Alice (Unknown) Young (1600 - 1647)

Born 1600 in England

Descendants

Died 26 May 1647 at about age 47 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut

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Biography

Alice (Unknown) Young was born in England.

Alice (Unknown) Young was executed for witchcraft in Connecticut

Alice (Unknown) Young is Notable.

Alice, Alse Achsah

It has been suggested that her maiden name was Stokes, but no evidence is given for this.

Notes

Hanged as a witch, May 26 1647.

Alse Young (1647): First American Execution for Witchcraft

It was on this date, May 26, 1647, that the first witch was hanged in America for the crime of witchcraft. Alse Young was arrested, tried for this capital offense in Windsor, Connecticut, and hanged at Meeting House Square in Hartford, on what is now the site of the Old State House.

There is no further record of Young's trial or the specifics of the charge, only that Alse Young was a woman, as 80% of those executed for witchcraft were, and that her execution anticipated the 1692 Salem witch trials by some 45 years.

On February 6, 2017, Windsor Town Council passed a resolution 9-0 that acknowledges the past injustices brought against Alse Young and reinstated her as a Windsor resident of good standing.

On May 25, 2023 the Connecticut Senate voted 33-1 to absolve the 12 women and men convicted of witchcraft -- 11 of whom were executed — more than 370 years ago and apologize for the “miscarriage of justice” that occurred over a dark 15-year-period of the state’s colonial history. The resolution, which lists the nine women and two men who were executed and the one woman who was convicted and given a reprieve, already passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 121-30. Because it’s a resolution, it does not require the governor’s signature.

Alice (Unknown) Young was executed for witchcraft in Connecticut

Alse Young was born in 1615 in New Windsor, Berkshire, England, and moved to Windsor, Connecticut during the 1630s.^[1]

She is believed to have been the wife of John Young,^[2] who bought a small parcel of land in Windsor in 1641, sold it in 1649, and then disappeared from the town records.^[3] The best evidence to suggest that John Young was her husband comes from a physician.^[4]

Her daughter, Alice (Young) Beamon was accused of witchcraft in nearby Springfield, Massachusetts, some 30 years later.

Sources

1. ↑ "Hartford Witch Hunts (Alse Young)". The Scare Chamber. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
2. ↑ https://www.geni.com/people/Alice-Beamon-Young/290071911270005973
3. ↑ Salvatore, Mike. "READER SUBMITTED: Witches' Fates Re-lived." Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut), 16 October 2012.
4. ↑ Alice 'Alse' Young – First Witch Hanging Victim in Colonial America, Legends of America website.

• Wikipedia: Alse_Young
• Title: Salem Witches: Author: Ancestry.com: Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000.Original data - Original information from surviving legal records from the towns and villages in question and appearing in Godbeer, Richard, comp. The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Rel
• http://www.damnedct.com/connecticut-witchcraft-trials
• Drake, Frederick C. "Witchcraft in the American Colonies, 1647-62" American Quarterly 20 (1968):694-725
• http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/witchtrial/na.html
• Connecticut Genealogy News (Connecticut Society of Genealogists, Winter 2019-2020) Vol. 12, No. 4, Page 21.
• https://apnews.com/article/connecticut-witchcraft-trials-pardons-0459fb0cc52547daff06cb25dbca9a3e

Footnotes

Very little is recorded of Alse Young; her existence is only known through her reputation as a witch. She is believed to have been the wife of John Young, who bought a small parcel of land in Windsor in 1641, sold it in 1649, and then disappeared from thetown records. She had a daughter, Alice Young Beamon, who would be accused of witchcraft in nearby Springfield, Massachusetts, some 30 years later. Like many similar cases of witchcraft, Alse Young was a woman without a son when the accusation was lodged, which implied that she would be eligible to receive through inheritance her husband's estate.

There is no further record of Young's trial or the specifics of the charge, only that Alse Young was a woman. Early historical record hints at the possibility that there may have been some sort of epidemic in the town of Windsor in early 1647. Alse Young was hanged at the Meeting House Square in Hartford, Connecticut, on what is now the site of the Old State House. A journal of then Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop states that "One... of Windsor arraigned and executed at Hartford for a witch." [1] The second town clerk of Windsor, Matthew Grant also confirms the execution with the May 26, 1647 diary entry, "Alse Young was hanged."

