How was Mary Bradley saved from being hanged in the Salem witch trials?

Answer 1

Well, there is a bit of family tradition on this one. It goes back at least to the 19th century, and was passed down to me by Dr. Howard M Bradbury, Sr. -- my grandfather.

Mary, of course, was in her late 70's when she was convicted. Her husband, Captain Thomas Bradbury, though also elderly, was one of the colony's most leading and respected citizens -- basically the kind of man who chewed nails for breakfast. That much is in the record, now for the family oral history:

According to my Grandfather, Mary's nephew [unnamed] was a sea captain in Boston. According to the legend, he came up from Boston, got dressed up in a phosphorescent devil's costume, and scared off the jailer!

Now that would probably been Constable William Baker. Was there a bribe? Quite possibly, but we will never know. Given the temper of the times, the concept would certainly have worked!

This story has been told in my branch of the family for over 120 years. If it was not true, perhaps it should have been!

Mark Bradbury Dappert (10th Generation from Capt Thomas and Mary).

I'm a direct line descendant of Thomas and Mary Perkins Bradbury also. My family has always believed that Mary was acquitted of the charges and released, but the official records show that she was freed from the jail by several men, one of whom was thought to be her husband Thomas. The original charges against her were placed by a pair of local men returning home from the local tavern. They claimed that Mary came upon them and turned herself into a "blue boar", chasing them off of her property. She had a son-in-law who was a captain in the local militia who may have played a hand in her release,as well. She was brought to Amesbury, MA, where she lived for a couple of years before she passed away.

The interesting thing about the "Salem Witch Trials" was that they weren't actually held in Salem, but in Topsfield, MA, a small town northwest of Salem that was said to be part of the original Salem land grant.

Mark Thomas Bradbury, native of Newburyport, MA