Eunice Cole of Hampton was Accused of Witchcraft Numerous Times
Eunice “Goody” Cole of Hampton fit the profile of the “ordinary suspect,” an older woman past childbearing years, living in poverty with her husband being Hampton’s poorest man. Known for being “quarrelsome,” she had arrests for slanderous speech and disputes with neighbors, including physically fighting a constable. Her childless status marked her as an outsider in Puritan society. In 1656, she was tried in Boston facing accusations from people across all socioeconomic levels. Witnesses claimed to see a mouse emerge from her cleavage during church service and heard puppy-like whining beneath her during another service. The constable who whipped her reported seeing “a blue thing like unto a teat” under her breast. Trial records from 1656 are lost, leaving historians debating whether she was convicted. She wasn’t executed but was whipped and imprisoned, leading some historians to believe she was convicted but spared for unknown reasons. The colonial leadership’s decision not to execute Eunice, despite apparent conviction, remains puzzling and suggests possible intervention or uncertainty about the death penalty in her case. After her husband William died in 1662, Eunice was left destitute. She was tried again in 1673 for accusations including shapeshifting and trying to lure a young girl to live with her. She was acquitted of all charges, though the court stated they “vehemently suspected” her familiarity with the devil. In 1680, Hampton residents again accused her of witchcraft, but the court found insufficient evidence for trial. Eunice died alone and impoverished sometime after 1680. In 1938, Hampton citizens voted to restore her “rightful place” as a citizen, and a memorial boulder was placed on the town green. However, a 2023 New Hampshire bill to exonerate her at the state level was voted down.
Sources:
David D. Hall, Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth-Century New England: A Documentary History 1638-1693
John Demos, Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England
Paul B. Moyer, Detestable and Wicked Arts: New England and Witchcraft in the Early Modern Atlantic World