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1661 Witchcraft in Saybrook?
Belief in witchcraft was pervasive and common in the seventeenth century. People of that time firmly believed in Satan and that witchcraft was one way he exerted his power. Witchcraft was included in the list of capital crimes in Connecticut’s Code of 1650, along with murder, adultery, and blasphemy.
Witchcraft was treated as a criminal offense, and those accused went through a formal criminal prosecution, including a jury trial. While not nearly as famous as the Salem, Massachusetts witch trials of 1692, witch hunts in Connecticut began decades earlier in 1647 and lasted intermittently until 1697
In 1661 Nicholas and Margaret Jennings of Saybrook fell victim to the colony-wide witch hunt mania.
Nicholas Jennings arrived in Hartford from England in 1634. After serving in the Pequot War with Major John Mason
he moved to New Haven, where he met Margaret Bedford. They soon became smitten with one another, but there was a problem, Margaret was an indentured servant to Captain Nathaniel Turner. When they ran off together before getting married, they didn’t get too far before being apprehended. On March 3, 1643, Nicholas was found guilty of fornication and was publicly whipped.
A month later Margaret stood trial and was found guilty of the same crime and also of stealing household goods from Captain Turner’s house. She was also flogged and ordered by the court to marry Nicholas. Nicholas was forced to serve out Margaret’s term of indenture to Turner and to pay double the value of the things she took. A sign of possible witch power occurred three years later when when Turner was mysteriously lost at sea when his ship sank on a voyage to England.
A few years later they moved to Saybrook, where they had three children, Martha, John, and Joseph. It seems as though the lives of the Jennings family were peaceful until 1659, when George Wood accused Margaret of being possessed by Satan. He also accused the Jennings’ daughter, Martha, of being pregnant out of wedlock. These allegations were possibly in retaliation for Wood coming out on the short end of a land dispute.
Things worsened for the Jennings family when Margaret and Nicholas were accused of using witchery which caused the death of Marie Marvin, a well-known woman in Saybrook. It was alleged that she died from a spell cast by the Jennings.
On June 15, 1659 a colonial government official was sent to Saybrook to assist Major John Mason in the “examininge of suspitions about witchery”. The investigation resulted in court proceedings against both Nicholas and Margaret.
The indictment of Nicholas reads as follows:
“Nicholas Jennings thou art here indicted … for not having the fear of God before thine eyes, thou has entertained familiarity with Satan the great Enemy of God and mankind, and by his help hast done works above the course of nature, to the loss of the lives of several persons and in particular the wife of Reinold Marvin and the child of Balthazar de Wolfe, with other sorceries, for which, according to the law of God and the established laws of this common wealth, thou deservest to die”.
Margaret Jennings was similarly charged in the same sort of language. On September 5, 1661 they both entered pleas of not guilty. A jury trial was held in Hartford on October 9th, with three judges and ten jurors. After hearing the evidence and jury deliberation, a divided verdict was returned for both Nicholas and Margaret.
The Jennings were not found guilty, but, they were not found innocent either. The death penalty could not be imposed, yet they were harshly dealt with nonetheless. Their two sons, John and Joseph, were taken from them and apprenticed out, one to an innkeeper and the other to a magistrate.
The Jennings remained in Saybrook, where Nicholas died in 1673, around the age of 61. No record of what happened to Margaret following the trial is clear.
Acknowledgements
“Witch Trials of Nicholas and Margaret Jennings”, by Ray Bendici
AllHomoSapiensWelcome.wordpress.com
The complete list of sources may be found by clicking the “Bibliography” button, and, then typing “Witchcraft” in the SEARCH box.
1754 Battle of the Frogs
Why is this frog on the bridge in Willimantic???
The so-called Battle of the Frogs was actually a large-scale death of frogs in a millpond known as Frog Pond. In 1754, there was a severe drought in Windham. The townspeople were anxious because it was believed that an attack from the French army based in Canada might attack. However, late one night in July, it was the frogs who began to attack one another over the last remaining water.
The resulting noise was so great that the townspeople thought that it was the attack already happening. Many took to arms. This led to mass hysteria of sorts. Numerous people became convinced that Armageddon was upon them.
Some sources claim that the names “Dyer” and “Elderkin” were heard, the names of an influential lawyer and a colonel. Other sources say that the people thought they were Native Americans saying “gin” and “rum”. Townsfolk ran into the streets, some with guns and knives. Those who were armed mounted a hill to see the landscape around them. In the morning, the colonists found the cause of the noise. Hundreds of dead and dying bullfrogs lay in the last remaining parts of the pond.
People throughout the colonies heard the story and many were amused. In his 1836 book, “Connecticut Historic Collections”, Warner Barber wrote :
“Long and obstinately [fought] was the contest, and many thousands of combatants were found dead on both sides of the ditch the next morning.”
The people of Windham were ridiculed in the colonies, and the town seal was made to be a bullfrog.
Acknowledgements
MNN.com
Wikipedia
Bob Dees
1895 Gardner Lake Sunken House
In 1895 Thomas Lecount decided that his summer house, located on the edge of Gardner Lake, should be moved to a more scenic site, on the other side of the lake. So he hatched a plan to move the house across the the lake in the winter, once it had frozen over. On February 13, 1895, the house was placed over wooden slabs so that it could be slid across the ice, but it was a two day trip. When the family returned the morning of day two to complete the move, the ice had broken.
Luckily, the family was able to retrieve most of their possessions, but heavier items had to be left behind and the house could not be saved. Over the years, scuba divers report that parts of the house and those heavier possessions are still intact.
Acknowledgements
“Sunken House Resting at Bottom of Gardner Lake”, 10/21/2009, by Richard Curland
OnlyInYourState.com
1954 Air France Flight Crashes in Preston
On August 3, 1954 Air France Flight 075, a trans-Atlantic flight originating in Paris and bound for Mexico City, came to rest about 50 feet from the homestead on the Valentine Sebastian farm in Preston.
The 1955 Civil Aeronautic Board report listed “inadequate in-flight planning” as the probable crash cause. The pilot “did not take a firm selection of a suitable airport within range of the fuel remaining at the time of the missed approach.”
Even though the plane exploded and burst into flames, all twenty-nine passengers and eight crew members survived. However, six passengers and three crewmen were hospitalized. Most of the passengers were released from the hospital within days. One survivor, textile executive Aaron Rosenstein, gave out 10 checks for $100 in gratitude to Backus Hospital, the state police, the Sebastian family and several of the fire companies.
The German prince, 30 year-old Alfons Langerburg, told of how he kicked open the plane’s wing door after the crash to escape. He said he barely missed being hit by an exploding engine. The prince made news again the following year, when he married a 15 year old Austrian princess in Rome.
Acknowledgements
“Air France Flight 075 Crash Site in Preston, August 1954” , 08/02/2014, by Ryan Blessing
Wikipedia
New York TImes 08/04/1954
1954 USS Nautilus Launch
The USS Nautilus was launched into the Thames River on January 21, 1954. It was (SSN-571) was the world’s first operational nuclear-powered submarine and the first submarine to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole on 3 August 1958. Her initial commanding officer was “Dennis” Wilkinson, a widely respected naval officer who set the stage for many of the protocols of today’s Nuclear Navy, and had a storied career during military service and afterwards.
Acknowledgements
Wikipedia
U.S. Navy