Bridget PLAYFER WASSELBEE OLIVER BISHOP, hanged as a witch in Salem on this day 325 years ago

Examination of a Witch, by T.H. Matteson 1853

Surname Saturday ~ PLAYFER

Hanged as a witch 325 years ago today.  Bridget Bishop was the first person hanged in the 1692 Salem witch hysteria.

Bridget Bishop, my 9^th great grandmother, is of unknown origin.  She married Samuel Wasselbee on 13 April 1660 at the church of St. Mary in the Marsh, in Norwich, Norfolk County, England.  She had two children named Wasselbee, Benjamin baptized in Norwich, and Mary’s birth recorded in Boston in 1665 as the daughter of “Samuel dec. & Bridget Wesselbee late of Norwich in England”.  I don’t know if Samuel died in England or Massachusetts.

On 26 July 1666 she married Thomas Oliver in Salem, Massachusetts.  He was also from Norwich, England.  She had a daughter named Christian Oliver, my 8^th great grandmother.  Apparently this was a contentious marriage, and the couple was sentenced in 1678 to stand gagged in public for fighting and arguing. Oliver died and  In 1680 Bridget received her first accusation of witchcraft as a widow.

About 1685 Bridget remarried for a third time to Edward Bishop. This was also his third marriage.  His first wife was Hannah UNKNOWN, and they were my 9^th great grandparents, through their son, Edward Bishop (1648- 1711) my 8^th great grandfather.  You can read about this lineage at this link: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/surname-saturday-bishop-of-salem.html

Edward Bishop was an older, well respected man who was a founder of the church in Beverly, Massachusetts.   On 18 April 1692 he accused his third wife of witchcraft “The Devil did come bodily unto her, and that she was familiar with the Devil, and that she sat up allnight long with the Devil”.  Soon other witnesses brought forth similar charges.  Bridget was accused of using “poppets” or dolls to bewitch victims, and of killing a baby in its cradle. She underwent the humiliation of having her body examined for marks made by the devil and "witches teats". She was tried on June 2, found guilty, and on 10 June 1692 she was the first hanging victim of the witch hysteria.

During 1692 many people were accused and imprisoned under charges of witchcraft.  There are many, many books and resources for the witch trials.  You can read social and local historians’ versions of what happened in Salem, the trials and the executions. What is more difficult to uncover is genealogical information on this family.  In 1867 Charles W. Upham wrote a book Salem Witchcraft: With an Account of Salem Village and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft.  This book confuses Sarah (Wildes) Bishop with Bridget Bishop.  Sarah Bishop, a tavern owner, was the wife of Edward Bishop’s son, Edward, Jr. This mistake has been repeated in many articles and books about Bridget Bishop and her trial. 

The court of Oyer and Terminer, which conducted the Salem Witch Trials, was disbanded in October 1692.  In 1693 Governor Phips granted several pardons to accused witches.  Over 70 people had been tried as witches, and 19 were executed.   More than 200 people had been accused.   In 1711 the state of Massachusetts cleared the names of the accused, and offered monetary restitution, but the Bishop family did not accept the settlement.  Bridget’s daughter, Christian (Oliver) Mason, my 8^th great grandmother, had died in 1693 and Bridget’s third husband, her accuser, had died in 1695.

On 12 April 1694 Edward Bishop was appointed the guardian of Susanna Mason, my 7th great grandmother, and took control of the 9 pounds she inherited from the death of her father, Thomas Oliver.  She grew up to marry John Becket of the shipbuilding family in Salem.  According to Sidney Perley in The History of Salem, "Bishop seems to have invested the money of his ward in the lot at the extreme end of Forrester Street, where it connects with Essex Street, bounded by Forrester Street on the north and east, and Essex Street on the south. This was the property of Susannah when she married John Becket, Jr."  The Becket shipyard was very close to this property.

And, just to make this more confusing, Edward Bishop, husband of Bridget, is my 9th great grandfather through his marriage with his first wife, Hannah Unknown.  His son, Edward Bishop, Jr. (1648 - 1711), my 8th great grandfather, married Sarah Wildes about 1675.  Her step mother, Sarah Averhill Wildes, was also hanged as a witch on 19 July 1692, a few weeks after Bridget Bishop's hanging.

Some genealogical sources of information on Bridget Playfer Wasselbee Oliver Bishop:

“Salem Witches 1: Bridget Bishop” by David Green, The American Genealogist, Volume 57, 1981, pages 129 – 138.

