Mary Blisse

Notes:

After several years in Springfield, the Joseph Parsons family, which now included three children, moved to Northampton, a brand new settlement some 20 miles up the Connecticut River. Joseph Parsons soon became one of Northampton's leading citizens. A successful merchant, he served as a selectman and on the committee to build the first meetinghouse. Parsons also owned the first tavern in town. Soon after arriving in Northampton, Mary Parsons gave birth to a son, the first English child born in the town. That same month, neighbor Sarah Bridgman had a baby boy. When he died two weeks later, she claimed it was the result of Mary's witchcraft. Rumors began to swirl about the town. Joseph Parsons decided to go on the offensive. He charged James Bridgman with slander for spreading rumors about Mary Parsons's alleged witchcraft. The case was heard at the Magistrates' Court in Cambridge in October 1656; 33 depositions were given. Almost half of Northampton's 32 households sent a witness; a few others came from Springfield. On January 5, 1675, the county magistrates summoned Mary to appear before them. Women searched her body for "witch's teats," unexplained (to seventeenth-century eyes) protrusions where "imps" were said to suck. The record is silent as to what they did or did not find, but in March the Court of Assistants in Boston sent Mary Parsons to prison to await trial. The records from this trial do not survive, but we know that on May 13, 1675, a jury found her not guilty.

Mary married Joseph Parsons on 26 Nov 1646 in Hartford County, Connecticut Colony. Joseph was christened on 25 Jun 1620 in England; died on 9 Oct 1683 in Springfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]