Primary Source
Court testimony of William Hannum's wife in the trial of Mary Parsons
August 11, 1656
Testified on oath before me Elizur Holyoke
William Hannum [blott out?] testifyeth on oath that I have had
some jealousyes against this Mary Parsons, on these grounds:
First this Mary came to my house about the yarn that shee missed
and then wee had a falling out about it & some discontented words
passed on both sides: this was in an eveninge, & as I take it in
March last & that eveninge all my Cattell were well for ought
I could see by them, & the next morning One cow lay in my yard,
ready to dy as I thought: wch when I had considered I endeavored
to gett her up & at length gott her to stand: but shee languished away
& dyed about a fortnight after, though I took great care night &
day to save her, givinge her samp pease wholesome drinks eggs etc.
& this Cow beinge young was lusty before this very tyme
Secondly, the same week I remember I beinge at work at
John Webbs, I saw Joseph Parsons beatinge one of his little chil
dren, for loosinge its shoo; and to my apprehension he beat it unmer
cifully, & his wife comeinge to save it, because shee had beaten it
before.
[Contemporary translation
Testified on oath, before me, Elizur Holyoke
William Hannum testified on oath that I have had some jealousies against this Mary Parsons, on these grounds; First this Mary came to my house about the yarn that she missed and then we had a falling out about it and some discontented words passed on both sides; this was in an evening, and as I take it in…that evening all my cattle were well as far as I could tell. And the next morning one cow lay in my yard ready to die from the looks of it; when I realized this I endeavored to get her up and at length got her to stand; but she languished away and died about a fortnight later, though I took great care night and day to save her, giving her samp pease, wholesome drinks, eggs, etc. And this cow, being young, was lusty before this very time. Secondly, the same week I remember, I was work at John Webb's (house) and I saw Joseph Parsons beating one of his little children, for losing his shoe; and to my apprehension he beat him unmercifully, & his wife came to save (the boy), because she had beaten him before.]
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