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Salem Witch Indictment From 1692 Up For Auction

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Original indictment of Margaret Scott for "certaine detestable arts called Witchcraft and Sorceries," Salem, September 1692. Estimate $25,000 to $35,000. (Swann Auction Galleries)
Original indictment of Margaret Scott for "certaine detestable arts called Witchcraft and Sorceries," Salem, September 1692. Estimate $25,000 to $35,000. (Swann Auction Galleries)

And now, for a little witchcraft.

Only 900 documents survived the Salem Witch Trails of the late 1600s, and one of them was up for auction Thursday at the Swann Auction Galleries in New York City. It's the indictment of Margaret Scott, a widow from Rowley, Mass. that was in her seventies when she was tried and hanged in September of 1692 for supposedly practicing witchcraft on 19-year-old Mary Daniel.

Daniel claimed to have been "tortured, afflicted, consumed, pined, wasted and tormented" by Scott's spectre. The document is expected to sell for between $25,000 and $35,000.

The archivist for the town of Danvers, Mass., Richard Trask, joined us earlier today to tell us more about this incredibly rare document.

Guest:

  • Richard Trask, archivist, Danvers, Mass.

Related:

  • Online bidding for the Margaret Scott indictment at Artfact.com.

This segment aired on March 15, 2012.

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