Witchcraft in Haverhill
Haverhill, considerably more north as well as west of Salem Village than Topsfield, also had six residents accused of witchcraft. Using the "Haverhill" column as "Input Range" and the "Bin" data for the "Bin Range," a histogram shows a similar pattern to Topsfield in that all of its cases occurred during one wave of the outbreak. In Haverhill, however, they took place during the second wave of accusations, which commenced with the reconvening of the Court of Oyer and Terminer at the end of June 1692. Thus, when residents of Topsfield were being served warrants, those of Haverhill were as yet safe from the constable. By the time the outbreak came to Haverhill, residents of Topsfield were no longer being charged.
Like Topsfield, the outbreak in Haverhill exhibited the rhythm of a quick eruption of charges followed by a sudden and final drop-off of arrests. All six Haverhill residents were accused in July and August. As with Topsfield, more detailed investigation into historical sources reveals that they occurred in considerably less than eight weeks. (Users can identify the names of the Haverhill accused by filtering the "Residence" column in the Accused Witches Data Set and then searching the Salem Witchcraft Trial's online legal records to establish more precisely their dates of arrest or examination.)
One leading witch hunt community appears to be different from the others. Click Next.