“Bridge (Playfer) (Wasselbe) (Oliver) Bishop: Her Origin and First Husband”, by Robert Charles Anderson, The American Genealogist, Volume 64, 1989, page 207.

Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused ant their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials, by Marilynne Roach,  2013, (see the afterward on pages 378 - 380 for additional genealogical information on the Bishop, Oliver and Mason families).  

My BISHOP lineage can be seen at this link:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/surname-saturday-bishop-of-salem.html  

My WILDES lineage can be seen at this link:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/08/surname-saturday-wildes-of-topsfield.html  

My PLAYFER genealogy:

Generation 1:  Bridget Player, born in England, married first to Samuel Wasselbee on 13 April 1660 at the church of St. Mary in the Marsh, Norwich, Norfolk, England; married second to Thomas Oliver on 26 July 1666 in Salem, Massachusetts; married third to Edward Bishop.  Two Wasselbee children, one daughter named Oliver.

Generation 2:  Christian Oliver, born 8 May 1667 in Salem, died about 1693; married about 1686 to Thomas Mason.

Generation 3:  Susannah Mason, born 23 August 1687 in Salem, died after 1769; married on 20 September 1711 in Salem to John Beckett, son of William Becket and Hannah Sibley.  He was born 10 August 1684 and died 1763 in Salem. Six children.

Generation 4: John Becket m. Rebecca Beadle

Generation 5:  Hannah Becket m. Joseph Cloutman

Generation 6:  Mary Cloutman m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 7: Abijah Hitchings m. Eliza Ann Treadwell

Generation 8:  Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 9:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 10: Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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To Cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Bridget PLAYFER WASSELBEE OLIVER BISHOP”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 10, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/06/bridget-playfer-wasselbee-oliver-bishop.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ OLIVER of Salem, Massachusetts

Thomas OLIVER, my 9^th great grandfather,  age 36, came to New England aboard the ship Mary Ann with his first wife, Mary Leman, two children (Thomas and John), and two servants (Thomas Doged, age 30; and Mary Sape age 12).  They arrived at Boston on 20 June 1637, but settled at Salem, Massachusetts where he bought much property.  Thomas Oliver was listed as a calenderman on the ship records.  The definition of a calenderman was one who operated a machine called a calender or mangle at a paper pulp mill or laundry.  The calender pressed cloth or paper between rollers to make them smooth or the proper thickness.

Thomas Oliver’s first wife, Mary, spoke out in support of the Salem church teacher Roger Williams.  Roger Williams was controversial because he was politically and theologically out of step with the Puritan church.  He was thus exiled from Salem, and ultimately exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  Mary Oliver was punished in 1638 for “berating our elders”.  Thomas Oliver was brought to court for his inability to control his wife, and they were exiled back to England in 1649.  Sometime before 1666 Mary died and Thomas Oliver returned to Salem, where he still owned all his property.

On 26 July 1666 in Salem Thomas Oliver married for a second time to Bridget Playfer, the widow of Samuel Wasselbee.  They had one daughter, my 8^th great grandmother, Christian Oliver, born in 1667.  This was not a happy marriage.  Thomas beat Bridget.  They were brought to court several times, and in January 1669 they were charged with fighting in public and sentenced to pay a fine or be whipped with ten stripes.  They were brought to court again in 1677:

 “Bridget, wife of Thomas Oliver,.. for calling her husband many opprobrious names, as old rogue and old devil, on Lord’s days; she was ordered to stand with her husband, back to back on about an hour with a paper fastened to each of their foreheads, upon which their offence should be fairly written” (TAG, July 1981 see below)

In 1678 Thomas Oliver died without a will.  His estate was settled on 24 April 1679 and Bridget was named administrix.  She lost all the property he had accumulated when his debtors claimed many debts.  Bridget was left penniless, and had to petition the town of Salem for relief.  The people of Salem found Thomas Oliver’s death suspicious, and his children accused her of betwitching him to death.  Bridget received her first accusation of being a witch in 1680, and the case was dismissed for lack of evidence.

The twice widowed Bridget brought herself out of poverty by marrying the prosperous and well respected man Edward Bishop around 1687.  This marriage was not happy either, and Bridget found herself accused of witchcraft again in the 1692 hysteria. In my opinion, the events of both marriages led to her accusations.  She was the first person to be executed by hanging during these trials on 10 June 1692.

