How Many Cups 35: Wallingford and the Final Witch Trial
spooky
Sorry for the hiatus, it always happens as I’m beginning the new school year. Please, subscribe but only for free! Spend your money on better things!
A Pint of Ale
It is only right that I make my triumphant and wholly uncalled for return to blogging with a tidbit about my beloved hometown. Could I have discussed Wallingford’s historic ties to famous teens, as luminaries from John F. Kennedy to Paul Giamatti attended Choate Rosemary Hall? Could I have written about a tornado that ripped through downtown and transformed souls into spirits? Sure.
But alas, the season of the witch is upon us. It is time for the story of Winifred Benham and her daughter, Winifred Benham, Jr. both from Wallingford. Indeed, it marks the final witch trials of the colonies, demarking an age of Enlightenment rationale about to shine upon the horizon.
“In the continual remembrance of a glorious past”
- Signers of Plantation Covenant, Wallingford, 1669.
Mrs. Benham’s husband, Joseph, has been enshrined as one of the founders of this township. His name rests carved into a plaque planted within sight of our town hall. For a time, the Benham family made hearth and home on a 6 acre lot, some place called Plot 4 according to the municipality’s original layout.
Like many settlers, the Benham family immigrated to the colonies from England to Boston. But after planting roots in Wallingford, their pilgrim story would drastically change. Nobody was safe from witchcraft accusations during the 17th century.
“He (Benham) was loading his gun with two bullets and if she (accuser) came again to make such conversations he would shoot her with them.”
- Author R. G. Thomlinson, 1978.
The first of three total accusations against Mrs. Benham began in summer of 1692. A Mrs. Hannah Parker confronted the Benham family at their home, causing Mr. Benham to approach her with a loaded gun. Indeed, it may have been Mr. Benham who started the entire escapade.
Prior to the accusation, the Benhams had enjoyed a solid reputation amongst the local towns folk. Yet, Mr. Benham was alleged to have criticized the local magistrates. Considering this was a time when magistrates were deemed more of an extension of the monarchy than independent from it, such comments were certainly dangerous.
Naturally, anyone who spoke ill of judicial decisions were subject to gossip. Rumors began circulating around town and of course, they charted down a path of witchcraft. It was Mrs. Benham who took the flack for her husband. Tensions simmered for quite some time and another, more formal accusation was levied against not only Mrs. Benham but her daughter, as well.
“This time, the accusers were local teenagers who belonged to respectable families of Wallingford…(they) claimed that the women inflicted bodily harm upon them, and they had the dark spots on their skin to prove it.”
- Journalist Victoria Esquibies, 2018.
The root of the allegations stem from some local teens of good standing within the community - if such a thing is possible. A handful of them displayed dark spots on their skin that must have come from the Benham’s sorcery. What’s more, a newborn had just died and they were believed to also have had these spots on them at the time of their passing.
Perhaps the spots were caused by smallpox, or even syphilis. Nevertheless, the Benham ladies were tried before a grand jury in Hartford. Stories of the trial allege that the women were thrown into a body of water with rocks secured around their feet; a well-known albeit barbaric method to test purity.
Miracuously, the women survived the test, which resulted in their acquittal. Joseph did not escape unscatched, however, having been publicly whipped after a judgement from town council members. The scars from these trials forced the Benhams to flee Wallingford, eventually relocating in New York state.
Today, the Witch of Wallingford is buried in our historic downtown cemetery, proving either her love for Wallingford or desire to haunt over those who wrongly accused her. Dutiful readers know my paranormal happenstances - yes, I will take a stroll past her resting place to feel out the vibes.