Marilynne K. Roach
Suburbs of Hell: Jail Conditions During the 1692 Salem Witch Trials
Fiction has portrayed witch-suspects jailed in buildings ranging from castle-like prisons of dressed stone to flimsy chicken coops, but what was the reality for over 160 people accused of witchcraft and crowded into four jails in three counties during 1692? While conditions were obviously primitive in that era (jails weren’t called “suburbs of Hell” for nothing), what were the actual buildings like? In addition to scant references in court documents and other contemporary records, two early jails still exist that give clues to the reality experienced by the alleged “witches.”
[Recorded August 12, 2023]
Marilynne K. Roach (MarilynneKRoach.com) is an independent researcher, writer, and illustrator, has delved into the 1692 trials for nearly half a century and still finds new information cropping up in unexpected places. Roach was one of the sub-editors contributing to the definitive Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt, a member of the Gallows Hill Group that verified Proctor’s Ledge as the true location of the 1692 hangings (hailed by Archaeology Magazine as one of the top ten discoveries of 2016), and has authored several books about the Salem Witch Trials.