In 1642, witchcraft became punishable by death in the Connecticut Colony. This capital offense was backed by references to the King James version of the Bible: Exodus (22:18) says, Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. And Leviticus (20:27) says, A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood (shall be) upon them. In Connecticut, witchcraft was last listed as a capital crime in 1715. The crime of witchcraft disappeared from the list of capital crimes when the laws were next issued in 1750.

See also Capital punishment in Connecticut Capital punishment in the United States List of individuals executed in Connecticut References ^ John Winthrop, Journal: 1630-49, ed. James K. Hosmer (New York, 1908), II, 323. David D. Hall, (editor), Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth Century New England, Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1999, ISBN 1-55553-416-3 John Winthrop, Journal: 1630-49, ed. James K. Hosmer (New York, 1908), II, 323. External links Alse Young (1647): First American Execution for Witchcraft PersondataNAMEYoung, AlseALTERNATIVE NAMESYoung, Achsah; Young, Alice (alternate citations)SHORT DESCRIPTIONFirst person in the records executed for witchcraft in the American coloniesDATE OF BIRTHN/APLACE OF BIRTHN/ADATE OF DEATHMay 26, 1647PLACE OF DEATHHartford, Connecticut

Alse Young was hanged at the Meeting House Square in Hartford, Connecticut, the current site of the Old State House.

On this Day: Alse Young Hanged for Witchcraft in Connecticut May 26, 2008 12:00 PM by findingDulcinea Staff On May 26, 1642, Young became the first person executed for witchcraft in America, setting off a wave of witch hysteria.

This case has presented formidable problems for witchcraft scholars. The Alice Young in question is not mentioned elsewhere in the documentary record of early New England. It seems probably that she was the wife of one John Young, whose lands at Windsor were recorded as early as 1640. The same man sold all his holdings in Windsor in 1649 - perhaps as part of the removal from the town, following the execution of his wife. A John Young subsequently appears in the records of Stratford; dying there in 1661, he left a modest estate (including "carpentry tools") and no specific heirs. Very probably, however he and his wife had raised at least one child - a second Alice Young, recorded as marrying Simon Beamon at Springfield on December 15, 1654. The line of connection to the Windsor "witch" is suggested by the following facts. (1) The children born to Simon Beamon included both a John and an Alice (as it was customary to name children after grandparents.) (2) There is no other Young mentioned in any seventeenth-century records at Springfield (imploying a place of origin, for Alice Young Beamon, outside of the immediate area.) (3) Two Beamon children seem, when grown to have married Windsor residents, and one of them settled there. (4) Years later (1677) Thomas Beamon, son of Alice [Young] Beamon sued another man for slander - specifically, for saying that "his mother was a witch, and he looked like one." (Was not the unsaid presumption here "like mother, like daughter"?) Admitting the speculative nature of these conjectures, a rough profile of the first New England with can now be sketched. She was a married woman, probably no younger than forty nor older than fifty-five, with at least one child (aged between ten and twenty at the time of the mother's death.) Her husband was a humble sort, perhaps a carpenter by trade. They had lived in Windsor for at least seven years before her trial and conviction. On John Young, see Tow Records, Windsor, Conn. (manuscript copy, made in 1722-23, at the Connecticut State Library, Harford), I, 9, 16, 20, 44, 88, 107, 112; Connecticut Probates, file no 6313 (manuscript record, at the Connecticut State Library, Harford) Records of the Particular Court of Connecticut, 1639-1663, 244-46. On Simon and Alice [Young] Beamon, see MaryWalton Ferris, ed., Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines, 2 vols. (1931, no place given,) II 105ff.; Hampshire County Probate Records, I, leaf 1821 (manuscript record at Registry of Probate, Northampton, Mass.)

from a book Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England by John Putnam Demos

Edition: reprint, illustrated Published by Oxford University Press US, 1983 ISBN 0195033787, 9780195033786 In the first edition of the Bancroft Prize-winning Entertaining Satan, John Putnam Demos presented an entirely new perspective on American witchcraft. By investigating the surviving historical documents of over a hundred actual witchcraft cases, he vividly recreated the world of New England during the witchcraft trials and brought to light fascinating information on the role of witchcraft in early American culture. Now Demos has revisited his original work and updated it to illustrate why these early Americans' strange views on witchcraft still matter to us today. He provides a new Preface that puts forth a broader overview of witchcraft and looks atits place around the world--from ancient times right up to the present.

