Wilmot (Unknown) Redd
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Wilmot (Unknown) Redd (abt. 1635 - 1692)

Wilmot "Mammy Red" Redd formerly [surname unknown] aka Read, Reed
Born about in Marblehead, Massachusetts Baymap
Daughter of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Wife of — married about 1655 in Salem, Massachusettsmap
[children unknown]
Died at about age 57 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts Baymap
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Profile last modified | Created 11 Jun 2015
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Contents

Biography

The parents of Wilmot Redd are unknown. However, it is known that she was the sister of Ann Condy. Ann Condy in her will dated 9 Oct 1678, says, "being in her right sencis hath given to her sister Willmet Red one great iron pot..."[1][2] Anne Condy was the wife of Samuel Condy.

By 1692, "ca. 1655/60," Wilmot Redd was married to Samuel Redd (Reed) at Marblehead, Massachusetts Bay.[3][4]

Hanged as a witch, she died on 22 Sep 1692 at Proctor's Ledge, Gallows Hill, Salem, Massachusetts Bay.[5][6]

Witchcraft Trials

Wilmot (Unknown) Redd was executed for witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials

New England in the late 17th century was a time of great unrest. People were rife with fear and ready to blame unseen forces for the problems of the times. The French and Indians were creating conflict, England was reasserting its power over the Puritan government and Cotton Mather of Boston, fearing the loss of Puritan control in Massachusetts Bay, was whipping New Englanders into a frenzy, preaching that the Devil was "at every turn". It is evident that his preachings were heard by the Reverend Samuel Parris of Salem and helped fuel witchcraft allegations and prosecutions in Salem.[7]

Wilmot Redd, a victim of this hysteria, was unpopular with the women of Marblehead, Massachusetts Bay, due in part to her cold nature and lack of refinement, which made her an easy target for false accusations of witchcraft. But, it was also the result of her wide-spread reputation for "supernatural powers" and dreadful deeds.[8]

“As might have been expected from such ungodliness, early Marblehead was a favorite with the powers of darkness. Many a citizen met Satan himself riding in state in a coach and four, or was chased through the streets by a corpse in a coffin. The eerie lament of the ‘screeching woman of Marblehead’ resounded across the harbor, and Puritan Salem hanged old ‘Mammy Red’ of Marblehead who knew how to turn enemies’ butter to blue wool.”[9][10]

She was married to Samuel Redd, a fisherman, and was known to the local fishermen as "Mammy Red." [11][10][12]

During the Salem Witch Trials, she was accused by several of the "afflicted girls" of Salem of performing witchcraft on ("afflicting") them and was arrested on May 28, 1692. When questioned, Wilmot's only response was, “I cannot tell.” She was tried and convicted on September 17, 1692.[5][13]and was hung along with seven others on September 22, 1692.[14]

Cotton Mather would later 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.[15]

The accusations and hangings in New England reached a fever pitch, but the hysteria ended quickly after the wife of Gov William Phipps was accused of witchcraft. Phipps reacted swiftly in defense of his wife and put an end to the madness.[7]

Research Notes

Accusers[5]

Witnesses for the Prosecution

  • John Indian
  • Wife & daughter of Thomas Dodd
  • Wife & daughter of Thomas Ellis
  • John Caley
  • David Shapley
  • Wife & daughter of John Chinn
  • Marthah Beale
  • Elias Henly jun'r & wiffe
  • Benjamin Gale
  • Joane Bubbee
  • Charity Pittman
  • Jacob Wormwood

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.[16]
  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 Wilmot Redd, no compensation because survivors did not petition][16]
  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.[17]
  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.[18]

Sources

  1. ↑ Records and files of the Quarterly courts of Essex county, Massachusetts : Massachusetts (Colony). County Court (Essex co.) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming. (1970, January 01). Retrieved June 03, 2020, from https://archive.org/details/recordsfilesofqu07mass/page/139/mode/1up
  2. ↑ The Probate records of Essex County, Massachusetts : Dow, George Francis, 1868-1936 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming. (1970, January 01). Retrieved June 03, 2020, from https://archive.org/details/probaterecordsof03dowg/page/281/mode/1up
  3. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1568/i/21175/1256/426901237
  4. ↑ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1847-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2018.) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB202/i/12636/169/24451643
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 SWP No. 114: Wilmott Reed Executed, September 22, 1692. (n.d.). Retrieved June 03, 2020, from http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n114.html
  6. ↑ 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. (1892, January 01). Retrieved June 04, 2020, from https://archive.org/details/witchcraftinsale00nevi/page/254/mode/1up?q=Wilmot
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Marblehead Witch: Mammy Redd. (2012, May 02). Retrieved June 03, 2020, from https://marblehead101.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/marblehead-witch-mammy-redd/
  8. ↑ The history and traditions of Marblehead : Roads, Samuel, jr : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming. (1880, January 01). Retrieved June 03, 2020, from https://archive.org/details/historytradition00road_1/page/31/mode/1up
  9. ↑ said to be mold
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 The WPA Guide to Massachusetts: The Bay State. (n.d.). Retrieved June 03, 2020, from https://a.co/4JbNi3K
  11. ↑ Wikipedia: Mammy Red
  12. ↑ Redd's Pond: Old Burial Hill. (n.d.). Retrieved June 03, 2020, from http://www.oldburialhill.org/redds/redds_pond_01a.html
  13. ↑ 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. (1970, January 01). Retrieved June 03, 2020, from https://archive.org/details/salemwitchcraftw02upha_0/page/208/mode/1up
  14. ↑ 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. (1970, January 01). Retrieved June 03, 2020, from https://archive.org/details/salemwitchcraftw02upha_0/page/324/mode/1up
  15. ↑ The Salem Witch Hunt: A Captivating Guide to the Hunt and Trials of People Accused of Witchcraft in Colonial Massachusetts, http://a.co/egS9SMD
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 “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.
  17. ↑ https://www.mass.gov/doc/resolves-of-1957-chapter-145/download
  18. ↑ https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2001/Chapter122




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Images: 2
Wilmot Redd Memorial Marker
Wilmot Redd Memorial Marker
Hanging at Burial Hill
Hanging at Burial Hill


Comments: 1

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Fritz-800 Taylor (Fritz) Worthington Gilchrist MSN
I am very impressed with the outcome of this profile. The biography is quite interesting. I like how you have set up the "accusers" and the "witnesses for the prosecution". I love the pictures the form the edging along the sides. The entire profile is truly impressive so professionally done.
posted by Taylor (Fritz) Worthington Gilchrist MSN

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Categories: Marblehead, Massachusetts | Salem Witch Trials | Accused Witches of New England | Executed | Death by Hanging | Collaborative Profile of the Week | Unknowns