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Posted by Mrs. Chappell
 * Whatever happened to ANN PUTNAM? **

Research Summary: The first notable fact about Ann Putnam is that there were really //**two**// Ann Putnams involved in the witch trials. The girl called “Ruth” in //The Crucible//, was in real life named after her mother. Ann Jr., 12 years old in 1692, was one of the busiest (and one of the youngest) of the "afflicted" girls. Ann's father Thomas Putnam did, in fact, file most of the complaints against "witches" in Salem, and it is certainly likely that he manipulated his daughter as well as his wife into making the accusations. However, there is a very significant difference between historical fact and //The Crucible//: Contrary to Miller's portrayal that Ann Sr. had buried seven babies, Ann Jr. was actually the eldest of 10 living children.

After accusing 62 people of witchcraft during the 1692 hysteria, Ann Jr. had a difficult life. In 1699, both of Ann's parents died within two weeks of each other. Only 19, Ann raised her nine orphaned brothers and sisters, ages 7 months to 18 years. Notably, Ann Jr. was the only one of the accusers to later apologize publicly. At age 27 in 1706, Ann confessed to her church that Satan had deceived her. Although she never completely took responsibility for her actions, blaming Satan for tricking her, she did admit that the accusations she made were false. She begged for forgiveness from God and the townspeople, and amazingly, her neighbors forgave her. She was a sickly woman and never married. She died in 1716 at the age of 37.

Source: Burr, Chris and Katherine Sutcliffe. "Ann Putnam Jr." //Biographies of Key Figures in the Salem Witchcraft Trials//. University of Missouri -Kansas City School of Law. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. [] Annotation : This biography of Ann Putnam Jr. gives an overview of her role in the witch trials as well what happened to her after 1692. The website is hosted by the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, so it is maintained by reputable historians and faculty members. Ann Putnam's biography as well as the site as a whole seems to be accurate and unbiased. One limitation is that the biographies do not contain citations or links, so it is not possible to cross-check the information or look to the authors' original sources for more details on the individual. However, the site does include numerous primary source documents, trial transcripts, maps, arrest warrants and other items. It appears to be one in a series of websites devoted to famous trials, and might be an interesting place to peruse if one had additional time. Link: Ann Putnam Biography

Source: VanBurkleo, Sandra F. "Damned Women: Winners and Witches in Puritan New England." //The Women's Review of Books// May 1998: 10+. //Literature Resource Center//. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. Annotation: The information in this article includes research from several non-fiction books about witch accusations in the Puritan era. VanBurkleo starts her article by detailing Ann's confession and fate; and then goes on to discuss a variety of theories about the causes of the witch hysteria. VanBurkleo's purpose is to pose her own theory that the primary cause of the witch hysteria was not land, boredom, personal grudges, or mass hallucination; but rather the Puritan belief that women had "sinful natures." Her point is that Ann as well as her "victims" were ordinary women, so the only reason Ann's accusations could be believed (and then Ann could be forgiven for being "deceived" by the devil) is that Puritans believed women were weak, sinful, and easily influenced by Satan. The article as a whole has a somewhat feminist bias to it. However, the author's political point of view does not impact the historical accuracy, especially since she cites other historians to back up her information on Ann Putnam.

Link: Literature Resource Center article on Ann Putnam