Talk:Mary Bliss Parsons

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Untitled[edit]

I don’t know if any of this article is correct. All of the articles I’ve found about Mary Parsons state that her husband’s name was Hugh and not Joseph; Hugh was Mary’s second husband, and they wed in 1645; Mary bore three children, two of which died in infancy; the woman Mary Parsons feuded with was a Mrs. Marshfield; Mary accused Marshfield of witchcraft, and Marshfield sued Mary Parsons of slander and Marshfield won; Mary Parsons accused her husband Hugh Parsons of witchcraft; Mary’s third child then passed away, and she claimed to have used witchcraft to kill the baby; both Mary and Hugh were each charged with witchcraft and stood trial in Boston, but both were acquitted; Hugh left Mary and Springfield, remarried, and never returned to the area; Mary, although acquitted of witchcraft, was found guilty of killing her child, and she was sentenced to hang; Mary died in prison before her death sentence was carried out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by RyanNijakowski (talk • contribs) 23:19, 10 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I think this whole page might be wrong[edit]

According to an article on WordPress as well as other articles about Mary Parsons and her husband Hugh (and not Joseph), this is what I found, and none of it matches the information on Mary Parsons’ Wikipedia page:

“Mary Parsons of Springfield Salem wasn’t the only community conducting witch hunts. Springfield had its own witch trials a half century before Salem’s 1692 outbreak. It began when a woman named Mary Parsons suffered a mental breakdown. Abandoned by a previous spouse, Mary wed a brick-maker named Hugh Parsons in 1645 and subsequently bore three children. Two of the babies died and these tragedies drove Mary into despair and insanity.

Without solace she channeled her confused sufferings against a woman named Marshfield, who had just come to Springfield, accusing her of witchcraft. Mrs. Marshfield took legal action, requesting that Magistrate William Pynchon hear the case. He found Mary guilty of slander and sentenced her to be whipped or pay 24 bushels of corn to Mrs. Marshfield.

Hugh Parsons, something of an outcast himself, flew into a rage and made threatening comments said to be influenced by an evil being. The young couple now felt humiliated by a community that never had embraced them anyway. A tormented Mary then turned on her husband and accused him of witchcraft. His trial brought about a witch mania. Mary claimed that Hugh caused the death of her child while under satanic influence. Soon townspeople claimed to see everything from flickering illuminations in a marsh to clothing that emitted bright light flashes.

While all this was going on Mary’s third child, just five months old, died. Already unstable, Mary now lost her sanity completely and announced that she practiced witchcraft and had killed her baby. Soon the minister’s daughters attributed their convulsive fits to a spell cast by Mary. It was Springfield’s high point of confusion and terror.

Hugh and Mary Parsons were sent to Boston for trial by the General Court. Hugh was eventually acquitted. After the trial he never returned to Springfield, settling instead in Watertown and remarrying. Mary was acquitted of witchcraft, but found guilty of her child’s murder. Sentenced to hang, the unfortunate Mary Parsons, ill and insane, died in prison before her sentence could be carried out.” RyanNijakowski (talk) 23:22, 10 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Mary Bliss Parsons and Hugh Parsons[edit]

Before yesterday I didn't know about Hugh Parsons. I am related to many of the people involved and was trying to improve my documentation. from Parsons Family : Descendants of Cornet Joseph Parsons one can see the story of Mary Bliss Parsons and Sarah Bridgman. It also appears in The Full Story of the Slander Trial and again in Genealogy of the Bliss family in America.

The first century of the history of Springfield mentions the trial of Hugh Parsons. Cornet Joseph Parsons is also mentioned in the book but not the slander trial.

Early Northampton also mentions the accusation of Mary Bliss Parsons.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Forbisgaryg (talk • contribs) 01:13, 30 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Springfield witch and slander trials - Mary and Hugh parsons[edit]

The Springfield witch and slander trials involved Mary and Hugh Parsons. Testimony is available here: https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/3ca63410-c627-0139-9efd-0242ac110004