The date is March 1st, 1692, and three women, Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba, are on their way to the Salem Village Meeting House to be questioned and examined by a group of Magistrates, as potential witches who have been tormenting a group of local girls. This day would mark the beginning of the accusations for the most notorious case of mass witch hysteria in North America, lasting until May 1693.

By the end of the Salem Witch Trials, over 200 people would be found guilty, and 21 would lose their lives by either execution, sickness in prison, or other means. It is essential to note here that none of these individuals were actual witches. They were God-fearing Puritans, just like their neighbors. They had lives, jobs, friends, and families, just like we all do today. But unfortunately, many of these individuals were accused simply because they were outcasts in their community in one way or another.

And when the time came for these poor souls to meet their fate, they were denied proper burial under Puritan law as part of their punishment for being convicted of witchcraft. Most were instead buried in unmarked, shallow, mass graves near the gallows. For a Puritan, not having a Christian burial was the equivalent of a second death, because without it they believed they could not be resurrected during the rapture, and therefore dooming their soul for eternity.

In my own attempt to right this injustice, I am painting a tombstone for each of the 21 victims who lost their lives as a result of the Salem Witch Trials in the style they would have expected their grave marker to look. I am painting these stones using watercolor, and I will be depicting Puritan New England Gave Symbolism. Alongside each stone, I will include the life story of each individual. My goal is to give these people the honor and respect they deserve during their passing.