"The Witchcraft Delusion" by John M. Taylor, Gramercy Books (1995) 
states:  "In 1657 at East Hampton "Goody" BIRDSALL testified 
regarding the accusations of witchcraft toward "Goody" GARLICK, wife 
of Joshua GARLICK.  She states that while dressing flax at Goody 
DAVIS's house that Goody DAVIS said that she had dressed her children 
in clean linen at the island...  (From this we learn that Goody DAVIS 
was a resident of the island - GARDINERs Island - and had more than 
one child.)  Goody BIRDSALL later states that according to Goody 
DAVIS, after she took her child from Goody GARLICK the child 
sickened, and after five days and five nights it died.  Since death 
dates for all of Ffulke's identified children are recorded and none 
match the 1657 date, it is reasonable to assume there was another 
child, sex unidentified, that died on GARDINER's Island that year.  A 
source which I did not record stated that Ffulke had a child named 
Jane, and without further evidence it is possible that Jane was the 
child that died in 1657."

An extensive article providing much information about early eastern 
Long Island and East Hampton in particular was published in the 
"Collections of the New-York Historical Society for the year 1869" 
(pp.  225-272).  It is entitled, "GARDINER's East Hampton, Etc."  and 
consists of "Notes and observations on the town of East Hampton at 
the east end of Long Island written by John Lyon GARDINER of the Isle 
of Wight [later named 'GARDINER's Island'] in April 1798 at the 
request of the Rev'd Samuel Miller of N: York."  Some additional 
notes on "Witchcraft in New York" are provided on p.  273.  The 
following is condensed from this reference.

In 1664, under the Duke of York and the subsequent Patent from Col. 
Richard Nicolls, the town formerly called Maid-stone became East: 
Hampton, probably due to its location to the east of Southampton. 
The first settlers apparently came from Stansted in the County of 
Kent in England, and perhaps from the original Maid-stone in England. 
The records show that the original 35 settlers and purchasers of the 
town had come from Lynn, Massachusetts and nearby towns.  Those who 
came were accepted into the town by vote, and some were refused based 
on their unacceptable principles and laziness.  The original settlers 
were Puritans, and established Congregational churches.  These people 
were not fond of titles, and in a period of 30 years only 5 persons 
had the title of "Mr.", the others preferring to be called "Goodman" 
and "Goodwife", or simply "Goody". 

In 1644 Southampton came under the jurisdiction of the Connecticut 
Colony, and in 1648 Southold did likewise, but East Hampton remained 
self-governed until 1657.  For this reason Hartford was an active 
partner in certain legal issues.  From March,1650 when the first East 
Hampton General Court was conducted until 1664 when Gov.  Nicolls 
took charge, 50 or 60 law cases are recorded.  The General Court was 
moderated by the Constable, and cases were sometimes referred to the 
General Court at Hartford.  In October, 1651 Ralph Dayton was the 
Constable, and very likely was also Constable when the Court was 
created in 1650.

With this by way of background, on March 19, 1657, the town voted to 
send Thomas Baker and John Hand to Connecticut "for to bring Us under 
their Government according unto the terms as Southampton is...".  On 
this same trip, a third person was to accompany Baker and Hand to 
attend to a second bit of business: "...& alsoe to carry up Goodwife 
GARLICK that she may be delivered up unto the Authoritie there for 
the triall of the cause of Witchcraft which she is suspected for." 
Elizabeth GARLICK called Goody GARLICK, wife of Joshua GARLICK, a 
carpenter of East Hampton, had been brought before the magistrates of 
that town, on suspicion of witchcraft; the examination resulted in 
the order to send her for trial to the General Court at Hartford, 
Connecticut, whose jurisdiction was at the same time fully 
recognized.  Her trial took place before a Court of Magistrates, 
called for the purpose, in Hartford, on the 5th of May, 1658, and 
resulted in her acquittal.  Governor John Winthrop presided in the 
Court.  An account of the proceedings can be found in the "Historical 
Magazine", vol vi.  543.  A letter printed in the "Colonial Records 
of Connecticut, 1636-1665", Appendix.  v.  pg.  572, from the copy on 
file among the archives of Connecticut in the handwriting of Gov. 
Winthrop, provides additional information.

Supplemental information in somewhat more detail is provided in "East 
Hampton - A History & Guide" by Jason Epstein and Elizabeth Barlow. 
(Random House, NY, 3rd ed., 1985; first pub.  Medway Press, 1975).

A quotation from East Hampton town records reports on some of the 
townspeople, one of whom, Joshua GARLICK, becomes subsequently 
involved in the purportedly nefarious activities of his wife, and 
another of whom, Fulke DAVIS, is the husband of a supposed victim: 
"Daniel Fairfield a servant of Joshua GARLICK, Fulke DAVIS, John 
DAVIS and John Hand, Jr., were brought before the three townsmen - 
John Mulford, Thomas Baker and John Hand - on a charge of 
masturbation, and, after extended examination and serious debate and 
consultation with their Saybrook neighbors, the townsmen, not deeming 
the offense worthy of loss of life or limb, determine that Fulke 
DAVIS shall be placed in the pillory and receive corporal punishment, 
and John DAVIS and Daniel Fairfield shall be publicly whipped, which 
was done, and was witnessed by the three townsmen."  It is of 
interest to note that no punishment is recorded for John Hand, Jr., 
son of John Hand, a member of the governing body.

On page 33, the authors review the GARLICK matter and offer the 
following background.  Elizabeth, fifteen-year old daughter of Lion 
and Mary GARDINER who had married the merchant Arthur HOWELL, fell 
ill, perhaps of puerperal fever, following the birth of a daughter. 
On her deathbed she became possessed of the notion that she had been 
bewitched.  Several persons testified under oath to that effect, 
including Samuel Parsons, who said he had heard Elizabeth say to her 
husband, Arthur, 'Love, I am very ill of my head and fear I shall 
have the fever.'  Whereupon she went to bed, according to Parsons, 
and suckled her child."

