Tracing Ancestors in the Salem Witch Trials Locating Burials in Cemeteries

The June 21, 2025 meeting of the Windham County Genealogy Interest Group featured two presentations. For those who have ancestors in Essex County Massachusetts, it may be possible to identify the family connections to the Salem witch trials—whether through the accused, accusers, witnesses or jurors. We will explore the use of colonial records, court documents, and genealogical tools to uncover ties to one of New England’s most pivotal events. Because court documents in particular sometimes have testimony by ancestors in their own words, it can give a picture of their life that goes beyond the vital statistics. Although the events happened 333 years ago, much is still written today about the people involved. The extensive historical research that has been done help to give important context about their lives. Online cemetery databases such as Find A Grave and Billions Graves have transformed searching for your ancestral burials in cemeteries. These databases also act as family trees linking parents, siblings, children, and beyond, no matter where they are buried. These constructed family trees linked by grave sites may include birth, death, biographical, and other textual information as well as images that include the tombstones and photos. Brattleboro’s cemeteries were inventoried by local resident Marjorie Valliere Howe from 1999-2004. A demonstration will be given of how to use the Howe cemetery directories and Find A Grave to locate and document gravesites.

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