This is a blog post about the Oliver family, not just about Bridget, the accused witch.  I will write more about Bridget (Playfer) (Wasselbee) (Oliver) Bishop in a blog post to be posted 10 June 2017, the 325^th anniversary of her death.  Please stay tuned!

To read about my BISHOP lineage (from Bridget’s third husband, Edward Bishop – yes, I descend from both Bridget through her Oliver marriage, and Bishop through his marriage with his first wife Elizabeth) please see this link:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/surname-saturday-bishop-of-salem.html

For the truly curious:

Salem Witchcraft with an account of Salem Village and a history of opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects, by Charles W. Upham, NY: Frederick Unger Pub Co, 1978, 2 volumes.

A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England. by James Savage, Boston MA: Little Brown & Co., 1860, volume 3, page 311.

David L. Green, "Salem Witches I: Bridget Bishop", The American Genealogist, July 1981

The Olivers of the Sagdahoc, Georgtown, Maine, by Eliot Chandler

Salem Village Witchcraft: A Documentary Record of Local Conflict in Colonial New England, by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, 1972.  See pages 155 and 156 for the case of Bridget Oliver Brought to Court for Using Foul Language against Her Husband,  January 1678

My OLIVER lineage:

Generation 1:  Thomas Oliver, born about 1601 probably in Norwich, England, died before 24 June 1679 in Salem, Massachusetts; married first to Mary Leman on 29 January 1626 at St. Andrew’s in Norwich, England; married second on 26 July 1666 in Salem to Bridget Player, widow of Samuel Wasselbee.  She died by hanging in Salem on 10 June 1692.  One child.

Generation 2:  Christian Oliver, born 8 May 1667 in Salem, died about 1693; married about 1686 to Thomas Mason.  One child.

Generation 3:  Susannah Mason m. John Becket

Generation 4:  John Becket m. Rebecca Beadle

Generation 5:  Hannah Becket m. Joseph Cloutman

Generation 6:  Mary Cloutman m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 7:  Abijah Hitchings m. Eliza Ann Treadwell

Generation 8:  Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 9:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 10:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ OLIVER of Salem, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 13, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/05/surname-saturday-oliver-of-salem.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ MASON of Salem, Massachusetts

Thomas MASON, my 8^th great grandfather, was a fisherman who came to Salem in 1680 after selling land in Casco, Maine.  [York Deeds, Volume 14, page 33 ( Book XIV, folio 8)]  He was the pilot for a privateer Dragon in 1694, captained by Robert Glover, which captured a rich French ship St. Joseph at the mouth of the Canada River [the early name for the St. Lawrence River).  It was “Laden with Wine, Brandy and other Mechandizes” [from the Acts and Resolves, Public and Private, of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, Volume VII (Resolves, etc. 1692 – 1702), page 55]  This prize was brought to Boston and valued at fifteen hundred pounds sterling.

About 1686 he married Christian Oliver, the daughter of Bridget (Playfer) Wasselbee Oliver Bishop, who would be hanged as a witch in Salem in 1692.  Their only daughter was Susannah Mason (1687 – 1769) my 7^th great grandmother.   Christian died with a year of her mother’s death by execution, about 1693, and Thomas Mason remarried on 1 November 1693 to the widow Abigail (Curtice) Greenslade, the widow of Thomas Greenslade.  He was one of Ann Pudeator’s sons (Ann was hanged as a witch in 1692, too).  So Thomas Mason was married to two wives closely connected to witch trial victims. 

Edward Bishop, the husband of Bridget Bishop, was appointed guardian to his step granddaughter Susannah Mason.   When Thomas Oliver, Bridget’s second husband, died the court ordered 9 pounds from his estate to be given to Christian Oliver Mason, but she was already dead so the new administrator of the probate case left the money to Susannah.  On 12 April 1694 Edward Bishop was appointed the guardian of Susanna Mason and took control of the 9 pounds.  He bought a houselot for her at the intersection of Essex Street and Forrester Street.  This was her property when she married John Becket, Jr. in 1711.  The Beckets were shipbuilders, and their shipyard was nearby.

My MASON lineage:

Generation 1  Thomas Mason, born about 1665; married about 1686 in Salem to Christian Oliver, daughter of Thomas Oliver and Bridget Playfer.  She was born 8 May 1667 in Salem, and died about 1693.  One daughter.

Generation 2:  Susannah Mason, born 23 August 1687 in Salem, died after 1769; married on 20 September 1711 in Salem to John Becket, son of William Becket and Hannah Sibley. He was born in Salem on 10 August 1684 and died 1763.  Six children.

