They were mother and daughter (twelve or thirteen years old), tried at Hartford and acquitted in August, 1697; indicted on new complaints in October, 1697, but the jury returned on the bill, "Ignoramus." _Records Court of Assistants_ (1: 74, 77).
SARAH SPENCER. Colchester, 1724. Accused. Damages 1s.
Even a certificate of the minister as to her religion and virtue, could not free Sarah from a reputation as a witch. And when Elizabeth (and how many Connecticut witches bore that name) Ackley accused her of "riding and pinching," and James Ackley, her husband, made threats, Sarah sued them for a fortune in those days, £500 damages, and got judgment for £5, with costs. The Ackleys appealed, and at the trial the jury awarded Sarah damages of ls., and also stated that they found the Ackleys not insane--a clear demonstration that the mental condition of witchcraft accusers was taken account of in the later and saner times.
NORTON. Bristol, 1768. Suspicioned. No record.
"On the mountain," probably Fall mountain in Bristol, the antics of a young woman named Norton, who accused her aunt of putting a bridle on her and driving her through the air to witch meetings in Albany, caused a commotion among the virtuous people. Deacon Dutton's ox was torn apart by an invisible agent, and unseen hands brought new ailments to the residents there, pinched them and stuck red hot pins into them. Elder Wildman set out to exorcise the evil spirit, but became so terrorized that he called for help, and one of his posse of assistants was scared into convulsions. This case may be counted among the last, perhaps the last traditions of the strange delusion which aforetime filled the hills and valleys of Quohnectacut with its baleful light. _Memorial History Hartford County_ (2: 51).
ALSE YOUNG 1647 MARY JOHNSON 1648 JOHN CARRINGTON 1650-51 JOAN CARRINGTON 1650-71 GOODY BASSETT 1651 GOODWIFE KNAPP 1653 LYDIA GILBERT 1654 ELIZABETH GODMAN 1655 NICHOLAS BAYLY 1655 GOODWIFE BAYLY 1655 WILLIAM MEAKER 1657 ELIZABETH GARLICK 1658 NICHOLAS JENNINGS 1661 MARGARET JENNINGS 1661 NATHANIEL GREENSMITH 1662 REBECCA GREENSMITH 1662 MARY SANFORD 1662 ANDREW SANFORD 1662 GOODY AYRES 1662 KATHERINE PALMER 1662 JUDITH VARLETT 1662 JAMES WALKLEY 1662 MARY BARNES 1662-63 ELIZABETH SEAGER 1666 KATHERINE HARRISON 1669 NICHOLAS DISBOROUGH 1683 MARY STAPLIES 1692 MERCY DISBOROUGH 1692 ELIZABETH CLAWSON 1692 MARY HARVEY 1692 HANNAH HARVEY 1692 GOODY MILLER 1692 HUGH CROTIA 1693 WINIFRED BENHAM, SENR. 1697 WINIFRED BENHAM, JUNR. 1697 SARAH SPENCER 1724 ---- NORTON 1768