Margaret Matson
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Margaret Matson was one of two women tried in Pennsylvania for witchcraft in 1683.
Matson and her husband lived on a farm near Ridley Creek in present-day Delaware County, PA. Of Swedish descent, they were likely members of the former New Sweden colony which occupied much of the lower Delaware River Valley from 1638-1655.
On December 27, 1683, Matson and a neighbor Gertro (aka Yeshro) Hendrickson were brought before a grand jury in Philadelphia overseen by the colony's proprietor, William Penn.
Accused by several neighbors, as well as her own daughter, Matson's alleged crimes included threats against neighbors, bewitching and destruction of livestock and even making a spectral appearance. According to the minutes of the Provincial Council, (12/21/1683) the jury returned with a verdict of guilty for "haveing the comon fame of a which, but not guilty in manner and forme as shee stands indicted."
The prisoners were released with fines and a promise of six months good behavior.
Popular myth tells of Penn dismissing Matson's guilty plea by affirming the legal right to fly on a broomstick. The record, however, fails to show either commentary by Penn or accusations of flying on broomsticks and it demonstrates that Matson denied the charges against her. This legend, however, probably reflects popular views of the deliberation and fairness found within Penn's Quaker tradition as well as progressive laws in early colonial Pennsylvania.
Matson's is the only recorded witch trial in Pennsylvania and it reflects the sporadic nature of 17th Century witchcraft prosecutions in the British Colonies, with the notable exception of widespread hysteria seen during the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. Pennsylvania, like other British Colonies was subject to the 1604 James I Statute against witchcraft.
[edit] References
- A History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Edited By: John W. Jordan, LL. D. Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York. 1914
- Statutes of the Realm (London 1817; repr. The Statutes, 3rd ed., London, 1950)