The following are excerpts of testimony given at the trial of Goody 
GARLICK from "The Witchcraft Delusion" by John M.  Taylor, Gramercy 
Books,1995, pp.119-121, and provide a more in-depth perspective.

ELIZABETH GARLICK
In 1657, when East Hampton, Long Island, was within the jurisdiction 
of New York, becoming a few months later a part of Connecticut, two 
persons came over from GARDINER's Island and settled in the colony, 
Joshua GARLICK and Elizabeth his wife, who were servants of the 
famous engineer and colonist Lion GARDINER.  Stories of Elizabeth's 
practice of witchcraft and other black arts followed her, and despite 
her attendance at church she fell under suspicion, and was arrested, 
and held by the magistrates for trial after hearing various 
witnesses.  Credulity offers no better illustrations than those which 
fell from the lips of some of the witnesses in this case.

Goodwife HOWELL (Elizabeth GARDINER), during her illness which 
hastened the arrest of Goody GARLICK, "tuned a psalm and screeched 
out several times together very grievously," and cried "a witch! a 
witch! now are you come to torter me because I spoke two or three 
words against you," and also said, she saw a black thing at the beds 
featte, that GARLICK was double-tongued, pinched her with pins, and 
stood by the bed ready to tear her in pieces.  And William Russell, 
in a fit of insomnia or indigestion, before daybreak, "heard a very 
doleful noyse on ye backside of ye fire, like ye noyse of a great 
stone thrown down among a heap of stones."

Goody BIRDSALL "declared y't she was in the house of Goody SIMONS 
when Goody Bishop came into the house with ye dockweed and between 
Goody DAVIS and Goody SIMONS they burned the herbs.  Farther, she 
said y't formerly dressing flax at Goody DAVIS's house, Goody DAVIS 
saith y't she had dressed her children in clean linen at the island, 
and Goody GARLICK came in and said, 'How pretty the child doth look,' 
and so soon as she had spoken Goody GARLICK said, 'the child is not 
well, for it groaneth,' and Goody DAVIS said her heart did rise, and 
Goody DAVIS said, when she took the child from Goody GARLICK, she 
said she saw death in the face of it, & her child sickened presently 
upon it, and lay five daies and 5 nights and never opened the eyes 
nor cried till it died.  Also she saith as she dothe remember Goody 
DAVIS told her upon some difference between Mr. GARDINER or some of 
his family, Goodman GARLICK gave out some threatening speeches, & 
suddenly after Mr. GARDINER had an ox legge broke upon Ram Island. 
Moreover Goody DAVIS said that Goody GARLICK was a naughtie woman." 
Goody EDWARDS testified:  "Y't as Goody GARLICK owned, she sent to 
her daughter for a little best milk and she had some and presently 
after, her daughters milk went away as she thought and as she 
remembers the child sickened about y't time."  Goody Hand deposed 
that  "she had heard Goody DAVIS say that she hoped Goody GARLICK 
would not come to East Hampton, because, she said, Goody GARLICK was 
naughty, and there had many sad things befallen y'm at the Island, as 
about ye child, and ye ox, as Goody BIRDSALL have declared, as also 
the negro child she said was taken away, as I understood by her 
words, in a strange manner, and also of a ram y't was dead, and this 
fell out quickly one after another, and also of a sow y't was fat and 
lustie and died.  She said they did burn some of the sow's tale and 
presently Goody GARLICK did come in."

According to the Epstein & Barlow account, the "town was in an 
uproar.  Goody EDWARDS testified that Goody GARLICK had been a wet 
nurse to some of the village babies and that these unfortunate 
children had subsequently sickened and died.  Goody BIRDSALL said 
that the child of Goody DAVIS, a fellow servingwoman on GARDINER's 
Island and the wife of one of the convicted masturbators, died as 
soon as Goody GARLICK had held it in her arms, and Goody DAVIS 
corroborated this, adding that Goody GARLICK was 'a naughty woman.' 
Lion GARDINER, trying to counter these attacks, set the record 
straight about Goody DAVIS's baby.  He said that the child had died 
because Goody DAVIS had starved it by becoming wet nurse to an Indian 
child 'for lucre of a little wampum.'

"Goody BIRDSALL and Goody EDWARDS both testified under oath that they 
had seen a pin being taken out of Elizabeth's mouth.  Joshua GARLICK, 
on his wife's behalf, entered a defamation suit against Goody DAVIS." 

The settlers held a town meeting, and wisely questioning whether they 
had legal authority to hold a trial in a capital case, they appointed 
a committee to go "unto Keniticut to carry up Goodwife GARLICK yt she 
may be delivered up unto the authoritie there for the trial of the 
cause of witchcraft which she is suspected for."  She was charged 
with "causing the sickness of infants and the death of cattle, the 
torments of prickling pain and the blasts of atmosphere by droughts 
and unseasonable frosts on growing corn."  The General Court of 
Connecticut took jurisdiction of the case, a trial of Goody GARLICK 
was held.  Through Lion GARDINER's intervention on her behalf, the 
trial resulted in her acquittal, and she was sent back to East 
Hampton, to what end is not told in the records of the day.

Joshua GARLICK was fined £30 for his wife's misdeeds.  Elizabeth, the 
daughter of Elizabeth GARDINER HOWELL, the "victim",  was raised by 
her father, Arthur HOWELL and was favored by her grandparents, Lion 
and Mary GARDINER.

Thanks to: Stuart Hotchkiss who is a descendant of DAVIS. You can reach
him at stuh@localnet.com
11 Ocober 2002

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