In 1775 the most prominent representatives of the Pennsylvania interests, in addition to General Arthur St. Clair, were Colonel John Proctor and Colonel Archibald Lochry, who lived near the Forbes Road, west of Chestnut Ridge; Robert Hanna and Michael Huffnagle, of Hannastown; James Cavet and Christopher Hays, of Sewickley; John Ormsby, Devereux Smith and Aeneas Mackay, traders and storekeepers at Pittsburgh; Edward Cook, near Redstone, and George Wilson, whose plantation was in the very heart of the Virginia sympathizers, on the Monongahela at the mouth of George’s Creek.
Early Days of Witchcraft in Pennsylvania—Two
Women on Trial February 27, 1683
The most conspicuous of the early provincial tribunals and by far the best known to the present-day reader was the Provincial Council. Its duties were at once executive, legislative and judicial.
The judicial functions discharged by the members of the Council were both interesting and important, and the volume of such business was very great. Its members were regarded by all classes as the supreme judges of the land.
The trial of Margaret Mattson, which took place on February 27, 1683, before William Penn himself, is of great interest, both on account of the peculiarity of the accusation and the notoriety it has acquired as illustrating the temper of our ancestors.
The records of the early Provincial Council contain this item:
“1683, 7th, 12th mo., Margaret Mattson and Yethro Hendrickson were examined and about to be proved witches; whereupon this board ordered that Neels Mattson should enter into a recognizance of fifty pounds for his wife’s appearance before this board on the 27th instant. Hendrick Jacobson doth the same for his wife.”
“27th of the 12th mo. Margaret Mattson’s indictment was read, and she pleads not guilty, and will be tryed by ye country.”