competent and so she was then pronounced guilty and put to death by hanging. [[File:Goodwife Ann Glover.jpg|thumb|500x500px|This is a memorial for Goodwife Ann Glover located in North End, Boston, Massachusetts to commemorate Ann Glover as the first catholic martyr to be killed in Massachusetts.]]On November 16, 1688, Glover was hanged in Boston amid mocking shouts from the crowd.<ref>''History of the United States, Volume II'', Bancroft, p. 52.</ref> When she was taken out to be hanged she said that her death would not relieve the children of their malady. There are several testaments of what her final words were. According to some she said that the children would keep suffering because there were other witches besides her who had been involved with bewitching the children and when asked to name the other witches, she refused. Another account says that Glover said that killing her would be useless because it was someone else that had bewitches the children.<ref name=":1" /> Either way, Ann Glover did believe in witches. A Boston merchant who knew her, Robert Calef, said that "Goody Glover was a despised, crazy, poor old woman, an Irish Catholic who was tried for afflicting the Goodwin children. Her behavior at her trial was like that of one distracted. They did her cruel. The proof against her was wholly deficient. The jury brought her guilty. She was hung. She died a Catholic."<ref>''More Wonders of the Invisible World'', London, 1700.</ref>

The evidence found against her can be argued against. When Glover told Mather that she prayed to a host of spirits she may have been talking about Catholic saints. The dolls she had in her possession that were believed to have been used for witchcraft might actually have been crude representations of Catholic saints. The majority of the population at that time and place was [[Puritan]]; some Puritans were prejudiced against [[Catholics]].

One contemporary writer recorded that, "There was a great concourse of people to see if the Papist would relent, her one cat was there, fearsome to see. They would to destroy the cat, but Mr. Calef would not permit it. Before her executioners she was bold and impudent, making to forgive her accusers and those who put her off. She predicted that her death would not relieve the children saying that it was not she that afflicted them."<ref name="historical" />

==Legacy==
Three hundred years later in 1988, the Boston City Council proclaimed November 16 as ''Goody Glover Day''. She is the only victim of the witchcraft hysteria in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to receive such a tribute. Although Ann Glover's accusations and death were before the commonly known Salem Witch Trials, she was the first Catholic martyr in Massachusetts and would become the basis for many of the cases in the 1692 [[Salem witch trials]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wildeyedsoutherncelt.com/tag/goodwife-glover/|title=Goodwife Glover Archives - Wild Eyed Southern Celt|website=Wild Eyed Southern Celt|language=en-US|access-date=2016-05-25}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of people executed for witchcraft]]
*[[Ipswich witchcraft trial]]

==External links==
* [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/ASA_MATH.HTM Cotton Mather, Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions (1689)]
* [http://www.irishheritagetrail.com/aglover.htm Ann Glover profile at ''Irish Heritage Trail'' website]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glover, Ann}}
[[Category:1688 deaths]]
[[Category:People executed for witchcraft]]
[[Category:Irish language]]
[[Category:Irish people executed abroad]]
[[Category:17th-century Irish people]]
[[Category:People executed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony]]
[[Category:Executed Irish women]]
[[Category:Kingdom of Ireland emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923)]]
[[Category:Executed Irish people]]
[[Category:People executed by the Thirteen Colonies by hanging]]
[[Category:People executed by Massachusetts by hanging]]
[[Category:Deaths by hanging]]

Wikipedia - Benutzerbeiträge [de]

Ann Glover