Acknowledgements

All those cited as sources within chapters and the bibliography deserve to be acknowledged. So do all those touched by Connecticut’s witch trials. Though the Puritans lived in a new world, most followed old beliefs. Too many also allowed fear, and the black side of human nature, to guide their actions.

All those approached for information, interviews and insights during the researching and writing of this book were tremendously generous in how they shared their time, resources and expertise. Special recognition to author R.G. Tomlinson for his meticulous and magnificent Witchcraft Prosecution: Chasing the Devil in Connecticut, as well as to Stanley-Whitman House executive director Lisa Johnson, Connecticut state historian Walter Woodward and the gracious staff of the Connecticut State Library’s History and Genealogy Department.

Also unending thanks-yous to my parents, Barbara and Ted Wolfe; my husband, Ted; my sons, Teddy and Steven; my inspiring colleagues in the Writing and Oral Tradition cohort at The Graduate Institute; Tabitha Dulla at The History Press for her equally unending patience; and to my purr-fect writing companion, Coal the cat. If I were a witch, you would be my familiar.