Witches Among Us

Explore the 1651 witchcraft accusations against Longmeadow residents Mary and Hugh Parsons—four decades before the Salem witch trials. Using surviving court records and local context, it traces how everyday conflicts and anxieties in a small Puritan community could turn rumor and suspicion into formal charges. The talk also looks at what the case reveals about life in the Connecticut River Valley, including family and neighbor relationships, childbirth and folk medicine, property disputes, religious expectations, and the fragile nature of reputation. Learn how the Parsons case differed from—yet foreshadowed—the more familiar events at Salem.

Program will be held at the Longmeadow Adult Center, 211 Maple Rd., Longmeadow, MA.