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Elizabeth Clawson
Mercy Disborough accused of witchcraft by Katherine Branch, the 17-year-old servant girl of the prominent Wescot family. At this time, Goody Disborough was in her early fifties. Though Kate had never met the woman, she claimed to have been led to Compo in the night from the neighboring Stamford by a spectral version of Goody Disborough. Goody Disborough had a reputation in her own town of being ornery and outspoken—and this perception of her, coupled by the fact that several of her neighbors suspected her of cursing their livestock or bewitching objects she traded them, meant that Goody Disborough was ultimately convicted of witchcraft. During her trial, Goody Disborough was found to have a “Devil’s mark” (a growth or other bodily abnormality) by a council of Stamford women who searched her body. She also submitted to yet failed a ducking test, in which she was dunked into water to see if she would float (which was believed to confirm her association with the Devil). Goody Disborough ordeal serves as an example of the myriad ways in which women who did not fit in with the strict gender norms of Puritan New England were literally demonized for their bodily differences or their outspokenness. Though Goody Disborough was later acquitted due to a discrepancy in the jury trying her case, Richard Godbeer suggests that she likely lived out the rest of her life in fear of her slighted neighbors attempting to take the law into their own hands.
Mercy Disborough Quotes in Escaping Salem
The Escaping Salem quotes below are all either spoken by Mercy Disborough or refer to Mercy Disborough. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3 Quotes
According to the clergy, witches had no occult power of their own; demons acted on their behalf, taking on the appearance of the witches for whom they acted. Most people assumed that a specter's appearance matched the identity of the witch who wanted to harm the victim. But might specters appear as innocent people so as to incriminate harmless and virtuous individuals?
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This passage delves even more deeply into the intricacies of legislating the invisible crimes associated with witchcraft and demonic possession. Because acts of witchcraft fell into the domain of the Devil himself, Puritans could never be certain whether or not the “crimes” they perceived taking place were actually happening—and whether the alleged perpetrators of these crimes were actually responsible. This passage is significant because it further explores the complications of a society in which the supernatural was given as much weight as the real. If the intrusion of God or the Devil into everyday affairs was possible, Puritans knew they Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas d
Other neighbors, however, portrayed Elizabeth Clawson and Mercy Disborough as argumentative and vindictive. Following the arrest of the two women, a wave of Stamford and Compo residents came forward to relate quarrels with one or the other which had been followed by mysterious illness or misfortune. […] Both women reacted to the allegations against them in ways that seemed to incriminate them further.
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In this passage, Godbeer explores the ways in which Mercy Disborough and Elizabeth Clawson, two women accused of witchcraft, were negatively impacted by the expectations associated with Puritan society’s strict gender norms. Both women were well-known to be ornery and combative. Because women were supposed to be humble, submissive, pious, and neighborly, their behavior made them suspect by default. Puritan logic followed that two women acting so out of step with how they were supposed to might be under the control of forces that were intentionally corrupting their behavior. Furthermore, when both women reacted angrily and indignantly to the allegations Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus vol
Chapter 4 Quotes
As officials gathered evidence, […] there emerged a long history of suspicion and resentment surrounding the two women. Katherine Branch's allegations against Mercy Disborough and Elizabeth Clawson were clearly part of a larger story. But how would the special court react to such testimony? Would these magistrates prove any more reliable than those who presided over witchcraft cases in the past? Surely the overwhelming volume of evidence against the two women would force the court to act decisively. […] Such, at least, were the hopes of those who believed the accused to be guilty as charged.
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In this passage, Godbeer examines the questions at the forefront of Stamford officials’ minds as they gathered evidence and built cases against Mercy Disborough and Elizabeth Clawson. The officials presiding over Katherine Branch’s case knew that her supporters were hungry to see justice served against the women allegedly tormenting her. But they also knew—given the precedents set by the witch hunt in Salem and previous witch trials in Fairfield county—that legislating the invisible crimes associated with witchcraft was easier said than done. In this passage, Godbeer highlights the difficulties of dealing with pragmatic threats to a community when those threats Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaqu
Chapter 5 Quotes
Several women […] who had cared for Elizabeth Clawson during childbirth came forward […] to testify that she had a physical abnormality, perhaps a Devil's mark. […] The court of inquiry had appointed a group of women, "faithfully sworn, narrowly and truly to inspect and search her body.” […] These women reported "with one voice" that "they found nothing save a wart on one of her arms." They also searched Mercy Disborough's body that same day and did find "a teat or something like one in her privy parts, at least an inch long, which is not common in other women, and for which they could give no natural reason."