In 1642 witchcraft was punishable by death in Connecticut. This capital offense was backed by references to the Bible, i.e., Ex: 22, 18; Lev: 20, 27; Deu: 18, 10, 11. Alse Young (sometimes also referred to as Achsah or Alice) of Windsor, Connecticut was the first person executed for witchcraft in America. Alse was hanged at Meeting House Square in Hartford on what is now the site of the Old State House. A journal of then Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop states that "One of Windsor was hanged." The second town clerk of Windsor, Matthew Grant also confirms the execution with the May 26, 1647 diary entry, "Alse Young was hanged." http://www.jud.ct.gov/LawLib/History/witches.htm

1647 Alse Young, a widow,[actually she was not a widow] hanged for witchcraft in Hartford, Connecticut. Hers was the first trial and execution expressly for witchcraft in the colonies. Her daughter Alice was accused of witchcraft 30 years later, in MA

http://www.thelizlibrary.org/site-index/site-index- frame.html#soulhttp://www.thelizlibrary.org/brett/brett008.htm

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

The first execution in the US, by hanging, was Alse Younge on May 26, 1647.

From the web:

The most common form of execution was hanging. Admittedly, burning was important in many of these cases also, since to further protect against any malevolence from the dead witch, authorities often burned the remains afterward.

A notoriously common myth is that the alleged witches at Salem in colonial Massachusetts were burned. All of the convicted during the Salem Witch Hunt in 1692 died by hanging. Others died by natural causes before conviction or execution, and Giles Corey was pressed to death. In fact, no witches were executed by burning in the English colonies of North America. English law did not permit it. However, in Europe witchcraft was considered heresy and punishable by burning at the stake.

Alse Young (sometimes cited as Achsah Young or Alice Young) (d. May 26, 1647) of Windsor, Connecticut, was the first person in the records executed for witchcraft in the thirteen American colonies. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 574 pixels Full resolution (924 × 663 pixel, file size: 121 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photograph of the Old State House, Hartford, Connecticut (built 1796, photograph taken 1937). ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 574 pixels Full resolution (924 × 663 pixel, file size: 121 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photograph of the Old State House, Hartford, Connecticut (built 1796, photograph taken 1937). ... May 26 is the 146th day of the year (147th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1647 (MDCXLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Motto: First in State, First in Service Location in Hartford County, Connecticut Coordinates: NECTA Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford Region Capitol Region Settled 1633 Named 1637 Government - Type Council-manager[1] - Town manager Peter Souza - Town council Donald S. Trinks, Mayor; Timothy Curtis, Deputy Mayor; Robert B. Gegetskas II; William... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... In 1775, the British claimed authority over the red and pink areas on this map and Spain ruled the orange. ...

Very little is known about Alse Young; her existence is only known through her reputation as a witch. She is believed to have been the wife of John Young, who bought a small parcel of land in Windsor in 1641, sold it in 1649, and then disappeared from thetown records. She was the mother of a daughter, Alice Young Beamon, who would be accused of withcraft in nearby Springfield, Massachusetts, some 30 years later. Like many similar cases of witchcraft, Alse Young was a woman without a son when the accusation was lodged, which implied that she would be eligible to receive through inheritance her husband's estate. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Nickname: City of Homes Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: Country United States State Massachusetts County Hampden County Settled 1636 Incorporated 1636 Government - Type Mayor-council city - Mayor Charles Ryan (D) Area - City 33. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

There is no further record of Young's trial or the specifics of the charge, only that Alse Young was a woman. Early historical record hints at the possibility that there may have been some sort of epidemic in the town of Windsor in early 1647. Alse Young was hanged at the Meeting House Square in Hartford, Connecticut, on what is now the site of the Old State House. A journal of then Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop states that "One of Windsor was hanged." The second town clerk of Windsor, Matthew Grant also confirms the execution with the May 26, 1647 diary entry, "Alse Young was hanged." Hanging is the suspension of a person by a ligature, usually a cord wrapped around the neck, causing death. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Old State House, Hartford, Connecticut. ... A map of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. ... John Winthrop (12 January 1587/8–26 March 1649) is a historical figure, famous for having led a group of Puritans to the New World, joining the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629. ...

