Alse Young (1615 – 26 May 1647) of

Windsor, Connecticut Windsor is a New England town, town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The town is part of ...

— sometimes Achsah Young or Alice Young — was the first recorded instance of

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

for

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

in the thirteen American colonies. She had one child, Alice Beamon (Young), born in 1640, who was also condemned for the same crime thirty years later in the 1670s, but was not hanged.

Background and execution

Alse Young was born in 1615 in New Windsor,

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England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and moved to

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

during the 1630s. She is believed to have been the wife of John Young, who bought a small parcel of land in Windsor in 1641, sold it in 1649, and then disappeared from the town records. The best evidence to suggest that John Young was her husband comes from a physician. She had a daughter, Alice Young Beamon, who was accused of witchcraft in nearby

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

, some 30 years later. Her daughter Alice Young Beamon married and had children with Simon Beamon. Similarly to her mother, Alice Young Beamon was also accused of witchcraft but defended herself by claiming that she was being slandered. Even though Alice Young was a woman without a son when the witchcraft accusation was lodged, her husband was still alive during her accusation. This makes it unlikely that she was accused simply for the possibility of inheriting her husband's estate in the future. Other reasons are more probable. There is no record of Young's trial or the specifics of the charge. The same year that Alice was hanged the death rate had steadily increased. The influenza affected everyone in that even wealthy people with more resources and access to medical care were dying at extremely high rates. Many prominent members of the noble class and legislature lost their families. Given such circumstances, a member of the elite class may have organized for someone to be hanged and scapegoated, leading to Alice's being chosen at random. She may have been hanged at the Meeting House Square in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, now the site of the Old State House, since a jail was on the edge of the square. A journal of then

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

Governor

John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1588 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and a leading figure in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the fir ...

mentions "One... of Windsor arraigned and executed at Hartford for a witch." The second town clerk of Windsor, Matthew Grant, confirms her execution with the May 26, 1647, diary entry, "Alse Young was hanged." She was roughly 32 years old when she was hanged.

Exoneration

At the urging of Beth Caruso, a local historian who wrote a book on her case, Alse Young was symbolically exonerated on February 6, 2017, by a Windsor Town Council resolution, along with Lydia Gilbert, the second Connecticut woman to be executed for witchcraft, who was also from Windsor.Jennifer Coe
"Windsor Passes Witch Execution Resolution"
''Hartford Courant'', March 17, 2017.

References

External links

Alse Young profile
damnedct.com; accessed December 26, 2014.

jud.ct.gov; accessed December 26, 2014.
Alse Young - The Grimm Generation
Soundcloud, accessed February 27, 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Alse 1600s births 1647 deaths 17th-century executions of American people English emigrants to the United States Executed American women American people executed for witchcraft Executed people from Connecticut History of Hartford, Connecticut People executed by Connecticut Colony by hanging People from Windsor, Connecticut People from colonial Connecticut Place of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain Year of birth unknown

Background and execution

Exoneration

See also

References

Further reading

External links