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Marie Williams

About Marie Williams

Marie Williams is an independent historian, educator, and writer living in Upstate New York. She received her Bachelor's of Arts degree from The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY in social studies adolescent education in 2014 and received her Master's of Arts degree from Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, NH in American history in 2018. She has been writing about American history since 2011 on her blog titled "The Half-Pint Historian Blog" and has written a book about the British wilderness raids in Upstate New York for The History Press set to be released in spring 2020.

1777 Claims of Witchcraft In Salem, Washington County

October 28, 2019 by Marie Williams 6 Comments

statue at Salem Witch Museum by Marie WilliamsThere have been quite a number of witchcraft trials in what is now New York State, including in Westchester County, and on Long Island. In the midst of the American Revolution, in the town of Salem (now near the New York-Vermont border in Washington County, NY), there was another witch trial, of a sort.

Salem, NY, much like Salem, MA, has a very religious past. The community is said to be founded by Presbyterian Rev. Dr. Thomas Clark, who had emigrated from Ireland in the mid-1760s with his congregation, part of a Presbyterian schism.  Clark’s congregation first settled in nearby Stillwater, on the Hudson River but eventually landed in what is now Salem, NY, where they purchased a 25,000 acres among the mostly New England settlers already established there. [Read more…] about 1777 Claims of Witchcraft In Salem, Washington County

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: American Revolution, AmRev, Battle of Saratoga, Crime and Justice, Halloween, Legal History, Religious History, Salem Witch Trials, Washington County, Witch Trials

Witchcraft Claims In East Hampton, Long Island

October 27, 2019 by Marie Williams 1 Comment

statue at Salem Witch Museum by Marie Williams

In the United States, the first witch trial is believed to have occurred in Springfield, Mass., in 1645.  A fervor for hunting witches led to an increase in prosecutions in New England, and New York, in the 1650s and 1666s.  Women would be accused of witchcraft within New York’s colonial borders into the mid-1700s. Some of these trials would have a lasting impact on the colony and the country.

The 1650s was not an easy time to be a woman, especially if a neighbor held a personal grudge. In East Hampton, Long Island in 1657 Elizabeth “Goody” Garlick was accused of witchcraft, after 16-year-old Elizabeth Gardiner Howell became ill and suffered fevered dreams and delusions.  [Read more…] about Witchcraft Claims In East Hampton, Long Island

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Crime and Justice, Halloween, Legal History, Long Island, Salem Witch Trials, Witch Trials, womens history

Westchester County’s Katharine Harrison, Accused Witch

October 23, 2019 by Marie Williams 7 Comments

statue at Salem Witch Museum by Marie WilliamsHalloween is a time when representations of witches make their frequent appearance. The United States has a complicated history with witchcraft and the occult, due in part to its puritanical past and influx of diverse cultures.

Most Americans are familiar with the Salem Witch Trials (1692-1693) in Massachusetts, but trials for witchcraft have probably occurred as long as trials have existed, and still do in places where belief in magic is strong. In Europe people were tried for witchcraft throughout the 1700s. [Read more…] about Westchester County’s Katharine Harrison, Accused Witch

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Halloween, Legal History, Salem Witch Trials, Westchester County

1774 Patriots: New York’s Tea Party

June 18, 2018 by Marie Williams 3 Comments

A 1774 London Political Cartoon showing Lord North forcing the Coercive Acts down the throat of America New York played an important role during the American Revolution, but the New York Tea Party story remains relatively unknown, often misunderstood, and overshadowed by New York’s larger military role in the American Revolution. [Read more…] about 1774 Patriots: New York’s Tea Party

Filed Under: History Tagged With: American Revolution, AmRev, New York Harbor

The Death of Jane McCrea and Revolutionary War Opinion

April 13, 2018 by Marie Williams 1 Comment

John Vanderlyn's "The Death of Jane McCrea"In Upstate New York, few tragedies have the cache of the death of Jane McCrea. In the summer of 1777, British armies were pressing southward through New York to Albany, with the goal of dividing the rebellious colonies.

On July 27, 1777 a young woman named Jane McCrea was killed in the vicinity of Fort Edward. There are conflicting stories about what happened, but most accuse Ottawa or Mohawk allies of Burgoyne in her death.

The murder of the young Loyalist bride changed the public perceptions of the war. General Gates wrote Burgoyne a scathing letter. Sir Edmund Burke, a Whig member of British Parliament, used the tragedy to rail against the Crown’s policies regarding its Indian allies.

[Read more…] about The Death of Jane McCrea and Revolutionary War Opinion

Filed Under: History Tagged With: American Revolution, AmRev, Fort Edward, Military History

The Jessup Brothers in the American Revolution

April 3, 2018 by Marie Williams Leave a Comment

Jessup Patent MapIn the mid-1760s, brothers Edward and Ebenezer Jessup moved from Dutchess County, NY, to Albany and engaged in land speculation in the Hudson River Valley and Lake George area.

The Jessups would become friendly with Sir William Johnson, who had built Fort William Henry in 1755. Thanks to his close relationship with the Mohawk, Johnson became the Superintendent of Indian Affairs. The Jessups acquired much of their land from Johnson and the Mohawks. [Read more…] about The Jessup Brothers in the American Revolution

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Adirondacks, American Revolution, Chestertown, Corinth, Glens Falls, Hadley, Jessup River, John Johnson, Johnsburg, Lake Champlain, Lake George, Lake Luzerne, Military History, Queensbury, Saratoga County, Warren County, Warrensburg

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