In 1642, witchcraft became punishable by death in the Connecticut Colony. This capital offense was backed by references to the King James version of the Bible: Exodus (22:18) says, Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. And Leviticus (20:27) says, A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood (shall be) upon them. In Connecticut, witchcraft was last listed as a capital crime in 1715. The crime of witchcraft disappeared from the list of capital crimes when the laws were next issued in 1750. A map of the Connecticut, New Haven, and Saybrook colonies. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library of Congress. ... It has been suggested that Pharaoh of the Exodus be merged into this article or section. ... Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, also the third book in the Torah (five books of Moses). ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Alse-Young

Note N53345390

http://www.damnedct.com/connecticut-witchcraft-trials

Connecticut Witchcraft Trials

August, 2013 by Ray Bendici

Everyone knows about the infamous Salem witch trials, but few people realize that Connecticut has an older and arguably more colorful history when it comes to accusations of—and executions for—witchcraft.

Actually, by 1692, when hysteria was just starting to sweep through Salem, nine (or eleven, reports aren't exactly clear) unfortunate souls had already been executed for witchcraft in Connecticut, including Alse (or Alice) Young, who was the first woman hanged in New England—and possibly the New World—for purportedly having consorted with Satan. Before it was over, 35 people would stand accused of crimes involving witchcraft.

As hard as it is to conceive now, the idea of The Devil walking the Earth and taking an active role in everyday life was a genuine fear in Colonial Connecticut—it's not a coincidence that there are over 30 places in the state with names that served as a warning to all that The Evil One might be lurking about, including Devil's Den (five different places), Devil's Backbone (four), Satan's Kingdom (two), Devil's Island, Hell's Hollow, Tophet Ravine and even a Devil's Dripping Pan. The early European settlers here were true believers.

The best-researched record of events is John M. Taylor's The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut (1647-1697), in which he chronicles the known events as well as delves into the causes for the hysteria, including tracing the entire history of witchcraft.

During those times, what is now Connecticut was then divided into two colonies: Connecticut and New Haven. Witchcraft officially became a crime in Connecticut in 1642: "If any man or woman be a witch—that is, hath or consulteth with a familiar spirit—theyshall be put to death." New Haven enacted its witchcraft law in 1655: "If any person be a witch, he or she shall be put to death according to" Exodus xxii, 18; Leviticus xx, 27; Deuteronomy xviii, 10, 11.

In the book, Taylor also uncovers Connecticut's official "Grounds for Examination of a Witch," written in the 17th century. [Note: I've updated some spelling for easier reading.]

1. Notorious defamation by ye common report of the people a ground of suspicion.

2. Second ground for strict examination is if a fellow witch gave testimony on his examination or death yet such a person is a witch, but this is not sufficient for conviction or condemnation.

3. If after cursing, there follow death or at least mischief to ye party.

4. If after quarreling or threatening a present mischief doth follow for party's devilishly disposed after cursing does use threatenings, and yet also is a great presumption against ye.

5. If ye party suspected to be ye son or daughter, the servant of familiar friend, near neighbors or old companion of a known or convicted witch this also is a presumption, for witchcraft is an art yet may be learned and conveyed from man to man and often it falleth out yet a witch dying leaveth some of ye aforced heirs of her witchcraft.

6. If ye party suspected have ye devil's mark for this thought when ye devil maketh his convent with ye he always leaves his mark behind him to know ye for his own yet is, if not evident reason in can be given for such mark.

7. Lastly if ye party examined be unconstant and contrary to himself in his answers.

Thus much for examination which is usually by question and some times by torture upon strong and great presumption.

For conviction it must be grounded on just and sufficient proofs. The proofs for conviction of two sorts, one. Some be less sufficient, some more sufficient.

