Murdered by witchcraft

The history of colonial New England and witchcraft is certainly not limited to the infamous Salem Witch Trials. It was an area of concern strong enough to be codified in a number of laws, based in large part in scripture. While those accused of engaging in the dark arts and consorting with the Devil could be put to death, witchcraft was blamed for the death of my 10th great-grandmother.

Roughly 30 years before the hysteria of Salem was the case of an unscrupulous couple in Saybrook, Connecticut.

Local legend apparently claimed a cave, known as Mill Rock, was inhabited by witches. "Coach drivers feared passing the cave at night, because witches might throw burning wood on the carriage roofs," according to a 2012 haunting article in The Shore Line Times. "When the drivers saw the Cedar Sentinel [one large tree in a clearing], they knew they were near the witches' cave and whipped their horses to speed on by while there was still daylight. Since the witches vanished during the day and also disappeared during the summer, none were ever caught."

Mill Rock in Saybrook, Connecticut.

Though apparently unrelated to Mill Rock, there were a couple of supposed witches caught in Saybrook. Nicholas and Margaret Jennings had come to Saybrook after having previously lived in Hartford and New Haven. Nicholas fought in the Pequot War, serving under Captain John Mason, who led a horrific raid on a Pequot fort near the Mystic River, a gruesome event that became known as the Mystic Massacre. According to Damned Connecticut, it was after the war that Nicholas first met Margaret, an indentured servant.

"The young couple were smitten and soon ran off together, but didn't get too far before being apprehended," Damned Connecticut affirms. "On March 3, 1643, Nicholas was found guilty of 'fornication' and publicly whipped; a month later Margaret stood trial and was found guilty of the same crime in addition to theft. She was flogged, and then ordered by the court to marry Nicholas."

Damned Connecticut continues to note "a modest trail of troubles" followed the newlyweds, including Nicholas being prosecuted for striking a neighbor's cow in 1647. Witchcraft Trials of Connecticut informs Nicholas was punished in some form for this act of violence against the cow, which belonged to a man named Ralph Keeler. Ultimately, they would settle in Saybrook and produce three children together.

In 1659, things took a much darker turn for the star-crossed couple. That summer, according to The Shore Line Times, Nicholas had been suspected of witchcraft, resulting in the General Court sending a Mr. Willis to the town to aid the mayor in investigating Jennings.

In 1661, a neighbor of the Jennings family was embroiled in a heated land dispute. The neighbor, George Wood, ultimately accused Margaret of being possessed by Satan. Considering their past and generally unsavory social standing, such a charge would be a damning one for Mrs. Jennings. The presumption of innocence was not exactly afforded to many alleged witches. Damned Connecticut adds that Wood also accused Martha Jennings, one of the three Jennings children, of being pregnant out of wedlock — though, according to The Shore Line Times, Martha was proven not to be pregnant whatsoever.

Additionally, the Jennings witchcraft apparently was to blame for multiple deaths in the community. One of those whose passing was attributed to their witchcraft was Marie Marvin, the wife of Reinold Marvin. I've not yet uncovered Marie's age at the time of her death in 1661, but she was presumably around 60-years-old at the time of her death as Reinold had been born in 1594. The mother of eight children, including my 9th great-grandfather Lt. Reinold Marvin, was one of two individuals specifically mentioned in an indictment against Nicholas Jennings.

According to Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth Century New England, by David D. Hall, the couple was brought to court as follows:

Nicholas Jennings thou art here indicted by the name of Nicholas Jennings of Saybrook for not having the fear of God before thine eyes, thou hast entertained familiarity with Satan, the great enemy of God and mankind, and by his help hast done works above the course of nature to the loss of the lives of several people and in particular the wife of Reinold Marvin with the child of Baalshassar de Wolfe with other sorceries for which according to the law of God and the established laws of this Commonwealth thou deservest to die.

There was a not guilty plea entered and the case was ultimately adjudicated in the fall of 1661, according to Damned Connecticut, after a jury of 10 men from neighboring colonies came back with what was essentially a hung jury.

"The major part of the jury found Nicholas guilty, but the rest only strongly suspected him, and as to Margaret, some found her guilty, and the others suspected her to be guilty," reads The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut (1647-1697). The Shore Line Times notes that while the jury did not convict Nicholas and Margaret, they were deemed unfit as parents and their three children were taken from them to be apprenticed to others.