Spirituality

East Hampton reenactors bring Elizabeth Garlick's witchcraft case to life

Hugh King and a group of reenactors brought the story of Elizabeth Garlick, an East Hampton woman accused of witchcraft, to life in an hourlong presentation on Friday, The East Hampton Star reports. The performance revisited the accusations against Garlick and the colonial community in which she lived.

The Star describes Garlick as East Hampton's only alleged 17th-century witch. Greater Long Island reports that her case reached a courtroom in Hartford, Conn., more than three decades before the Salem witch trials.

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A young mother's illness preceded accusations#

The case followed the illness of Elizabeth Howell, the 16-year-old daughter of prominent resident Lion Gardiner, according to The East Hampton Star. Howell had recently given birth to a daughter, also named Elizabeth. From her bed, the young mother accused a witch of tormenting her and said she had been pricked by pins.

Servants said they discovered pins that did not belong to the household, The East Hampton Star reports. Greater Long Island says the young mother blamed a neighbor for tormenting her through witchcraft before her death. Other residents subsequently attributed deaths and misfortunes to Garlick.

The accounts differ on when the events began. The East Hampton Star places the illness in February 1657, while Greater Long Island dates the case to 1658. Northforker also reports that Garlick was accused and tried in 1658.

Garlick's life extended beyond the case#

Environmental historian Tara Ryder told Greater Long Island that Garlick came to the colonies as an indentured servant, a worker bound by a contract, and worked on what is now Gardiner's Island. After her contract ended, she married Joshua Garlick and started a family.

Ryder, a senior lecturer at Stony Brook University, told Greater Long Island that Garlick may still have been seen as an outsider in the community. Ryder also pointed to the changed fortunes of Goody Davis, another woman whose stories featured in the case, and raised the question of whether social standing played a part in the accusations.

The East Hampton Star reports that the Garlicks were later accepted back into the community and acquired land and livestock. Both lived to nearly 100 years, the paper says. According to Greater Long Island, Ryder subsequently used the case in her classroom to explore colonial beliefs and relationships.

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