. The history of Springfield in Massachusetts, for the young; being also in some part the history of other towns and cities in the county of Hampden. Witches. that happened she laid to Hugh Parsons aided by the looked out on the marsh, where Mill river entered theConnecticut and saw strange Hghts. No doubt it was innocentWill-o-the-Wisp. One night, when she went to bed in thedark, some sparks came from her flannel waistcoat, suchHttle sparks as electricity brings in cold weather. But sheknew nothing of phosphorescence and electricity; neither didher neighbors; so they began to think
. The history of Springfield in Massachusetts, for the young; being also in some part the history of other towns and cities in the county of Hampden. Witches. that happened she laid to Hugh Parsons aided by the looked out on the marsh, where Mill river entered theConnecticut and saw strange Hghts. No doubt it was innocentWill-o-the-Wisp. One night, when she went to bed in thedark, some sparks came from her flannel waistcoat, suchHttle sparks as electricity brings in cold weather. But sheknew nothing of phosphorescence and electricity; neither didher neighbors; so they began to think that Hugh Parsonswas really a witch. The belief spread up the street, encouragedby every trifling coincidence. Parsons called at Mr. Edwardshouse for milk and soon after the cow dried up. GeorgeLancton took a bag pudding out of the pot and, laying it on. *s «*/^- f^.C. -w-^^!. i-^ <V- ^ V5-- *-• ^<;^.. Ah, Witch! Ah. Witch! WITCHCRAFT 57 the table, it separated right in the middle. Jonathan Taylordreamed that he saw snakes on the floor and that one of themwith a black and yellow stripe hit him on the forehead, whena voice like that of Parsons seemed to cry Death. By this time the excitement was great and Parsons wasarrested. As the constable was taking him past the houseof Goody Stebbins (where is now the southeast corner ofCourt Square), on the way to Judge Pynchons, she cried out,Ah, witch! Ah, witch! and fell in a fit. At the hearingbefore the Court it was decided that, on account of the im-portance of the case. Parsons must be sent to Boston wherehe would be tried on the charge of having had familiar andwicked converse with the devil. His trial was accordinglyheld there and he was convicted by the jury, but he wasfinally acquitted by the General Court. Naturally he neverreturned to Springfield. In
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