Samual Parris Archaeological Site 1681-1784

 site - to be removed, archaeological site, historical layer / disappeared object

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These are the foundations of the Salem Village parsonage where the hysteria began. It was here, in the home of the Reverend Samuel Parris and his wife, Elizabeth, that the circle of girls met in the winter months of 1691-92 to listen to Tituba's tales of magic and the occult. In January 1692, the parrises' daughter Elizabeth began behaving strangely and was diagnosed as bewitched. In this house Tituba and John Indian baked the witch cake which prompted the accusations, and eleven-year old Abigail Williams, in full possession, spied the specter of Rebecca Nurse. The parsonage was built by the parish in 1681 for use by it's ministers. In it lived Reverend George Burroughs (1681-83) who was hanged as a witch in 1692, Reverend Deodat Lawson (1684-88) who returned to Salem Village in 1692 at the outbreak of the witchcraft, and the Reverend Samuel Parris (1689-96). The parsonage was torn down in 1784. Its foundations were excavated in 1970. vehicles excluded/pass at your own risk etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/Witch.html www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/pwwmh/ma52.htm