Diggers Series: Grace Schrafft Gloucester Witches

In September of 1692 nine Gloucester women were accused of witchcraft.  Esther Elwell, Margaret Prince, Elizabeth Dicer, Joan Penney, Phoebe Day, Mary Rowe, Rachel Vinson, Abigail Rowe and Rebecca Dike.  That same year Gloucester resident Ebenezer Babson asked some of the afflicted Salem village girls to visit his mother who was complaining of “spectral visions” of Indians and French soldiers. Much of the documentary evidence has been lost. Come hear what Grace has dug up.

Grace Schrafft, a Gloucester native, wrote her thesis, “When Vengeance Wrote the Law,” about the Cape Ann women who were accused of witchcraft in the 1690’s, and why they were accused. She holds a master’s degree in public history education and is an acupuncturist by trade.