Witchcraft in Colonial Virginia

by Carson O. Hudson Jr.

While the Salem witch trials get the most notoriety, Virginia's witchcraft history dates back many years before that.


Colonial Virginians shared a common belief in the supernatural with their northern neighbors. While the witchcraft mania that swept through Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 was significant, fascination with it has tended to overshadow the historical records of other persecutions throughout early America. The 1626 case of Joan Wright, the first woman to be accused of witchcraft in British North America, began Virginia's own witch craze. Utilizing surviving records, author, local historian and Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Carson Hudson narrates these fascinating stories.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Historical, American History

144 pages, Paperback

First published August 26, 2019

Reviews

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not in any way sensationalistic, this book focuses on the judicial aspects of witchcraft in 17th and 18th Century Virginia (and, by extension, the British Isles). The book begins with an account of common beliefs about witchcraft in the period (i..e. what "everybody" knows) and popular books about witches (Malleus Maleficarum, The Discovery of Witchcraft, Daemonology, the Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft, The Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft, and Saducimus Triumphatus, and then quickly moves to specific legal statutes regarding witchcraft (Henry VIII's Witchcraft Act of 1542, Elizabeth I's Witchcraft Act of 1562, James I's Witchcraft Act of 1604, and George II's Witchcraft Act of 1736). The author also touches on what legal experts of the period had to say about conducting witchcraft trials. Finally, we get to the actual trials, where, as the judges and juries in the Virginia Colony evidently set the bar of proof pretty high, there were almost no convictions - in fact, many of these trials either resulted in (or were initiated as) lawsuits for slander because someone called their neighbor a witch. A quick read, but very well documented, with plenty of passages from period texts. 3.5 stars.

[Maggi Coyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hudson not only gives the history of witchcraft in colonial Virginia but also gives a history of witchcraft in general. He does not limit himself to what was practiced in c. Virginia but what was going on in England and Scotland and comparing the British Isles with mainland Europe. I have learned a lot more than I thought I would.
I especially love the Appendix’s, the amount and quality of information there alone is amazing!
Would give 10 stars if possible. Finished it in like 6 hours it was so good

[Crystal Toller · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, the author discusses his research on witchcraft cases in Colonial Virginia and the results of some of those cases. There is an appendix with useful information on English Witchcraft laws dating from Henry VIII to James I. There is also the preface to James I's treatise Daemonologie. This was a really interesting book because I had never heard of witchcraft trials in Colonial Virginia so it was a fun read for me.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read full of some great historical information! I love how explanatory this book was in the process of trying a witch and the historical judicial documents that talked of the punishment of witches. I loved the pictures and artwork that went along with it. I have no complaints about this book other than that it was super short and I would have loved more information, but I know that that is unlikely because of a lack of records. So overall, a great book.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first part was a bit dry and I would have liked the author to type the selections from the laws, would have been easier to read. I did like reading about the various people who had been tried for witchcraft or who had brought suit against folks who were calling them witches.

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciated all of the pictures and scanned manuscript covers to highlight the historical points but the book itself read more like a list of facts (in some places, it was literally a list of laws or people). Brief glimpse into the colonial period.

[Marie Covert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated. There is not as much history for witchcraft in the colony of Virginia but what existed was well covered in this book. Seemed to be very informed and thorough. Interesting read.

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty good but it became hard to follow halfway through.

[Carlton Duff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just a skeletal historical view of witchcraft court cases.

[Jolene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on a topic that's talked very little About but should be more!

[Maddison Berlinghoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool, factual, concise read

[Mark Cheviron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just OK

The book was a little scarce on facts and assumed a lot. I found the book boring and repetitive. Do not recommend

[Jillian Nunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, just that grace Sherwood is more commonly known as the witch of pungo than the Virginia witch.

[margaret ♡ the friends’ sister · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really enjoyed learning about the history of ~ witchcraft ~ in my home state. you get to understand the beliefs of the people regarding witchcraft & how it influenced their society & the laws they made (although getting through the english witchcraft laws was a struggle given the form of “english” they wrote in back then!). it was interesting to learn how differently virginians thought about witchcraft than their salem counterparts. while there wasn’t a ton about the “witches” due to lack of surviving records, i liked learning about what we do know about them, the injustices they faced & even how it continues to affect virginia today.

ebook ~ own ~ kindle

[G · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t like historical books.

A historical documentation on the witchcraft trials and history of witchcraft in colonial Virginia.

I’m just not a huge fan of history books. I went in blind, and I was still a little disappointed? I‘m not sure what I was expecting, since there wasn’t exactly a witch craze in VA. The next time I go to Salem, I should get this book for MA.

Trigger warnings: misogyny

[Diane Helentjaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this little book a lot and appreciate having this historical information gathered together in one place. Very nice for a reference for my own writing and interesting.