This Autumn Equinox marks the anniversary of the hanging of Samuel Wardwell, one of my great, great grandfathers. He was accused during the Salem Witch Trials and hanged on September 22nd, 1692.
Wardwell was unconventional and practised things like fortunetelling. He was accused of bewitching Martha Sprague. He retracted his forced confession and was hung. His wife, daughter and stepdaughter were also accused, tried, and confessed. The daughters were acquitted, but the wife was convicted.
Wardwell's wife was later released in 1711. The trials brought much hardship, and the family was destitute after. Their son sued the colony and regained 36 pounds, 15 shillings.
I can't help but feel an eerie resemblance to what happened then and what's going on now. It feels like a Witch hunt the way we're dehumanizing free people who don't want forced injections and masking. The other side of my family was also financially ruined, more recently during dekulakization during the "Russian" revolution before we barely made it to Canada. R.I.P. to those who died in the Gulag. I feel like the victim of mass group think, just like my ancestors.