John GOODWIN

1647 - 1712  (65 years)

• Name	John GOODWIN
  Birth	1647	Charlestown, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
  Gender	Male
  Baptism	10 Dec 1705	First Church In Charlestown, Suffolk County, Massachusetts   [1]
  Occupation	mason  [2]
  Death	21 Jan 1711/12	Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
  Notes	"In the early 1680s, Christopher's brother John moved to Boston. In 1688 four of his children were "bewitched" by Mary Glover, their Irish washerwoman. Several ministers, including Charles Morton, intervened as the horrifying torments increased. Both Cotton Mather and his father left vivid accounts of the supernatural violence suffered by the children, especially the eldest, thirteen-year-old Martha. Even when the "witch" was executed on 16 November 1688, the fits continued. The Goodwin family must have felt haunted." From Wikipedia: In his book Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions (1689) [Mather, Cotton. Memorable Providence, Relating to Witcraft and Possessions. law.umkc.edu], Mather describes his "oracular observations" and how "stupendous witchcraft" had affected the children of Boston mason John Goodwin. Mather illustrates how the Goodwins' eldest child had been tempted by the devil and stole linen from the washerwoman Mary Glover. Glover was a miserable old woman whom her husband often described as a witch; this is perhaps why Glover was accused of casting spells on the Goodwin children. After the event, four out of six Goodwin children began to experience strange fits or what some people referred to as "the disease of astonishment". The manifestations attributed to the disease quickly became associated with witchcraft. These symptoms were things like neck and back pains, tongues being drawn from their throats, and loud random outcries; other symptoms included having no control over their bodies such as becoming limber, flapping their arms like birds, or trying to harm others as well as themselves. These symptoms would fuel the craze of 1692. [3]
  Person ID	I5207	Ellingboe
  Last Modified	10 Aug 2012

  
  

  Family ID

  F4213

  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Sources

  [S30] NEHGR, Vol. 29, p. 294 (1875); Record-Book of the First Church in Charlestown (Reliability: 3). [S30] NEHGR, Vol. 94, p. 190 (1940) (Reliability: 3). [S459] Roger Thompson, From Deference to Defiance, (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012.), p. 451. (Reliability: 3).