The Witch Trials in Salem
Osborne and Roger Toothaker).
The witch mania began when two girls, 9 year old Betty Parris and her 11 year old cousin
Abigail Williams tried fortune telling. The two were staying with Betty's father, Reverend Samuel
Parris. During the winter they and their friends dabbled with fortune telling by cracking eggs into a
glass and interpreting the shapes that were formed.
The family owned a slave called Tituba. She was an Arawak Indian. (Tituba is often described
as a `black slave'. In fact, there is no evidence that she was black. She was actually Native American).
She may have been present when the fortune telling took place. It has also been suggested that Tituba
told the girls tales about witchcraft and so influenced them.
Whatever exactly happened by 20 January 1692 the two girls were having strange fits. A
doctor called William Griggs was called but he was unable to explain the fits. He claimed the girls
were bewitched
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