The Journal of New York Folklore was published 1975-1999. Back issues are still available.
The New York Folklore Quarterly was published 1946-1974. Back issues are still available.
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NEW YORK FOLKLORE QUARTERLY
Vol. XI, No. 3, Autumn 1955
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WITCHCRAFT ON LONG ISLAND
Miss Kate W. Strong
FROM goulies and ghosties
And long-legged beasties
And things that go bump in the night
Good Lord deliver us.
Such, I imagine, were the feelings of most of our ancestors
in the “good” old days. I am proud to think that in Setauket
they only once had a witchcraft scare. It was in 1665, ten years
after the town was settled, that Ralph Hall and Mary, his wife,
were accused of witchcraft. Where they came from or where in
Setauket they lived, I have never been able to find out. All I
know is the account of the trial as recorded in the Secretary of
State’s office, Book A, relating to the Court of Assizes.
On the second day of October, 1665, they were tried at the
Court of Assizes in New York, charged with witchcraft. The
jurors were Thomas Baker of Easthampton, foreman of the jury;
Captain John Symons of Hempstead; Mr. Hallock of Jamaica;
Antony Walters and Thomas Wandall of Marshpathkill; Mr.
Nicolls of Stamford; and Balthazer de Heart, John Garland, Jacob
Leister, Antonio de Mill, Alexander Munro, and Thomas Searle,
of New York. The prisoners were brought to the bar by Allard
Anthony, Sheriff of New York; the following indictment was read;
(It is interesting to note that whoever wrote that indictment was
careful to run no risk of being sued for libel.)
“The constable and overseers of the towne of Seatalcott, in
the east riding of Yorkshire, upon Long Island, do present, for
our soveraigne lord the king, that Ralph Hall, of Seatalcott aforesaid,
upon the 25th day of December, being Christmas day last, was twelve months, in the fifteenth year of the raigne of our
soveraigne lord Charles the Second, by the grace of God, king
of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, &,
severall other days and times since that day, by some detestable
and wicked arts, commonly called witchcraft and sorcery, did (as
is suspected) maliciously and feloniously practise and exercise,
at the said town of Seatalcott, in the east riding of Yorkshire, on
Long Island aforesaid, on the person of George Wood....
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NEW YORK FOLKLORE QUARTERLY, Vol. XI, No. 3 Table of Contents.
NOTE: The New York Folklore Society Newsletter and New York Folklore Journal were replaced by Voices: The Journal of New York Folklore which debuted in December, 2000.
Membership in NYFS includes a subscription to Voices: The Journal of New York Folklore.
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