Margaret (Stephenson) Scott
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Margaret (Stephenson) Scott (abt. 1616 - 1692)

Margaret Scott formerly Stephenson
Born about in Gateshead, Durham, Englandmap [uncertain]
Daughter of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Wife of — married 28 Jul 1642 in Boston, Massachusetts Baymap
Descendants descendants
Mother of , , , , , and
Died at about age 75 in Rowley, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colonymap
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Profile last modified | Created 6 Feb 2014
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Contents

Biography

Notables Project
Margaret (Stephenson) Scott is Notable.
Margaret (Stephenson) Scott was executed for witchcraft in witch trials

Margaret Stephenson was possibly born about 1616[1].

About 28 Jul 1642, she married Benjamin Scott in Boston, Massachusetts Bay[2][3][4][5]

Hanged as a witch, she died on 22 Sep 1692 at Proctor's Ledge, Gallows Hill, Salem, Massachusetts Bay. [6].[7]

Accused as a Witch

Margaret (Stephenson) Scott was executed for witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials

"We have little records concerning Margaret Scott of Rowley. No doubt there were numerous papers in her case but they have been lost or destroyed."[8]

“Margaret Scott became an unpopular and disliked member of the Rowley community in large part because of her habit of begging neighbors and passersby for assistance. Those that denied providing Margaret with money or goods came to expect verbal abuse or, worse, a curse. Not surprisingly, several of her alienated Rowley neighbors appeared at the Salem Court to provide evidence and depositions against her.”[9]

On 4 Aug 1692, 19-year old, Mary Daniel of Rowley testified that Margaret Scott, “beat; pinch'd and afflicted me...”[10] On 15 Sep 1692, Philip Nelson and his wife, Sarah, testified that they often heard Robert Shiletto complaining that Margaret Scott hurt him before he died”[10] On the same day, Daniel Wycomb complained that “five ore sixs years a go Margret Scot of Rowlah” came to his home asking for corn, and after she left, his “oxsen would not draw the cart”[10]

"Shortly after the first court was held in Salem, Frances Wycomb of Rowley became afflicted and remained so into the summer. The seventeen-year-old daughter of one of the town’s leading citizens, already adjusting to a new stepmother, now found her throat choked and lungs pressed by the form of her widowed neighbor Margaret Scott, but whether in person or in specter, the girl was none too sure." [11] She said that Margaret Scott “or hir Apperance came to me and did most greviously torment me by choaking and almost presing me to death...”[10]Mary Warren, Elizabeth Hubbard, and Ann Putnam affirmed they had witnessed the afflictions.[10]Finally, Sarah Coleman, added her complaints of “pricking, pinching, and choaking of me…”.[10]

Indicted and Executed

This was sufficient evidence for the Court of Oyer and Terminer to indict her: "Margaret Scott, of Rowley, In the County of Essex, Widdow...Wickedly Mallitiously and feloniously hath used practiced and Exercised At and in the towne of Salem...in upon and against one Frances Wijcomb, of Rowley...by which sd Wicked Acts the said Frances Wijcomb...was and is Tortured Afflicted Consumed Pined Wasted and Tormented…”.[10][12] On 22 Sep 1692, she was sentenced to death along with seven others and hanged at Proctor's Ledge, Gallows Hill, Salem, Massachusetts Bay.[13][14]

“Firebrands of Hell“

According to Charles Upham, “Nothing has reached us particularly relating to the manner of death of Alice or Mary Parker, Ann Pudeator, Margaret Scott, or Wilmot Reed. They all asserted their innocence; and their deportment gave no ground for any unfavorable comment by their persecutors, who were on the watch to turn every act, word, or look of the sufferers to their disparagement.”[15] To the contrary, Cotton Mather would write of September 22nd, 1692, the deadliest day of the Salem witch trials, that Deacon Nicholas Noyes had said out loud what a sad thing it was to see eight firebrands of Hell hanging there.[16]

