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A widow, living in Cambridge, Winifred Holman, and her daughter Mary were accused in the summer of 1659 of witchcraft by a family living nearby. The neighbors included John Gibson, his wife, and their married daughter, Rebecca Stearns. Over some time previously, Rebecca began to experience unexplained fits in which she barked like a dog and screamed that Mrs. Holman and her daughter were witches. Her parents became alarmed and sought an explanation. In an indictment they prepared, the Gibson's claimed that Winifred Holman had offered herbs to their daughter during a previous fit and noticed that the daughter, Rebecca, seemed worse whenever she saw the Holmans. They also cited some assistance by the Holmans to their daughter’s child after the child had fallen ill that did not result in any improvement. The indictment included observations on the behavior of Winifred Holman and her poultry, which the Gibsons considered peculiar, attributing the death of some of their own hens to witchcraft. This indictment could have had serious consequences since an unfortunate woman, Goody Kendal had been executed as a witch in Cambridge because of a claim by the nurse of a child that she had “made much of” a child and caused its sudden death.
In defense of her character as a “good Christian woman,” Mrs. Holman submitted certificates signed by two deacons and her neighbors that said she was diligent in attending church and had never been perceived to do or say anything or to give any grounds to suspect her of “witchery”. Without the hysteria that engulfed similar cases in Salem thirty years later, the case was dismissed. Mary and Winifred Holman then brought two suits in the county courts at the end of March 1660 against John Gibson and his daughter Rebecca Stearns for defamation.
WORCESTER COUNTY. William Holman, came from Northampton, England, to Cambridge, in New England, in 1634. He settled on the present site of the Botanic Garden of Harvard University. The name is also spelled Homan and Hoeman in the early records. About 1640 he owned land in the Fresh Pond meadows. He died January 8, 1652-3, aged fifty-nine years.His wife Winifred died October 16, 1671, aged seventy-four years. During her widowhood Mrs. Holman was accused of being a witch by her neighbors, John Gibson and family. Mrs. Holman and her daughter Mary were arrested, but the charge was not sustained. In 1660, nine months afterwards, the Holmans brought suit for damages on account of the unfounded witchcraft charge. The Gibsons tried to justify themselves by proving that there was good ground to believe the Holman's practiced the Black Art and there was a large mass of queer testimony offered to the court. It merely expresses the accepted notions of the day. The daughter of John. Gibson, Mrs. Charles Stearns, was evidently filled with hallucinations while sick. Her baby had fits and she blamed the Holmans, who apparently tried to help their neighbors with herbs and simple remedies. Mrs. Stearns saw such things as a snake with a turtle on its back glide into her room and climb into her bed. The Holmans hens got into the Gibson's garden and John Gibson killed one of the invaders, fruitful cause of the trouble even to this day when witches have retired from business. Mrs. Holman had the best people of the town to- testify that she went to church and was "diligent in the hearing of and attentive to the Word of God." The Widow Holman won her case. The Gibsons were found guilty and fined. Some of them publicly withdrew their accusations to avoid a fine, This was an unusual case, because most of these insane or malicious accusations of witchcraft ruined the victims.
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