Eunice Cole, better known as “Goody Cole” was the only woman convicted of witchcraft in New Hampshire.

Goody Cole was formally accused of witchcraft three times in her lifetime, the first time in Boston in 1656 when several townspeople testified against her. She was whipped and imprisoned until in 1660, but was released until 1662 when she was returned to prison until sometime between 1668 and 1671. She was accused again in 1673, but acquitted, and once again in 1690, and although she was not indicted, she was still kept in prison.

Upon her death in 1680 she was hastily buried in an unmarked grave in Hampton; its whereabouts is still not known with any certainty to this day, although it is believed to be near the site of today’s Tuck Museum. Local legends suggest that a stake was driven into her body after her death “in order to exorcise the baleful influence she was supposed to have possessed,” and a horseshoe hung on the stake, just to be on the safe side. In truth Goody Cole was almost certainly unpleasant in the extreme - Hampton historian Joseph Dow referred to her as “ill-natured and ugly, artful and aggravating, malicious and revengeful” - but certainly not a witch.

-Wikipedia

This entry was posted on Monday, November 26th, 2007 at 8:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.