Pennsylvania\u2019s one and only witch trial started over cow\u2019s milk.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf your cow is not giving milk, it\u2019s obvious that somebody put a hex on it,\u201d Doug Miller, who runs William Penn\u2019s estate Pennsbury Manor, said to explain the thinking of the time.<\/p>\n
In the 1680s, neighbors accused<\/a> Margaret Mattson, who was of northern European descent and didn\u2019t speak English, of putting a hex on local people.<\/p>\n Although Pennsylvania was William Penn\u2019s colony, it was still part of England. And in English rule, witchcraft was a capital offense. <\/p>\n Witch trials had been held throughout England and elsewhere in Europe, but only a few had been held in the colonies. And this would be the first in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n On Feb. 27, 1684, William Penn himself presided over the witch trial in Philadelphia<\/a>.<\/p>\n He arranged for a prominent citizen, Lasse Cocke, who was also Penn\u2019s chief negotiator with the Lenni-Lenape, to act as an interpreter.<\/p>\n Three witnesses testified that Mattson had cast a spell over her neighbor\u2019s cattle<\/a>, which had not been giving milk. Over a daylong trial<\/a> in Philadelphia, a jury ultimately found Mattson guilty of having \u201cthe common fame of a witch, but not guilty in the manner in form that she stands indicted.\u201d<\/p>\n So, yes, she had the reputation of being a witch, but there was no evidence she participated in any witchcraft.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a crafty way on his part to avoid harsh punishment for her and any hint of a death penalty under English law,\u201d Miller said. <\/p>\n