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In this passage, Richard Godbeer describes the invasive and no doubt emotionally painful process by which the courts sought physical evidence of Mercy Disborough and Elizabeth Clawson’s ties to the Devil. Because crimes of witchcraft were so difficult to legislate, finding evidence of a “Devil’s mark”—or a physical abnormality that indicated Satanic possession—was seen as one of the few ways by which a person’s association with Satan could be definitively proven. But the search for a Devil’s mark also underscores the rigid Puritan ideals of what women’s bodies should look like, illustrating how any deformations or birth defects could be Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo m
On 2 June both women were bound hand and foot and then thrown into the water. According to those present, Elizabeth Clawson bobbed up and down like a cork and when they tried to push her down she immediately buoyed up again. Mercy Disborough also failed to sink. If the test was trustworthy, both women were guilty. But William Jones knew from his reading that this technique, though practiced for centuries, was now extremely controversial. […] Since the Bible made no mention of any such technique having been ordained by God, ducking must be an invention of the Devil.
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In this passage, Godbeer describes the process of “ducking,” in which women suspected of witchcraft were bound and thrown into bodies of water. If they floated, their bodies were perceived to be rejecting baptismal waters—in other words, they were guilty. If they sunk, they were innocent—but women’s lives were often lost in the process of determining their innocence. This passage highlights the painful, humiliating, and often absurd nature of legislating the invisible crimes of witchcraft. Mercy Disborough, who had been accused of witchcraft and discovered to have a “Devil’s mark” on her body, begged to be ducked in hopes of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut
Katherine Branch claimed that the Devil had appeared to her "in the shape of three women, Goody Clawson, Goody Miller, and Goody Disborough." [….] Many people had heard Kate relate what she saw during her fits, yet she was the sole source for all that information and the law required that there be two independent witnesses for each incriminating incident. In any case, the information Kate gave was highly suspect: a significant number of Stamford residents doubted that the young woman's fits were genuine; and even if she was seeing specters, how could anyone be sure that the Devil was not misleading her?
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In this passage, Godbeer examines the complicated nature of Katherine Branch’s claims that she was being bewitched and tormented by a series of women in her community. While many people were quick to believe Kate’s allegations at first, as the case dragged on, others might have begun to air suspicions about the trustworthiness of Kate’s word. It was unclear on many levels, Godbeer suggests, whether Kate’s visions could be trusted. First, the Devil could be forcing Kate to see things that weren’t real. She claimed that Goody Disborough, Goody Miller, and Goody Clawson appeared to her as witches and tormented Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non in
Chapter 6 Quotes
The sticking point was the need for clear proof of the Devil's involvement since hardly any of the depositions mentioned dealings between Elizabeth Clawson or Mercy Disborough and "the grand enemy of God." The witnesses focused on who had a motive to inflict occult harm on the victims, not how the harm was inflicted or whether the Devil was involved. That made for a perplexing situation.
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In this passage, Godbeer attempts to relay what the jury trying the cases against Elizabeth Clawson and Mercy Disborough might have been thinking as they weighed the evidence and testimony presented against the accused women. The indictment against the women urged the jury to determine whether they had demonstrated “familiarity” with Satan—but the evidence against the women was largely circumstantial and focused more on their earthly transgressions against their neighbors than their spiritual dealings. The “perplexing situation” in front of the jurors, Godbeer suggests, was emblematic of the existential dilemma of legislating invisible crimes. Puritans sought to control the things Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accu
The ministers did not reject the possibility that Elizabeth Clawson and Mercy Disborough were witches, but they did repudiate the evidence before the court as a sound basis for conviction. Their advice would provide an important reinforcement as Mister Jones and his fellow magistrates urged caution upon the jury.
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After the jury trying the case against Elizabeth Clawson and Mercy Disborough failed to reach a verdict, the court reached out to an educated council of ministers to help determine how to rule against the accused witches. Ultimately, the ministers rejected the possibility of a guilty verdict against the women because of the lack of physical evidence. The ministers ruled that even Mercy Disborough’s supposed “Devil’s mark” (a physical deformity or abnormality that supposedly indicated Satanic possession) was not sufficient proof of her familiarity with Satan. This passage underscores the difficulties of legislating unseen crimes and spiritual betrayals. Even a Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque p
Mercy Disborough was alive and free, but were her troubles over? A decade earlier a woman in Massachusetts had been acquitted of witchcraft. But a year or so later neighbors suspected her of striking again when an elderly man in the town fell ill. One night a group of young men visited the woman: they dragged her outside, hanged her from a tree until she seemed to be gasping her last breath, then cut her down, rolled her in the snow, and buried her in it, leaving her for dead. Amazingly, she survived, though barely. The law was only one way of dealing with a witch...
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In this passage, Godbeer describes the relief and fear that must have accompanied Mercy Disborough’s acquittal and release from jail. He suggests that while Goody Disborough would have doubtlessly been grateful to keep her life, she would have likely heard rumors of how citizens within other communities, frustrated by their courts’ failures to respond adequately to allegations of witchcraft, took the law into their own hands in an attempt to root out evil. Godbeer implies that just because Mercy Disborough was acquitted, she was by no means innocent in the court of public opinion. People still needed scapegoats for their Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit
Afterword Quotes
Women whose circumstances or behavior seemed to disrupt social norms and hierarchies could easily […] become branded as the Servants of Satan. […] Women who seemed unduly aggressive and contentious or who failed to display deference toward men in positions of authority—women, in other words, like Elizabeth Clawson and Mercy Disborough—were also more likely to be accused. Both Clawson and Disborough […] fit the age profile of most accused witches: Goody Clawson was sixty-one and Goody Disborough was fifty-two. Both were also confident and determined, ready to express their opinions and to stand their ground when crossed. Such conduct seemed to many New Englanders utterly inappropriate in women.