It then goes on to talk about how in earlier times, red-hot irons and scalding water were used for tests, as was binding the accused and throwing them into water to see if they sank or not. (If they did, they were proclaimed "innocent," although there wasalso a good chance they drowned—not much of a "victory.") Also discussed are other tell-tale signs of witchcraft, such as a familiar (in the form of a mouse or cat) hanging about, or Devil's marks on the body.

When it came to means of execution, almost all of alleged witches were hanged—contrary to popular imagery, no witch was ever burned at the stake in Connecticut.

Here is a list of those accused of witchcraft in Connecticut. [Note: This is a work in progress, so there will be additions and modifications as we continue our research. The names with hyperlinks offer more info, and our plan is to eventually have them all. Thanks for understanding]

Alse (Alice) Young - 1647

Mary Johnson - 1648

John & Joan Carrington - 1650

Goody Bassett - 1651

Goody Knapp - 1653

Elizabeth Godman - 1653 & 1655

Lydia Gilbert - 1654

Nicholas & Goody Bayley - 1655

William Meaker - 1657

Elizabeth Garlick - 1658

Nicholas & Margaret Jennings - 1661

Judith Varlett - 1662

Katherine Palmer - 1662

Goody Ayres - 1662

Rebecca & Nathaniel Greensmith - 1662

Mary Sanford - 1662

Andrew Sanford - 1662

Mary Barnes - 1662

Elizabeth & John Blackleach - 1662

James Wakeley - 1662

Ralph & Mary Hall - 1664

Elizabeth Seager - 1666

Hannah Griswold - 1667

William Graves - 1667

Katherine Harrison - 1669

Goody Messenger - 1673

Goody Burr - 1678

Goody Bowden - 1689

Mercy Disborough - 1692

Elizabeth Clawson - 1692

Mary Staples - 1692

Mary Harvey - 1692

Hannah Harvey - 1692

Goody Miller - 1692

Winifred Benham - 1692

Hugh Croasia - 1692

Winifred Benham, Jr. & Sr. - 1697

Sarah Spencer - 1724

For the record, in December 2006, the State of Connecticut officially pardoned all those accused of witchcraft, forever clearing their names.

Also The City Council of Hartford did this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rydddpvIzM&t=2421s

Note N64889938

http://connecticuthistory.org/alse-young-executed-for-witchcraft-today-in-history-may-26/

SOURCE: http://dsancesters.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/the-witch-of-windsor/

A journal of then Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop states that “One… of Windsor arraigned and executed at Hartford for a witch.” The second town clerk of Windsor, Matthew Grant also confirms the execution with the May 26, 1647 diary entry, “Alse Young was hanged.”

My further research finds that Alice (as I will refer to her) was born either in Kent or Nottinghamshire, England in or around 1600. It is not known, at this point, whether or not she had married earlier in life in England, but records do show that she married John Young in Windsor, Connecticut in the 1630’s. It is still unclear who her parents were or when she immigrated to the Connecticut colony. In addition to her name being written variously as Alice/Alse/Alis, it is also sometimes written as Achsah. Her maiden name seems to have been Stokes. One of my sources lists her husband as one of the early founders of Windsor, Connecticut.

The following information is from a book about the history of witchcraft accusations in New England.

This case has presented formidable problems for witchcraft scholars. The Alice Young in question is not mentioned elsewhere in the documentary record of early New England. It seems probable that she was the wife of one John Young, whose lands at Windsor were recorded as early as 1640. The same man sold all of his holdings in Windsor in 1649-perhaps as part of a removal from the town, following the execution of his wife. A John Young subsequently appears in the records of Stratford; dying there in 1661, heleft a modest estate (including “carpentry tools”) and no specific heirs. Very probably, however, he and his wife had raised at least one child-a second Alice Young, recorded as marrying Simon Beamon at Springfield on December 15, 1654. The line of the Windsor “witch” is suggested by the following fact (1) the children of Simon Beamon include both a John and an Alice (and it was customary to name children after grandparents). (2) There is no other Young mentioned in any seventeenth-century records at Springfield (implying a place of origin for Alice [Young] Beamon, outside of the immediate area). (3) Two Beamon children seem, when grown, to have married Windsor residents, and one of them settled there. (4) Years later, 1677, Thomas Beamon, son of Alice [Young] Beamon, sued another man for slander- specifically for saying that “his mother was a witch, and he looked like one” (Was not the unsaid presumption here “like mother, like daughter”?) Admitting the speculative nature of these conjectures, a rough profile of the first New England witch can now be sketched. She was a married woman, probably no younger than forty nor older than fifty-five, with at least one child (aged between ten and twenty at the time of the mother’s death). Her husband was a humble sort, perhaps a carpenter by trade. They had lived in Windsor for at least seven years before her trial and conviction.

