Best of Season 1: Ann "Goody" Glover

Episode Summary

Anne Goody Glover was an Irish woman who moved to Boston and worked as a housekeeper in the 1680s. She got into an argument with the children of her employer, John Goodwin, after they accused her daughter of stealing laundry. Soon after, the Goodwin children began acting strangely, which doctors claimed was due to witchcraft. Anne was arrested and put on trial for witchcraft, with Reverend Cotton Mather serving as the main accuser. During her trial, Anne had trouble reciting the Lord's Prayer in English, which was seen as evidence she was a witch. She was also accused of consorting with the devil. Anne was found guilty and hanged in November 1668. In 1988, the Boston City Council named November 16 "Goody Glover Day" in her honor. Her trial set the precedent for the Salem Witch Trials that occurred a few years later.

Episode Show Notes

Ann "Goody" Glover (unknown-1688) was hanged for being a witch in Boston.

Episode Transcript

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Just like that all electric Toyota BZ4X, rollin' smoothified. Or that hybrid Tundra making everyone jealousified. Or that plug-in Prius looking so dreamified. Toyota is electrified, diversified. The more ways we can choose to reduce carbon emissions, the closer we all get to Toyota's beyond zero vision for the future. Toyota, let's go places. SPEAKER_02: That's what we're talking about. Hey everyone, I'm Edi Allard, one of the scriptwriters SPEAKER_03: and editors behind Encyclopedia Wamanica. I've always been so proud to work on this show and I can't believe we already closed out our first season. But Wamanica is truly a huge undertaking. If you want to show your appreciation and get access to some exclusive content, you can become a Wamaniac. Now, what does that mean exactly? Well, you can head over to glow.fm slash Wamanica and sign up for a monthly subscription. You'll be able to join our team on biweekly chats, plus let your voice be heard in the creation of the show. And your contribution makes a real difference for the work we're trying to do. That's glow.fm slash Wamanica. See you there. ["Warmy Wamayo"] SPEAKER_07: Hi, I'm Cynthia, and I am one of the producers here at Wonder Woman. And today I have the honor of introducing Anne Gooding Glover. And the reason why she is part of our Best Of this month is because she, like so many other women, are punished for the words that they say. Here's Jenny Caplan to tell you more. Yes! SPEAKER_01: High five! Yes! High five! From Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Caplan, and this is Encyclopedia Wamanica. In case you're just tuning in, here's the deal. Every weekday, we're telling the stories of women from throughout history and around the world, who you may not know about but definitely should. Each month is themed, and this month is all about witches and saints. Women have been celebrated and condemned for wielding spiritual power throughout history. This month, we're highlighting women who made incredible contributions to and through religions, as well as those who were charged and punished for alleged heresies or supernatural abilities. Today we're talking about a woman whose trial would serve as the basis for many of the cases of the infamous 1692 Salem Witch Trials, the one and only Anne Goody Glover. Little is known about Anne's early life. She was born in Ireland and moved to Barbados at some point after Oliver Cromwell's invasion of Ireland in 1649. It's not entirely clear how she got from there to Boston, but by 1680, Anne was living with her daughter Mary in Puritan Boston and working as a housekeeper for a man named John Goodwin. In the summer of 1688, John's 13-year-old daughter Martha accused Anne's daughter of stealing clothes from the family laundry. Anne denied the accusation and ended up in a major fight with the young Goodwin children. During the fight, the Goodwin children started acting strangely, supposedly because of the argument. When the doctor was called in, he couldn't figure out what was wrong with the children, so he chalked it up to witchcraft. Anne was quickly arrested and officially charged with witchcraft, a very serious allegation in 1680s Boston where fear of witches ran rampant. The leading accuser in her trial was none other than Reverend Cotton Mather, who had gained significant infamy for his actions during the Salem witch trials a few years later. During her trial, Anne was unable to answer questions in English, though she apparently understood the language. At first, she was accused of speaking the language of the devil. When Anne's accusers finally realized she was speaking Irish, they were able to find an interpreter and continued the trial. Still, her inability to speak English was a mark against her. Anne was asked to recite the Lord's Prayer during her trial, which she was able to do in Irish and broken Latin, but not in English. Being unable to say the Lord's Prayer in English was considered to be the mark of a witch. That belief speaks to the significant anti-Catholic prejudice impured in Boston, as most Catholics of the period, like Anne, would likely only know the Lord's Prayer in Latin. Other evidence supposedly proving Anne's witchcraft were small doll-like figures found during a search of her home and an account from Reverend Mather that claimed Anne engaged in trysts with the devil and his minions in her prison cell. Reverend Mather wrote that Anne was a scandalous old Irish woman, very poor, a Roman Catholic, and obstinate in idolatry. Anne was found guilty of witchcraft and was hanged on November 16th, 1668, in front of a mocking crowd of onlookers. Robert Califf, a Boston merchant who knew Anne, wrote that, her behavior at her trial was like that of one distracted. They did her cruel. The proof against her was wholly deficient. Anne's daughter supposedly suffered a mental breakdown as a result of the trial. In 1988, grappling with the city's dark history, the Boston City Council officially named November 16th Goody Glover Day in honor of Anne. Tune in tomorrow for the story of another remarkable woman from history. All month, we're talking about witches and saints. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow. SPEAKER_01: Before you go, I have a quick request. We're eager to know more about our audience, so we created a short listener survey to help us learn more about you. Visit wondermedianetwork.com slash survey to share your thoughts and be entered to win some Wonder Media Network swag. That's wondermedianetwork.com slash survey. I'll also post the link in the episode notes. I wanna tell you about another show I think you might like. 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