The Wrath of the Putnams
Sarah Osborne, besides being suspected of living out of wedlock with her husband added to that scandal when she contested her first husband's will. He had left his vast landholdings to his sons. Sarah attempted to keep the land for herself. When the Salem Witch Trials began in 1692, the disputed lands had yet to be resolved. This ongoing situation had also made her an enemy of her neighbor John Putnam Senior, uncle to Thomas Putnam Junior who was the father of Ann Putnam, Jr.one of the bewitched girls. The senior Putnam was also the uncle of Sarah's sons whose inherited lands she was attempting to keep for herself.
Also by the time of the Salem Witch Trials, Sarah and Alexander were by then extremely poor. Sarah, now an old woman, was bedridden. And she had made a hateful enemy of the Putnam clan. She was not in a favorable situation when Salem Village fingers began pointing out suspected witches.
Sarah Osborne was the third person to be accused of bewitching the young afflicted girls of Salem Village.
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Sarah Osborne: Third to be Accused of Witchcraft.
Recommended Reading:
Cotton Mather: A Believer in Witchcraft.
Possession by Demons: Which Witch Was It?
Are You a Witch? Two Million Witches Hung.
Bridget Bishop Bewitching Men: Was She Witch, Woman, or Just Devilish?
Source:
Hill, Frances. A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials. De Capo Press, 1995.
