![Woodcut of witches in circle, originally printed in R. B. [Nathaniel Crouch], The kingdom of darkness (London: 1688)](https://blogs.umb.edu/pha/files/2017/03/witches-circle.jpg)
by: Sarah K. Black
Around the year 1650, nearly forty years before the infamous Salem witch trials took place, Alice Lake was accused of practicing witchcraft. A native of Dorchester, MA, Lake stunned the community by claiming that she saw an apparition in the form of her recently deceased infant. As word of Lake’s claim spread, she was officially charged with being a witch and a trial ensued. The court delivered a guilty verdict and she was sent to the gallows.
Woodcut of witches being hanged at gallows originally printed in Sir George Mackenzie, The laws and customes of Scotland (1678). Retrieved from “Bristol Radical History Group.”
Rev. John Hale included some details of Alice’s final moments in his Modest Inquiry Into the Nature of Witchcraft (1702). She refused to confess to witchcraft but accepted her conviction as God’s punishment for her sinful nature. She admitted to partaking in fornication and attempted to abort the resulting fetus to “conceal her sin and shame.”[1]
Cover of Rev. John Hale’s treatise that described the moments before Alice’s execution in his MODEST INQUIRY (1702). Hale is best known for his support of the Salem witch trials.
Hale’s commentary on the incident led me to my research questions: May there have been a connection between Lake’s witchcraft charges and her promiscuity? More importantly, what societal conditions would prompt such a neurotic degree of shame and guilt in a woman years after her fornication incident?
With a very limited source base, only parts of Alice’s story could be reconstructed but through these fragments and reflections I found a broader story to tell. I argue that Alice accepted her impending death as punishment for her crimes because she lived in a society where sexuality was extremely restrictive. Her final moments also reveal a theme in colonial New England witchcraft that scholars may have overlooked or disregarded: sexuality. The erotic component of witchcraft was instrumental in blurring the barrier between “woman” and “witch.” By examining the relationship between sexuality and witchcraft, we can better understand the components of sorcery in Puritan ideology, sexuality in New England society, and why women such as Alice may have solidified their identities as “Handmaidens of the Devil.”[2]
Sarah K. Black sharing her research about Alice Lake–a woman accused of witchcraft in Dorchester, ca. 1650–to a spellbound crowd at Dorchester Historical Society.
On February 19, I had the privilege of sharing my research on Alice Lake at the Dorchester Historical Society. The research was an experience in itself but the opportunity to present at the public forum proved to be the most fruitful. It was my first public presentation in almost a year and by far the largest crowd that I had ever spoken in front of. My professors and peers were extremely supportive and the audience members were very receptive. To move beyond creating history and into actually doing history was an exhilarating moment. Overall, the experience pushed me to step outside my comfort zone, rejuvenated my enthusiasm for the public history program, and reminded me why I chose this career path in the first place.
I knew that calling attention to Dorchester’s only documented witch might generate some interest in our Dorchester history initiative but I was not expecting an audience of about seventy!
Audience at Dorchester Historical Society, Feb. 19, 2017. Many were Dorchester residents eager to hear about their local history.
Although I was extremely nervous about giving the talk, the support of my peers and professors—along with the warm reception from the audience—washed away any anxiety I had. I remain very grateful for the chance to share my research with so many intrigued individuals, especially since the event opened up several more opportunities for me to tell Alice’s story. I was invited by UMass professor Maryann Brink to talk with her freshmen students about my research process and how I applied historical thinking and analysis. I was also contacted by a representative of the Boston Public Library; I will be giving the presentation again on April 24th at the Adams Street Branch.
This experience has given me so much more than I could have hoped for in my first semester at UMass. I strengthened my skillset, met many new and wonderful people, and built up my network—all while researching a topic that I love and learning the importance of local heritage in the process!
Notes
[1] John Hale, “A Modest Inquiry the Nature of Witchcraft,” Enquiry, in Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706, ed. Charles Lincoln Burr (New York: Barnes & Noble Inc., 1946), 408-409, (hereafter cited as Hale, “A Modest Enquiry”).
[2] Cotton Mather, Ornaments for the Daughters of Zion (Cambridge, MA: S.G. & B.G., 1692), quoted in Carol F. Karlsen, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1987), xix.
September 1, 2017 at 11:23 pm
I am a descendant of Alice Lake and wonder if there is any record of her burial.
March 10, 2019 at 5:07 pm
I am also a descendant of Alice Lake. My paternal grandmother was Inez Lake. I have not found any record of her burial.
Many thanks to Ms. Black for her work and for this article.
March 16, 2022 at 3:34 pm
We must be related my grandmother I think had a sister Inez. My grandmother was Ruth.
August 30, 2020 at 8:24 am
That’s my grandmother!
September 3, 2019 at 5:29 pm
I too am a direct descendant of Alice…my paternal grandmother was Eulah May Lake of Nova Scotia. Alice was my 9th great grandmother ♥️
July 19, 2020 at 2:14 pm
I am a decendent of Alice Lake. She is my 9x great grandmother on my matrilineal side. Her daughter Elizabeth (my name also ironically) married into the Butt’s family. She’s my 8x GG. But I’m grateful to see others here who are distant relatives, and appreciate the history and topic as a whole. I wish I knew this when I was taking college courses on Early American Literature, and history. Better late than never. Thanks for all your research, and for publishing it for me to read!
February 9, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Hi Beth, I also am a descendant of her daughter Elizabeth and Innocent Butts.
October 31, 2021 at 3:24 am
Hi!! I am too!! My line is Knowles/benedict.i also descend from hepsibah butts/Earle/Bennett/benedict
March 19, 2024 at 2:33 am
I am related to Alice via the same lineage as you.
March 5, 2021 at 4:56 pm
Hi iam a descendant of alice lake My name is keith lake
March 11, 2021 at 7:50 am
I’m looking into my new daughter-in-law’s family tree. She is related to Alice Lake! Connection is through Hepzibah Butts, Alice’s granddaughter (Thomas and Elizabeth [Lake] Butts are the intervening couple). Coincidentally, my daughter-in-law also has a different branch to a “witch” executed in Salem in 1692. That woman was in her 70’s, widowed twice.
May 18, 2021 at 10:44 pm
Alice & Henry Lake are my 11GG. Their son; David Lake is my 10th GG. He married a second time to Sarah Earl. They are my 10th GG & Sarah’s marriage made her Liza Borden’s 5GG.
February 13, 2022 at 3:20 pm
This line goes down to the Timberlake’s, on my paternal line.
*Sarah Earle first married Thomas Cornell, that is how she became a 5th GGrandparent to Lizzie Borden.
September 10, 2021 at 11:00 am
I am a descendant of Alice Lake through The Butts family also.
October 31, 2021 at 3:26 am
Hi again!! Thanks for sharing this to me!!
October 31, 2021 at 3:31 am
I love all the research.on the day Alice was executed Henry left for Rhode island.elizabeth was taken in by Henry’s brother.the other children were taken in by other villagers.the youngest son died 2 yrs later.they went to Rhode island and met their dad again 20 yrs later
January 13, 2022 at 7:47 pm
Alice was my Maternal 10th Great Grandmother.
June 14, 2022 at 4:17 pm
I just read this research- fascinating. I am a descendant thru the Butts, Borden and Cornell, Clark line. Yes, I am aware of the Lizzy Borden connection.
March 20, 2024 at 10:42 pm
Me too!!
Long family histories, lots of descendants!!