| Notes |
- Edward and his brother, Thomas, and two others, swore out the first warrants for suspicion of witchcraft against Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne.
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Edward became the second deacon of the First Church of Salem Village in 1690, serving alongside Nathaniel Ingersoll, and was, like most of the Putnam family, a supporter of Reverend Samuel Parris. It was in Parris’s parsonage that the first afflicted children, 9-year-old Betty Parris and her cousin, 11-year-old Abigail Williams, first began to exhibit strange torments in January of 1692. They made animal sounds, writhed and twisted, and fell to the ground. The adults were understandably alarmed.
According to Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum’s 1974 book Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft, Edward Putnam participated in thirteen cases over the duration of the trials. He was present for some of the most intriguing events, including a visit to the accused Martha Corey, a surprising target as she was “a gospel woman” and not a usual suspect. When Edward witnessed Ann Putnam Jr.’s tormented behavior in Corey’s presence a few days later, he testified about what he’d witnessed. He truly believed it was Martha Corey who caused Ann’s affliction. “On March 19, on the strength of Edward Putnam’s complaint that she had afflicted Thomas Putnam’s wife and daughter, Martha Corey was arrested,” according to Boyer and Nissenbaum.
On March 23, it was Edward, along with his cousin Jonathan Putnam, who filed the complaint that led to Rebecca Nurse’s arrest. The pair were also the ones who filed the complaint against four-year-old Dorothy Good, leading to her arrest. In May, Edward testified about witnessing Putnam servant Mercy Lewis’s afflictions, saying they were so terrible he thought she would die. He believed it was Mary Easty who tormented her. Easty, who had been previously arrested, and released just days earlier, was taken back into custody. Edward Putnam’s testimony clearly carried a lot of weight.
Edward Putnam Sr. was also known as something of a family historian, and a lover of books and writing. Notes historian Charles Upham in his 1867 work Salem Witchcraft, “After serving as deacon of the church from its organization, a period of forty years, as he was entering his eightieth year, [he] gave this account of his family: ‘From the three brothers [meaning his father and uncles] proceeded twelve males: from these twelve males, forty males; and from these forty males, eighty-two males: there were none of the name of Putnam in New England but those from this family.” Upham goes on to describe Edward Putnam as “amiable and gentle-hearted.” A close reading of his will shows he was a man of means at the end of his life, who carefully and lovingly divided his land and belongings among his descendants. Edward Putnam died in 1748 at the age of 94. [3]
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Old Dead Relatives
1654 - 1747 (92 years)
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
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