Massachusetts Remediation

  1. 17 October 1710, Convictions Reversed, The General Court of Massachusetts Bay, An act, the several convictions, judgments, and attainders be, and hereby are, reversed, and declared to be null and void.[17]
  2. 17 Dec 1711, Compensation to Survivors, Governor Dudley, GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY, approved compensation to such persons as are living, and to those that legally represent them that are dead [For Margaret Scott, no compensation because survivors did not petition][17]
  3. 28 Aug 1957, No Disgrace to Descendants, General Court of Massachusetts, ...such proceedings, were and are shocking, and the result of a wave of popular hysterical fear of the Devil in the community, and further declares that, as all the laws under which said proceedings...have been long since abandoned and superseded by our more civilized laws, no disgrace or cause for distress attaches to the said descendants or any of them by reason of said proceedings.[18]
  4. 31 Oct 2001, Additional Victims Included, Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives in General Court, AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE WITCHCRAFT TRIAL OF 1692, chapter 145 is hereby further amended by adding Bridget Bishop, Susannah Martin, Alice Parker, Margaret Scott and Wilmot Redd.[19]"Massachusetts Clears 5 From Salem Witch Trials." [20]

Children of Margaret Stephenson and Benjamin Scott

  1. Hannah Scott, b. 1635, Braintree, Massachusetts Bay; d. 30 Dec 1718 Braintree, Massachusetts Bay
  2. Peter Scott, b. 6 Mar 1643 in Braintree, Massachusetts Bay; d. 11 Aug 1693 in Braintree, Massachusetts Bay
  3. John Scott, b. 14 Jul 1644, Cambridge, Massachusetts Bay; d. 3 Dec 1644, Rowley, Massachusetts Bay. (twins or error?)
  4. Joseph Scott, b. 16 Jul 1644, Cambridge, MassachusettsBay; d. 21 Jul 1644, Rowley, Massachusetts Bay (twins or error?)
  5. Benjamin Scott, b. 5 Jul 1646, Cambridge, Massachusetts Bay; d.. 7 Feb 1724 in Rowley, Massachusetts Bay
  6. John Scott, 2 Jul 1648 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay; d. about 1715 in Roxbury, Massachusetts Bay
  7. Elizabeth Scott, b. 7 May 1650, Cambridge, Massachusetts Bay; d. 3 Jun 1650, Cambridge, Massachusetts Bay
  8. Mary Scott, b. 16 Jan 1651, Massachusetts Bay; d. 25 Dec 1700; Rowley, Massachusetts Bay
  9. Samuel Scott, b. 7 Mar 1654 in Cambridge, Massachusetts,Bay; d. 10 Mar 1654 in Roxbury [?], Massachusetts,Bay
  10. William Scott, b. 1655 in Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay[?]; d. 15 Jan 1717 in Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts[?]
  11. Sarah Scott, b. 1 Jan 1656, Cambridge, Massachusetts Bay; d. 21 Aug 1660, Roxbury, Massachusetts Bay

Research Notes

  1. SALEM, Mass.—A document from the Salem witch trials, “the original court indictment of Margaret Scott,” has sold for $26,000 at auction. [21]

