BY CIARRA VANDERVEEN MS. DELGREGO JUNIOR ENGLISH 10/16/12 Reverend Samuel Parris and Elizabeth (Betty) Parris

Birth/ death of Samuel Parris Born in 1653 in Barbados Died February 27, 1720 in Sudbury

Childhood and Education Samuel Parris grew up in Barbados He was the younger son of a London cloth merchant- Thomas Parris Studied at Harvard At age 20, after his father died, he inherited land in Barbados and moved back after he graduated

Career and Religious Practices After moving back to Barbados, worked in a Caribbean sugar plantation moved to Boston with his two slaves, one named Tituba he did not like being a merchant, so he began filling in for absent ministers and speaking at church meetings In July of 1689, Samuel began as a Puritan minister and family settled in the parsonage in Salem, Massachusetts He preached about predestination and damnation of the people

Family life Samuel Parris married Elizabeth Eldridge when he arrived in Boston They had three children together. The first was a son named Thomas, a daughter named Elizabeth (Betty), and another daughter named Susahanna His niece Abigail Williams came to live with him as well

Birth/ Death of Elizabeth (Betty) Parris She was born on November 27, 1682 Died on March 21, 1760

Childhood and Career of Elizabeth Read the bible Take care of the house Sew, clean, cook Attend church services Listen to her father’s preaching- difficulty accepting predestination and damnation She was only 9 when the Salem “epidemic” began

Involvement in the Salem Witch Trials Elizabeth and cousin Abigail Williams began playing games such as “Ring around the Rosie” and fortune telling with the “Venus glass” The Venus glass is an egg white suspended in water where shapes and figures could be seen about the future, i.e. social status and husband’s trade. Both Elizabeth and Abigail began to develop strange symptoms

Symptoms of “Witchcraft” Elizabeth forgot to run errands and was always unable to concentrate Pinching, prickling, chocking sensations Sudden outbursts  screamed during the “Our Father” prayer and threw the bible across the church  denied father’s preaching and spoke as if damnation was “inevitable” Dr. William Griggs suggested that these symptoms were a result of witchcraft

Salem Witch Trials Both Elizabeth and Abigail accused Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborn of bewitching them Samuel Parris organized meetings and days of fasting to help Elizabeth get better He beat Tituba into confessing about the witchcraft Preached about the awful effects of witchcraft and simply tried to distract attention away from his own family

Continued… Mrs. Parris protested to the government using Elizabeth as a witch finder Elizabeth was sent to live with Stephen Sewall, a distant cousin of Samuel Parris, to recover Isolation helped stop most symptoms

Elizabeth’s family life after Salem Witch Trials Married Benjamin Baron He was a yeoman, trader, and shoemaker in Sudbury They had four children- Thomas, Elizabeth Junior, Catherine, and Susanna

Works Cited Latner, Richard B. "The Salem Witchcraft Site." Salem Witchcraft. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct Linder, Douglas O. "Samuel Parris." Samuel Parris. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct Rogasta, Seth. "Salem Witch Trials in History and Literature." Rev. Samuel Parris. N.p., Web. 15 Oct Walsh, Sarah-Nell. "Elizabeth Parris." Important Persons in the Salem Court Records. N.p., Web. 15 Oct