Ghosts of Salem

After taking a couple of months to write two new books (Ghost Hunting in Haunted Cemeteries, and Ghost Photography 101), I’m back at work on the Salem book.

I’m having tremendous fun researching this book.  The personal family connections make this even more intriguing.

Several people have asked me about “Cromwell’s Curse” and Salem’s witches.

Cromwell’s Curse

Cromwell’s “curse” related to Northampton (UK) is fiction. The author created the story with rich details and impressive authenticity, but the curse is still fiction.

Here’s where the legend appears: Tarkan Deluxe: Cromwell’s Curse (also at Tripod: Cromwell’s Curse)

Here’s where he talks about it being fiction: UK Pagan, The Valley > Cromwell’s Curse

There are some elements of truth in the Northampton tale.  That’s one reason why it seems so believable.

On 22 July 1612, five witches were executed at Abington Gallows, Northampton. (Ref: Northamptonshire witch trials, at Wikipedia)

Frankly, I’m very impressed when someone creates a story like that, and it is so convincing, people take it seriously.

(I once built a similar story, to catch plagiarists.  I was astonished when a newspaper not only picked up the tale, but researched and embellished it.)

Cromwell Witches

Several witches in the Disney “Halloweentown” movie series have a Cromwell surname, or claim Cromwell descent.  That movie series is fun… but it’s also fiction.

Cromwell and Witches

400+ years after Oliver Cromwell’s death, his association with witches is still debated.  Some modern-day Witches insist that Oliver Cromwell should have saved more witches from being executed.

When his life is commemorated, modern-day Witches and Pagans sometimes ask to be included in the day’s celebration, as a reminder of those whose lives he could have saved.

Did Oliver Cromwell have reason to hate or fear witches?  So far, the only reference that I can find is in connection with his grandfather.

The second wife of Henry Cromwell (Oliver’s grandfather) died such a slow and painful death in the late 16th century, some neighbors suggested that she was a victim of witchcraft.

Descendants of Oliver Cromwell

Some have speculated that Oliver Cromwell was cursed, but not by the Northampton witches.

Oliver Cromwell’s male lineage died out in 1821.  No direct-line descendants carried the Cromwell surname to modern times.  Was that a curse?  Maybe.

The Cromwell Association explains, “Oliver’s great-great-grandson Oliver (1742-1821) left no son, and so the surname Cromwell was lost amongst Oliver’s descendants.” (emphasis added) [Link]

The Many Unrelated Cromwells

The surname “Cromwell” comes from two words meaning land near a bend of the river.  So, this name was used by many families throughout the British Isles.

In fact, the Cromwell surname was popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, and most of those families had no connection to Oliver Cromwell, or to Thomas Cromwell, the 1st Earl of Essex.

Trivia: Williams was the real surname of Oliver Cromwell’s family.  They used the Cromwell name for a few generations, to identify themselves with Thomas Cromwell’s ancestors.

The Salem Cromwells

My own ancestor, Thomas Cromwell of Salem (Massachusetts), shared a grandfather with the famous Oliver Cromwell.   (Frankly, I have mixed feelings about that.)

I’m not yet certain why those Cromwells emigrated to Salem, and if they were involved in the Salem Witch Trials.

However, the popular “Cromwell’s Curse” story is fiction.  So, though it is fun and convincing, it is irrelevant to my book about Salem’s ghosts.

Salem, Massachusetts is part of my heritage.  In 1692, several of my ancestors lived in Salem.

I discovered this while researching a different ghost connection.

To my amazement, I noticed the name of one of my ancestors, William Webb, in some Salem records.  I thought, “That’s interesting.  It’s not a unique name, but I wonder how he connects to my Webb ancestry.”

(Until I saw that, I thought my only English ancestry — including the Webbs — was well-diluted as the family tree passed through Ireland.)

Well, William Webb (b. 1744) of Salem didn’t just connect with my ancestral cousins… he was my sixth great-grandfather.  His ancestor (my 10th great-grandfather) was Thomas Cromwell (b. 1618) who also lived and died in Salem.

Trivia: Thomas Cromwell’s sister, Dorothy (born 1604), is memorialized on the oldest gravestone in the Salem burial ground.  Thomas and Dorothy Cromwell shared a grandfather with the famous (or infamous) Oliver Cromwell.  (Oliver Cromwell’s direct lineage expired in 1821.)

In my Salem research, I also found Jonathan (or John) Pickering in my family tree.  Today, his 1651 home at 18 Broad Street, Salem, is the oldest home in America to be lived in by the same family.   Pickering Wharf in Salem is named after the location of his shipyard.

I’m continuing my Salem genealogical research to find personal connections to the events of 1692.  I know that one of my ancestral cousins, Sarah (also listed as Mary) Morey, was among the accused.  It’s possible that William Allen, also in my family tree, was an accuser.

For me, these personal connections with Salem’s history make my ghost research even more interesting.