Sources

  1. ↑ Scott Family of Massachusetts, Nova Scotia and Beyond. Accessed May 31, 2020. http://www.jscook.net/scott.htm.
  2. ↑ Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004. Online at Ancestry.com
  3. ↑ "History of the Scott Family : Lee, Henry James, 1864- : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming." Internet Archive. January 01, 1970. Accessed May 31, 2020. https://archive.org/details/historyofscottfa00leehiala/page/52/mode/1up/search/Stephenson.
  4. ↑ The Pioneers of Massachusetts, 1620-1650 Online at Ancestry.com
  5. ↑ "Scott Genealogy : [descendants of John Scott of Roxbury ...] : Holman, Mary Lovering, 1868-1947 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming." Internet Archive. January 01, 1970. Accessed June 01, 2020. https://archive.org/details/scottgenealogyde00holm/page/325/mode/1up/search/Benjamin Scott of ambridge.
  6. ↑ “Salem Witchcraft : with an Account of Salem Village, and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects : Upham, Charles Wentworth, 1802-1875, Author : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, January 1, 1970. https://archive.org/details/salemwitchcraftw02upha_0/page/324.
  7. ↑ "Salem Witch Trials." Salem Massachusetts - Salem Witch Trials The Stones: September 22, 1692. Accessed June 01, 2020. https://www.salemweb.com/memorial/?i=4.
  8. ↑ "Witchcraft in Salem Village in 1692 : Together with Some Account of Other Witchcraft Prosecutions in New England and Elsewhere : Nevins, Winfield S : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming." Internet Archive. January 01, 1892. Accessed June 01, 2020. https://archive.org/details/witchcraftinsale00nevi/page/203/mode/1up.
  9. ↑ Goss, K. David. The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008. 102.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 "SWP No. 119: Margaret Scott Executed, September 22, 1692" - New Salem - Pelican. Accessed June 01, 2020. http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n119.html.
  11. ↑ The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege by Marilynne K. Roach, https://a.co/6VyJMtE
  12. ↑ "The History of Rowley, Anciently including Bradford, Boxford, and Georgetown, from the Year 1639 to the Present Time : Gage, Thomas : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming." Internet Archive. January 01, 1970. Accessed June 01, 2020. https://archive.org/details/historyofrowleya00gagerich/page/169/mode/1up/search/Margaret Scott.
  13. ↑ "Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706 : Burr, George Lincoln, 1857-1938 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming." Internet Archive. January 01, 1970. Accessed June 01, 2020. https://archive.org/details/narrativesofwitc00burriala/page/367/mode/1up.
  14. ↑ The Salem Witch Trials Reader by Frances Hill https://a.co/9oJCBxA
  15. ↑ https://archive.org/details/salemwitchcraftw02upha_0/page/325/mode/1up/search/Margaret+Scott
  16. ↑ The Salem Witch Hunt: A Captivating Guide to the Hunt and Trials of People Accused of Witchcraft in Colonial Massachusetts, http://a.co/egS9SMD
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 “Salem Witchcraft : with an Account of Salem Village, and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects : Upham, Charles Wentworth, 1802-1875, Author : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, January 1, 1970. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17845/17845-h/salem2-htm.html#Page_ii.480.
  18. ↑ "Resolves of 1957, Chapter 145." Mass.gov. Accessed June 02, 2020. https://www.mass.gov/doc/resolves-of-1957-chapter-145/.
  19. ↑ https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2001/Chapter122.
  20. ↑ The New York Times. November 02, 2001. Accessed June 01, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/02/us/massachusetts-clears-5-from-salem-witch-trials.html.
  21. ↑ The Salem News

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Images: 5
Margaret Stephenson Image 1
Margaret Stephenson Image 1
deposition of Mary Daniel against Margaret Scott
deposition of Mary Daniel against Margaret Scott
Margaret Scott Memorial
Margaret Scott Memorial
Indictment
Indictment
Scott Genealogy
Scott Genealogy


Comments: 5

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Perkins-11750 Clyde Perkins
I suggest improving this profile "into a single, easy-to-read narrative, removing duplication, long quotes, and long extracts that could be summarized and linked to,” in accordance with WikiTree’s Style Guide, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Styles_and_Standards

and, Witch Trials Project Goals, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Witch_Trials#Goals

All this, while carefully preserving the good stuff already there…

Any comments/objections?

posted by Clyde Perkins
edited by Clyde Perkins
Danielle (Thompson) Ellis
No reason not to merge, I may have missed the e-mail alert. Thanks!
posted by Danielle (Thompson) Ellis
[Living Hudnall]
Stevenson-894 and Stephenson-6109 appear to represent the same person because: Same maiden names, same birth and death dates
posted by [Living Hudnall]
[Living Scott]
http://www.jscook.net/scott.htm
posted by [Living Scott]
William Wires
Stevenson-894 and Stephenson-2440 appear to represent the same person because: Margaret was a prominent person at the Salem witch trials. Her husband is noted as Benjamin Scott in both profiles. The Stevenson-894 should be preferred.
posted by William Wires

Rejected matches › Margaret (Scott) Pringle (abt.1616-abt.1650) › Margaret Scott (abt.1765-abt.1830) › Margaret Scott (-aft.1695) › Margaret (Scott) Govan (abt.1800-) › Margaret Scott (abt.1780-) › Margaret Stephenson › Margaret Scott › Margaret Scott (1810-) › Margaret Scott (abt.1810-) › Margaret Scott › Margaret (Scott) Bryant (1850-1927) › Margaret A (Scott) Corzine (abt.1873-) › Margaret Marie Scott › Jessie Margaret (Scott) Luscombe (1888-1968) › Margaret Cameron Scott › Margaret Scott › Margaret Rebecca Scott › Margaret (Scott) Caldwell (abt.1855-) › Margaret Scott › Margaret Scott (abt.1715-)

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Categories: English Immigrants to America | Rowley, Massachusetts | Salem Witch Trials | Accused Witches of New England | Executed | Death by Hanging | Salem Witch Trials Memorial, Salem, Massachusetts | Notables