|
a.
|
Note: d in "The Wright Family of Oyster Bay, L.I." by Howland Delano Perrine (1923), there are two conflicting stories concerning the events leading to her imprisionment. The first version is that Mary Wright and other Quakers from Long Island had gone to Boston to protest the execution of a Quaker named Mary Dyer, and Mary Wright and the other protesters, including Wenlock Christianson, were then themselves imprisioned. The second version is that Mary Wright fell under suspicion of withchcraft while on Long Island, and there being no court there competent to hear the case, she was transported to Massachusetts for trial. Although she was not convicted of witchcraft, Mary Wright was convicted of Quakerism, and banished. They were later banished from the jusisdiction."The Wright Family of Oyster Bay, L.I." by Howland Delano Perrine at pp 48-49, 52 includes the following details concerning these versions: Version one (pp 48-49): The persistent barbarity of the authorities of Massachusetts Colony in putting Mary Dyer to death, excited deeply the indignation of all of the Quaker faith, and impelled many to flack to Boston, under the firm impression that they were called of God to utter their warnings and exhortations in the very ears of their persecutors. Among those going thus to Boston, shortly after the execution of Mary Dyer, June 1, 1660, were the sisters Mary and Hannah Wright. The old account says they both were particularly "bold in speech," in publicly denouncing the magistrates for their part in the affair of Mary Dyer. Thereupon both were immediately seized, and lodged in Boston jail. In this jail there were at the time twenty-five others [including Wentock Christianson], some of whom were under sentence of death, some to be whipped, others banished...... In 1660, Mary Wright of Oyster Bay, being. suspected of witchcraft, was sent to Massachusetts, where after a trial of the charge she was acquitted, but convicted of being a Quaker, and banished. Hutchinson's account of this trial makes no notice of the charge of witchcraft, and her answers to the court on her examination, as well as the punishment adjudged, indicates she was in Massachusetts of her own accord, to give her "testimony," against the authorities for their cruelty in putting Mary Dyer to death. She was among those discharged along with Wenlock Christianson, in June, 1661, and was driven out of the jurisdiction. ~ (Hist. of Massachusetts. Hutchinson. Vol. 1, p. 202; New England Judged. Bishop. Pt. 2, p. 35; N. Y. Historical Soc'y Collections. 1869. p. 273.) Alluding further to the unfortunate events of this period.~ Bishop, in "New England Judged," page 220, says: "Several of Salem friends ye committed, and have continued them long prisoners at Boston, as Mary Trask, John Smith, Margaret Smith, Edward Wharton, and others. Robert Harper, of Sandwich, and Deborah ye committed likewise, and these were in your prison, the 13th of the 10th month, 1660. Several ye banished upon pain of death, as Wenlock Christison, and William King of Salem, and Martha Standley, a maid belonging to England, and Mary Write, of Oyster Bay, in Rhode(?) Island, who gave her testimony against you for your cruelty in putting Mary Dyer to death, whose blood ye also thirst after because of it". Version two (p.52): Respecting ... Mary Wright, another record of the early history of Long Island says: "in 1660, suspicion of witchcraftery fell upon one Mary Wright, of Oyster Bay, and it became a matter of very grave consideration, that a crime so enormous should undergo a rigid investigation. There being no tribunal in New York competent, in the opinion of the people to hear, try and determine a business of such magnitude, it was decided to transport the accused to the General Court of Massachusetts, where charges of this character were supposed to be better understood. Mary was sent to, and arraigned in Boston on this charge soon afterwards, and although the evidence of the guilt of witchcraft failed, she was convicted of Quakerism; a crime in the opinion of her judges of about equal enormity, and she was sentenced to banishment." (Hist. of Long Island, Thompson, 2d Ed. Vol. 1, p. 270; Ibid. Prime, 1845, p. 89; Hist. of Massachusetts, Hutchinson. Vol. 1, p. 202.) It is difficult to reconcile the previous account of Mary Wright's voluntary appearance in Boston, with that above given, as reasons for the visit differ. Considering her prominence then, and after, among the Quakers, it is hard to think anyone would bring the charge of witchcraft against her at her home or its vicinity, and the account given thereof does not seem to have been sustained, but that she was in Boston in connection with the recent execution of Mary Dyer. [end quotes from "The Wright Family of Oyster Bay, L.I." by Howland Delano Perrine] It was similarily noted in "Witchcraft in New York - The Cases of Hall and Harrison" George Lincoln Burr, ed., Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases 1648-1706, (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1914) 41-52: "That Mary Wright, of Oyster Bay, who in 1660 was punished for Quakerism in Boston, was sent thither on a charge of witchcraft, as has been stated, seems contradicted by what we know of her case (see Hutchinson, History of Massachusetts, I. ch.I, sub anno 1660; Bishop, New-England Judged, ed. of 1703, pp. 220, 340, 461; N. Y. Gen. and Biog. Record, III. 37 ff.)" Gerald Ueckermann 2003
Note: Mary Wright grew up on Long Island. She was imprisioned in Boston in 1660-61. As is recounte
|