Alse Young was hanged at the Meeting House Square in Hartford, Connecticut, on what is now the site of the Old State House

(The Hartford Courant posted the following postscript story in 2007.)

May 27, 2007

By SUSAN CAMPBELL, Courant Staff Writer.

On May 26, 1647, a Windsor woman named Alse Young was hanged for witchcraft where Hartford’s Old State House now stands. On Saturday, a group of descendants, historians and interested onlookers gathered down the road at Barnard Park – the South Green – toremember Young and 10 other Connecticut residents executed for witchcraft in Colonial Connecticut. As each of the names of the nine women and two men was read, a bell was rung, and a white rose laid at the base of a tree, over which a hangman’s noose dangled. A 12th rose was laid to remember the children of the executed.

“When’s the hanging, yo?” asked one passer-by, a man astride a bicycle, prompting several of the assembled to walk over and explain why they were in the park.

If Massachusetts is better known for its Colonial witch hunts, Connecticut’s hysteria preceded that state’s by a half-century, yet the accused remain mostly unacknowledged by history books. Saturday’s ceremony (May 27, 2007) was an attempt to change that,said organizer Kathy Spada-Basto, a teacher at Hartford’s Burns Elementary School. She hopes to make the commemoration an annual ritual. The longtime Hartford-area resident said she became interested in Connecticut’s secret past about five years ago after she picked up a book on Colonial witch hunts in New England.”I’ve lived here all of my life, and I didn’t know this,” said Spada-Basto. Researching the trials and getting to know the small army of genealogists and amateur historians who share her passion “has been a labor of love for me,” she said. Young’s execution is the first one recorded for witchcraft in New England, and her name is known only because the Windsor town clerk at the time recorded it in his diary. No official record of her trial exists. From some counts, she was the wife of a John, a carpenter, and he left town soon after her death. A woman thought to have been her daughter was later accused of witchcraft in Springfield, though the daughter was not executed and her case may not have even come to trial; historians say second-generation accusations were common.

Convicted Witch, Alse Young of Windsor Hanged May 26, 1647

When the law was passed that permitted the conviction and execution of witches, only one witness was needed for the accused to be brought to trial. A formal complaint started the process and then the local magistrate would collect evidence by questioning the witness and by examining the accused. The examination could take bizarre turns. The accused could be placed in a deep body of water and if she floated, it was assumed that the water was rejecting her due to her “unholy” nature. She could be tortured into a confession. After the “evidence” was collected, the information was forwarded to the court and there was a jury trial. In those days, of course, the jurors were all men. Sometimes the accused was afforded council and sometimes she was not. The jury delivered the verdict and the governor of the colony or the magistrate would impose the sentence.

Accusations of witchcraft often came about when a contagious illness hit a town. The records show that an epidemic of some sort occurred in Windsor during the time that Alice was accused. Women who were accused were often healers or herbalists and one record I read indicated that Alice was a woman who collected herbs for healing purposes. Could her accuser been someone who died after taking some herbs? We can only speculate because there is no record of the nature of the accusation.

Alice is our earliest known ancestor. We don’t know with certainty where she was born in England or when she crossed the Atlantic and moved to Connecticut. All we know for sure is that she was wrongly convicted and executed. We can remember her as a bravecolonist who crossed the ocean under terrible conditions and who settled in an area where danger from Indian attacks (as they tended not to be pleased at having their land stolen) and lack of abundant food and the diseases that resulted, were borne so that her descendants could enjoy a better life in a new country.

• https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/174814:3824?tid=11422566&pid=382310772581&hid=1019739143921 New England Marriage records. also trees and family documentation Alse Young (1615[1] – 26 May 1647) of Windsor, Connecticut — sometimes Achsah Young or Alice Young — was the first recorded instance of execution for witchcraft in the thirteen American colonies.