Born: 1613, United States (assumed)
Died: 15 June 1648
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
When midwife Margaret Jones was charged with witchcraft in 1648, the “evidence” against her included “She would use to tell such as would not make use of her physic, that they would never be healed; and accordingly their diseases and hurts continued, with relapse against the ordinary course, and beyond the apprehension of all physicians and surgeons.” So, a medical professional told patients that if they didn’t follow her advice, they wouldn’t get better. There was also this gem: “Some things which she foretold came to pass accordingly.” She was the first person executed for witchcraft in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but not the last as the witch hunts there lasted for forty-five years, with around eighty people accused and fifteen executed (thirteen of them women).