Execution Day: Alse Young 1600-1647 First Witch Hanged in Colonies

Alse Young (sometimes cited as Achsah Young or Alice Young) (b. cal 1600) (died May 26, 1647) of Windsor, Connecticut, was the first person in the records executed for witchcraft in the thirteen American colonies.

Very little is recorded of Alse Young; her existence is only known through her reputation as a witch. She is believed to have been the wife of John Young, who bought a small parcel of land in Windsor in 1641, sold it in 1649, and then disappeared from the town records. She had a daughter, Alice Young Beamon, who would be accused of witchcraft in nearby Springfield, Massachusetts, some 30 years later. Like many similar cases of witchcraft, Alse Young was a woman without a son when the accusation was lodged, which implied that she would be eligible to receive through inheritance her husband's estate.

There is no further record of Young's trial or the specifics of the charge, only that Alse Young was a woman. Early historical record hints at the possibility that there may have been some sort of epidemic in the town of Windsor in early 1647. Alse Young was hanged at the Meeting House Square in Hartford, Connecticut, on what is now the site of the Old State House. A journal of then Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop states that "One... of Windsor arraigned and executed at Hartford for a witch." [1] The second town clerk of Windsor, Matthew Grant also confirms the execution with the May 26, 1647 diary entry, "Alse Young was hanged."

In 1642, witchcraft became punishable by death in the Connecticut Colony. This capital offense was backed by references to the King James version of the Bible: Exodus (22:18) says, Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. And Leviticus (20:27) says, A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood (shall be) upon them. In Connecticut, witchcraft was last listed as a capital crime in 1715. The crime of witchcraft disappeared from the list of capital crimes when the laws were next issued in 1750.

Alse Young was hanged at the Meeting House Square in Hartford, Connecticut, on what is now the site of the Old State House.

References

1.^ John Winthrop, Journal: 1630-49, ed. James K. Hosmer (New York, 1908), II, 323.

David D. Hall, (editor), Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth Century New England, Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1999, ISBN 1-55553-416-3

John Winthrop, Journal: 1630-49, ed. James K. Hosmer (New York, 1908), II, 323.