Candy was an

Afro-Barbadian Black Barbadians or Afro-Barbadians are Barbados, Barbadians of entirely or predominantly Black people, African descent. 92.4% of Barbados's population is black and 3.1% is multiracial people, multiracial, based on estimates in 2010. Origins ...

woman enslaved by Margaret Hawkes of Salem Town, who was accused of

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 ...

during the

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Not everyone wh ...

. On July 1, 1692, John Putnam, Jr. and

Thomas Putnam Thomas Putnam ( – , 1699) was a member of the Putnam family, a resident of Salem Village (present-day Danvers, Massachusetts, United States) and a significant accuser in the notorious 1692 Salem witch trials. Biography Thomas Putnam was bor ...

accused both Hawkes and Candy of tormenting Ann Putnam, Jr.,

Mary Walcott Mary Walcott (July 5, 1675 – 1752) was one of the "afflicted" girls called as a witness at the Salem witch trials in early 1692-93. Life Born July 5, 1675, she was the daughter of Captain Jonathan Walcott (1639–1699), and his wife, Mary Si ...

, and Mary Warren. The supposed victims stated that they had seen her as 'a ghost' flying around and attacking them. She was examined before the Justices on July 4, 1692. Upon interrogation, she " admitted" to being a witch but turned on her enslaver, claiming that Hawkes had turned her into a witch and forced her to sign the devil's book. Despite this admission, she was found not guilty and was released. There is no record of Margaret Hawkes having been arrested. Unlike many of the other accused married women, who were referred to as "

Goodwife Goodwife ( Scots: ''Guidwife''), usually abbreviated Goody, was a polite form of address for women, formerly used as ''Mrs.'', ''Miss'' and ''Ms.'' are used today. Its male counterpart is Goodman. However, a woman addressed by this title was of ...

", Margaret was addressed with the honorific " Mrs.", which indicates she was of a higher social class. When Candy was asked how she and her enslaver tormented the girls, she volunteered to demonstrate the procedure. She returned with some

poppet In folk magic and witchcraft, a poppet (also known as poppit, moppet, mommet or pippy) is a doll made to represent a person, for casting spells on them, or aiding that person through magic. They are occasionally found lodged in chimneys. These dol ...

s, and when they were manipulated by pinching, heat, and water, the afflicted girls responded in kind. Her examination records her testimony in broken English, which indicates she was probably newly exposed to the English language. She was one of three enslaved women, along with

Tituba Tituba () was an enslaved Native American woman who was one of the first to be accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials of 1692–1693. She was enslaved by Samuel Parris, the minister of Salem Village, in the Province of Massachusett ...

and

Mary Black Mary Black (born 23 May 1955) is an Irish folk singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both traditional folk and modern material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland. Background Mary Black was born into a m ...

, to be accused during the 1692

mass psychogenic illness Mass psychogenic illness (MPI), also called mass sociogenic illness, mass psychogenic disorder, epidemic hysteria or mass hysteria, involves the spread of illness symptoms through a population where there is no infectious agent responsible for c ...

in the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Eng ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Candy Date of birth unknown 17th-century African people American people of Barbadian descent 17th-century American slaves 17th-century American women People acquitted in the Salem witch trials American women slaves People enslaved in Massachusetts