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In this passage, Richard Godbeer further examines the rigid gender norms of Puritan society that often led to the demonization of any women who challenged them. Women who were “aggressive” or insufficiently deferential were believed to be possessed or bewitched, while women who had passed through menopause and experienced a change in physicality (and who no longer had any social currency as mothers or sexual objects) were also more frequently suspected of witchcraft. Godbeer thus implies that any woman whose behavior or physicality challenged the Puritan ideal of the pious, pliable wife and “Handmaiden of God” was a threat to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolo
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Mercy Disborough Character Timeline in Escaping Salem
The timeline below shows where the character Mercy Disborough appears in Escaping Salem. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue
...Kate named the women who were tormenting her. Among these women were Goody Clawson and Mercy Disborough . The second was a woman Kate had never met—but one with whom the Wescots...
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...neighbors to the north. This is why only two women in Stamford, Goody Clawson and Goody Disborough , ended up being tried for witchcraft. Stamford residents observed Kate’s fits for a long...
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Chapter 2
...woman with “thick lips”—Abigail Wescot heard the description and immediately thought of a woman named Mercy Disborough who lived in the neighboring town of Compo. Mercy was known to be a “difficult...
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...preliminary courts at the Stamford meetinghouse. Four magistrates heard their lament. Kate named Goody Clawson, Goody Disborough and a woman she called Goody Hipshod—whose real name Kate did not know—as the witches...
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Chapter 3
...court to adjudicate the cases against the five other women Kate had named: Elizabeth Clawson, Mercy Disborough , Mary Staples, Mary Harvey, and Hannah Harvey. The fates of these women now rested...
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...were acquitted and set free. The court then turned their attentions to Goody Clawson and Goody Disborough .
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...against the women, claiming that in the wake of quarrels with both Goody Clawson and Goody Disborough , illness and misfortune had befallen them. Goody Clawson and Goody Disborough were both deeply...
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In jail, Mercy Disborough experienced torments and sleepless nights herself. She confided in her jailer that she believed the...
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Chapter 4
...Compo began sharing stories among themselves of unfortunate encounters they’d had with Goody Clawson and Goody Disborough . One man spoke with a neighbor about how, after a quarrel with Goody Clawson,...
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In Compo, a man named Goodman Grey claimed that years ago, Goody Disborough had bewitched his livestock and led them to drown to death in a swamp. Goodman...
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In September of 1692, as Goody Disborough ’s trial began, many agitated neighbors traveled all the way from Compo to tell stories...
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As officials continued gathering evidence against both Mercy Disborough and Elizabeth Clawson, it became clear that their communities’ fear and hatred of them were...
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Chapter 5
...person having “the Devil’s mark,” or an extra breast or nipple, was also sufficient. Because Goody Disborough and Goody Clawson were both commonly reported to be witches—and because they had, it seemed,...
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...and so the court appointed a group of women to inspect both Goody Clawson and Goody Disborough for extra breasts. Goody Clawson was reported to have no abnormalities after all—but Mercy Disborough...
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...see if they floated, proving their status as a witch—was still more or less accepted. Goody Disborough and Goody Clawson both enthusiastically agreed to being ducked. Both women were ducked—and both floated....
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In light of little reliable evidence supporting Katherine Branch’s claims about Elizabeth Clawson and Mercy Disborough —and the many layers of suspicion surrounding witchcraft cases—William Jones likely began to worry about...
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...the suspicions of the local clergy. If evidence could be found of Goody Clawson or Goody Disborough using “cunning” powers, they might be convicted yet—but William Jones was increasingly worried about what...
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Chapter 6
On September 14th, 1692, the trial of Elizabeth Clawson and Mercy Disborough began at the meetinghouse in Fairfield. Witnesses traveled from both Compo and Stamford to address...
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...Katherine Branch’s testimony, and that they did not see “strange accidents” surrounding Goody Clawson and Goody Disborough as evidence of witchcraft.
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...announced—surely, Godbeer writes, to the surprise of most of those present—that the jury had found Mercy Disborough guilty of “familiarity with Satan.” William Jones urged the jury to return to quarters and...
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Within days of the verdicts, many of Mercy Disborough ’s supporters began petitioning the courts to retry the woman’s case, stating that one of...
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Mercy Disborough was acquitted and released from jail. Godbeer states that while there is no record of...
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Afterword
In the wake of her acquittal and release, Mercy Disborough was indeed plagued by repeated instances of slander and lies about her past relationships with...
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...behavior were more likely to be seen as “Servants of Satan.” Both Goody Clawson and Goody Disborough , Godbeer points out, were older women in their fifties and sixties who were notorious...
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