Generation 3: John Becket m. Rebecca Beadle

Generation 4:  Hannah Becket m. Joseph Cloutman

Generation 5:  Mary Cloutman m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 6:  Abijah Hitchings m. Eliza Ann Treadwell

Generation 7:  Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 8:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 9:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~  MASON of Salem, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 6, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/05/surname-saturday-mason-of-salem.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ BECKETT of Salem, Massachusetts

The John Becket House, 1655, at the House of Seven Gables in Salem, Massachusetts
is labeled the "Retire Becket House" by the front door. 

BECKET, BECKETT

John Becket, my 9^th great grandfather, was first recorded in Salem, Massachusetts on 9 April 1655 when he bought “one dwelling house and three acres of land behind it” from Samuel Archard.  The street where this house stood is now known as Becket Court, near the waterfront in Salem. Eventually the family built a shipyard on this property.  In 1924 this house was moved one half mile to the museum compound where the House of Seven Gables stands, and was converted into the gift shop.  (from The Chronicles of Three Old Houses, by Caroline O. Emmerton, 1985, published by the House of Seven Gables Settlement Association)

John Becket was the great great grandfather of the famous ship builder Retire Becket.   In 1816 the millionaire George Crowninshield, Jr. of Salem commissioned Retire “Tyrey” Becket to build the first known private luxury yacht, which was known as Cleopatra’s Barge.   It cost $50,000 to build, and another $50,000 to outfit it as an ocean going mansion (in 1816 dollars!).  No expense was spared on this 100 foot brig.  In 1820 this yacht was traded to King Kamehameha II of Hawaii and renamed Ka Ha'aheo O' Hawai'i.  She sank off Hanalei Bay on the north of Kauai in 1824, and in 1994 the wreck was rediscovered.  191 objects were raised from the wreck and displayed at the Kauai Museum.

There is a reconstruction of the main cabin of Cleopatra's Barge
inside the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts

William Becket, my 8^th great grandfather, was also a shipwright, as well as his son, John Becket (1684 – 1763). This lineage lived in Salem from John Becket the immigrant in the 1650s until my grandmother’s time.  If you look down below to generation 8 you will see my great great grandfather, Abijah F. Hitchings, who was the deputy customs collector at the Salem Custom House, also on the waterfront.  He lived in a house that stood on the land that is now the parking lot for visitors to the House of Seven Gables.  This family has always lived in this neighborhood of Salem.  

For more on the BECKET family:

The Story of George Crowninsheild’s Yacht, Cleopatra’s Barge, by George Crowninshield, 1913

A video of the wreck and recovery of Cleopatra’s Barge AKA  Ka Ha'aheo O' Hawai'i  https://vimeo.com/13968115

My BECKET genealogy:

Generation 1:  John Becket, born about 1626, probably in England, died 26 November 1683 in Salem, Massachusetts; married Margaret UNKNOWN.  She died about 1717.  Five children.

Generation 2: William Becket, born 9 April 1665 in Salem, died 10 November 1723 in Salem; married on 8 May 1683 in Marblehead to Hannah Sibley, daughter of Richard Sibley and Hannah UNKNOWN.  She was born 20 September 1661 in Salem and died 1734.  Eight children.

Generation 3:  John Becket, born 10 August 1684 in Salem, died 1763 in Salem; married on 20 September 1711 in Salem to Susannah Mason, daughter of Thomas Mason and Christian Oliver.  She was born 23 August 1687 in Salem, and died after 1769.  Six children.

Generation 4:  John Becket, born 28 February 1715 in Salem, died 29 August 1781 in Salem; married first on 3 May 1738 to Rebecca Beadle, daughter of Lemon Beadle and Rebecca Atwater.  She was born 31 January 1714 in Salem and died 13 January 1758 in Salem.  Thirteen children.   John married second to Sarah Rue on 25 November 1762 in Salem.  No more children with second marriage.

Generation 5: Hannah Becket, born 17 November 1751 in Salem, died 18 August 1837 in Salem; married on 20 June 1770 in Salem to Joseph Cloutman, son of Joseph Cloutman and Mary Webb.  He was born about 1748.  Seven children.

Generation 6: Mary Cloutman m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 7:  Abijah Hitchings m. Eliza Ann Treadwell

Generation 8:  Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 9:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 10:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ BECKET of Salem, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 15, 2017, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/04/surname-saturday-beckett-of-salem.html: accessed [access date]).