Estate / Collection: The Victor Gulotta Collection

BRADBURY, THOMAS

Autograph deposition signed. Hampton: circa 7 August 1659. An autograph deposition signed twice "Tho: Bradbury recrd," about 16 lines in his hand, the document the deposition of John Rodman in a case regarding payment. Framed with a reproduction of a painting of a Salem courtroom scene. Uneven toning or staining, small losses to edges.

Captain Thomas Bradbury was one of the founding settlers of Salisbury in 1639 and a prominent citizen of the colony. We trace few examples of the signature of this clerk of Salisbury. He is notable though for the experience of his wife in the Salem Witch Trials.

Unrelated to the current document, on July 2nd, 1692, Thomas' 72-year-old wife Mary was questioned after four accusers alleged she was the spectral force behind the illness of Timothy Swan. One accuser went as far as to say that she saw the ghost of an uncle in the courtroom when Mary Bradbury was present and the ghost accused Mary of his murder. Mary was also accused of attending a "satanic baptism." Over 100 neighbors signed a petition in Mary Bradbury's defense to no avail, further grievances against her were listed in court, including one man who claimed that thirteen years earlier Bradbury had turned into a wild boar and attacked his father's horse. Bradbury was convicted on September 10th and sentenced to be hung with five others. Of these six, four were hung on September 22nd, one who confessed was given a month to prepare for her hanging and by then the Salem Witch Trials were over. Perhaps with the help of prominent friends, Mary Bradbury somehow managed to escape the gallows and was hidden as a fugitive not returning to her family until May 1693. Later, after her death, her family appealed for a reversal of the conviction which was granted among many others, and the family was awarded £20 in restitution. A most unusual outcome of the Salem Witch Trials.

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