Sarah Osborne
Encyclopedia
Sarah Osborne (c. 1643–May 10, 1692) was one of the first three women to be accused of witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...

 in the Salem witch trials
Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...

 of 1692. Osborne is sometimes referred to as "Goody Osborne", Goody
Goodwife
Goodwife , usually abbreviated Goody, was a polite form of address for women, formerly used where "Mrs.", "Miss" and "Ms." would be used today. Its male counterpart is Goodman...

being short for "Goodwife" and at the time a form of address for old women of lowly social status.

Early life and first marriage

Sarah Osbourne, born Sarah Warren, married a prominent man by the name of Robert Prince. He was the brother of a woman who married into the prominent Putnam
Putnam
Putnam may refer to:People* Putnam Places in Canada* Putnam, Ontario, community in Thames CentrePlaces in the United States* Putnam, Connecticut* Putnam, New York* Putnam, Oklahoma* Putnam, Texas* Putnam Lake, New York...

 family. She moved with her husband to Salem Village in 1662, where the couple had two sons and a daughter: Joseph, James, and Elizabeth. Robert Prince died in 1674, leaving Sarah Prince a widow.

Accusation

Sarah became one of the first persons accused of witchcraft at the beginning of the year 1692, when Betty Parris and Abigail Williams became ill with an unknown sickness. Both girls claimed that Sarah Osbourne, along with the servant Tituba and Sarah Good, had been afflicting them. Elizabeth Hubbard also accused Sarah Osborne for Afflicting her, describing it as her pinching and poking her with knitting needles. All three women were considered social outcasts, albeit for different reasons. Sarah Osbourne had not attended church in almost three years due to a long illness, and was also still dealing with legal issues with the Putnam family. Ann's accusation of Osbourne was most likely the product of powerful suggestions from the Putnam family. The warrant for Sarah Osborne's arrest was written for March 1, 1692. She was to be placed in the Boston jails for the duration of her examinations and trials.

Examination

Sarah Osborne was the second of the original three to be examined before local magistrates, following Sarah Good and preceding Tituba. Although Osborne denied all the accusations against her, it was to no avail. The words of Sarah Good's examination were twisted to accompany the girls' accusations towards her and later Tituba would claim that the three of them were indeed working with the Devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...

.

Osborne was also questioned about her dreams and whether or not she had ever dreamt of Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 (a believed sign of witchcraft and the Devil). Sarah Osborne admitted that she had in fact had a recurring dream about an Indian who would take her by the hair and drag her out of her house.

At one point during the examinations, Osborne presented a defense that could not be challenged nor argued against. It was repeated frequently by others who were later accused. She stated: "I do not know [but] that the devil goes about in my likeness to do any hurt." In other words, she was stating that any use that the Devil made of her image was inherently unknown to her; if the Devil were harming the girls while assuming her appearance, she had no idea of it and could not be held accountable. This statement gave her a chance to be found innocent.

She died in jail on May 10, 1692, before the Court of Oyer and Terminer convened, so she was never indicted or tried.

In popular culture

Goody Osborne is mentioned in the original version of Arthur Miller's
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...

 largely fictional drama The Crucible
The Crucible
The Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...

but does not appear as a character. He added her (along with other characters) into a courtroom scene when he wrote the screenplay for the 1996 film adaptation. In the drama, her name is spelled Osburn.

She was portrayed as a very pathetic character by actress Ruth Maleczech
Ruth Maleczech
Ruth Maleczech is an American avant-garde stage actress, whose most notable role may have been as King Lear, portrayed as an imperious Southern matriarch...

, an impoverished and obviously deranged beggar but also aware that she is in grave danger.

As the evidence does not indicate the historical Sarah Osborne was mentally ill, her movie depiction may be a composite character created of Osborne and Sarah Good
Sarah Good
Sarah Good Born in Salem Village , Massachusetts, was accused of witchcraft in 1692. It has been proved in multiple ways that Sarah Good was falsely accused of witchcraft. She was accused only because of economical and political biases from the families of the accusers...

who was known to mutter and insist she was reciting the Ten Commandments as does the Osborne character in the movie.

Osborne's hanging is also depicted in the film.
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