Over three hundred years ago, townsfolk throughout New England were terrified. Unusual behavior by certain citizens was cause for alarm. Those seen as practicing witchcraft were believed to be maleficent, armed with supernatural powers causing harm to those who crossed them. Anyone seen to have transcendent influence over woodland creatures, startling strength, or engaging in ritualistic dancing around fires was sufficient evidence to make the accusation, “You’re a Witch!”
The Salem witch trials are well known; abundant documentation of them was kept, and they have been the subject of countless books, films, and documentaries. Here in Connecticut, there were several decades of witch trials during the second half of the 17th century…and yes, Milford was one of them.
Though no records remain of this terrifying time, our fair town hosted trials for a number of those thought to be witches. The trials in Milford were held between 1647 and 1697. There may have been convictions, but there are no records or folklore implying any of the accused were executed.
In Hartford County, the records were better kept and documentation regarding 43 witchcraft cases exists. The witch hunt in the Hartford area was the first wide-scale search for witches in the colonies. Indeed, the first witch executed in New England was not from Salem but from Windsor, Connecticut. Alse Young was 32 years old when she was tried, convicted, and hanged as a witch on May 26, 1647, decades before the highly publicized Salem trials (where 16 of those convicted were executed.)
In 1640, Andrew Sanford had settled in Hartford with his wife Mary and their children. But 20 years later, the witchcraft epidemic swept through Connecticut and fear reigned over towns far and wide. As a result of the Hartford witch hunt, Andrew and Mary were tried for practicing witchcraft. During his trial, the following was entered into the court’s records on June 6,1662: “Andrew Sanford, thou art here indicted by the name of Andrew Sanford for not having the fear of God in thine eyes thou hast entertained familiarity with Satan.” Andrew Sanford was tried, but the jury could not agree on a verdict, and he was acquitted.
One week later Mary Sanford was indicted, not only due to a “familiarity of Satan,” but for “dancing around a tree whilst drinking liquor,” and causing “great disturbance” to several people in town. She was found guilty and was sentenced to death by hanging. There are no definitive records confirming Mary was executed, but she vanished none-the-less.
Most likely in need of a fresh start, Andrew Sanford and his children moved to Milford in 1667 to live with Andrew’s brother Thomas. Andrew remarried after he was settled and had seven more children that were raised here.
During his years in Milford, Andrew Sanford’s prior accusations of witchcraft must have been unknown by his neighbors, as the Milford witch trials continued through 1697. The last trial in Connecticut was held in 1742.
—Susan Carroll Dwyer
Want more information? Read Connecticut Witch Trials: The First Panic in the New World by Cynthia Wolfe Boynton.
