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The Perely family never apologized for getting the neighbor they hated hanged as a witch, well, not for 219 years

Howe on trial

Totally unbiased rendering of Howe on trial, done long after she was dead. Source.

Jessica Shrey at the State Library of Massachusetts recounts the story of Elizabeth Howe of Ipswich, hanged as a witch on July 19, 1692, in large part based on the testimony of the Perely family, who owned the neighboring farm and who had feuded with Howe and her late husband for years.

Even after officials awoke to the hysteria they had participated in, the Perelys never did, at least not until 1911, when Martin van Buren Perely wrote a memorial to Howe, in the form of a history of a "the witchcraft delusion" that led to her death.

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Comments

Considering life expectancy during that era, she was already ahead of the curve only to end up like this... over a family feud and acute dermatitis?

Also, wasn't there a law firm called Dewey, Burnham & Howe?

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...she did turn that one dude into a newt. Fortunately he got better.

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Thanks for the "jumpscare"!

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