Who Was Alse Young?

 

Have you heard of Alse Young? I discovered her when researching my novel Witch Trial Legacy. (Release date Oct. 11, 2021)

Initially, I planned for the heroine to be a descendant of one of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials because I grew up hearing stories about my ancestor, Susannah Martin, who was hanged as a witch there.

However, when I found out about Alse Young, I had to feature her in my story.

Alse was the first person executed for witchcraft in this country in the colony of Connecticut on May 26, 1647 around 45 years before the hysteria in Salem.

Little is known about her. She lived in Windsor and had a daughter also named Alse who was accused of the same crime about 30 years after her mother’s death but never indicted. It was common practice at that time to name daughters after their mothers. Sadly, family members of the people arrested were frequently persecuted as well.

Historians believe Alse’s (the mother) husband was John Young although the only substantiation of this was a notation on the back of an alchemical physician’s note stating Young had been married to a woman who was executed for witchcraft in Hartford.

There is no record of why Alse was denounced or any evidence presented against her. However, there was an outbreak of influenza at the time and many people died. Alse may have been scapegoated by the town’s prominent citizens.

In my novel, Witch Trial Legacy, Alse appears in spirit form to help the heroine break the curse which gives her visions of future tragedies but prevents anyone from believing her when she tries to warn them.

I took some writer’s license with Alse’s story. I made her an attractive, well-to-do widow pursued by a greedy neighbor and changed her daughter’s name to “Truth”. Having mother and daughter characters with the same name could be confusing for readers, and since Puritans often named babies after virtues, I thought “Truth” would be the perfect name for Alse’s daughter. She is the only one who acknowledges the real reasons behind Alse’s execution. She also manipulates the town’s perceptions of reality in order to obtain her revenge.

It’s a shame that Alse and other victims from Connecticut are not better known today. We hear a lot about Salem, but little about other areas. Too many lives were lost due to superstition. I’m hoping to help spread the word so that more people realize the tragic circumstances and commemorate them.

The Windsor town council formally exonerated Alse on February 6, 2017. A memorial service for her was held there on May 26, 2017 and a brick engraved with her name is among the memorial bricks beneath the flag pole near town hall.

Here are a couple of references to learn more about Alse.

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/alse-young-witch/

https://connecticuthistory.org/alse-young-executed-for-witchcraft-today-in-history-may-26/

https://www.jud.ct.gov/lawlib/history/witches.htm

 

Witch Trial Legacy is available for preorder from Amazon and releases everywhere on October 11. Check back here next month for the cover reveal!

https://www.amazon.com/Witch-Trial-Legacy-Cassadaga-Collection-ebook/dp/B0977NF15J/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=witch+trial+legacy&qid=1632239099&s=digital-text&sr=1-3

If you would like more info about me or my books, please visit my website at: http://katherineeddingersmits.weebly.com/ Subscribe to my newsletter, and I’ll send you a free exclusive short story. Newsletters come out once or twice a month and always include contests, freebies, and fun. Unsubscribe any time by clicking at the bottom.

Thanks so much for reading this!

Katherine Eddinger Smits

 

Connecting Branches in the Family Tree

 

Have you traced your ancestry? Discovering our lineage is popular in the U.S. Everyone wants to know where we came from and what our forbears were like. The process is easy. Register with one of the websites or send in a sample of DNA, and in a few weeks, you learn your history.

When I was young, these sites didn’t exist. (Neither did the internet, LOL.) If someone wanted to find out about their predecessors, a genealogy chart was constructed using county records, bibles, and newspaper archives. One of my great uncles developed an interest in researching our clan before I was born. He followed many generations back, compiled all his work into a thick book, made numerous copies, and sent them to all the branches of the family. My mother had one, so I grew up hearing stories about the famous (and infamous) people from our bloodline. When I was old enough, I was allowed to access the book. It’s dry, with fading mimeographed pages and small, arcane symbols, but if read with imagination, the past comes alive.

One of my ancestors was Susannah Martin, who was hanged in Salem in 1692. Another was Cotton Mather, the magistrate who presided over the Salem Witch Trials. When I realized that I am descended from both a woman executed for witchcraft and the judge who sentenced her, my fantasy took flight.

What if this happened to a book protagonist who was a descendant of both accused and accuser? What would she be like? What would make her unique, and what would cause her trouble? What would be the repercussions of the merging of the lines?

The idea became Witch Trial Legacy which releases October 11. The heroine, Sybilla Sanborn, is descended from both the condemned woman and the man who denounced her.

Sybilla has the gift of healing touch from half her heritage. From the other, she receives a curse. She sees visions of future tragedies, but when she tries to warn people, no one will believe her.

Then, she discovers Cassadaga, Florida, home to mediums, psychics, and spiritualists. A medium reveals the source of Sybilla’s problem was transmitted through the generations.

Sybilla must find a way to convince people to heed her warnings.

But when she learns what she will have to do, the cost may be too great.

Everyone has interesting roots. I would love to hear about your antecedents. Respond to this post with a few words about some cool characters from your family tree. Or some terrible ones you wish you weren’t related to.

I’ll pick one person who comments and gift you with a $10.00 Amazon card. C’mon. Brag a little! You know you want to! (Contest closes at midnight July 25, 2021.)

Thank you for joining us on the Pen Dames blog! We appreciate you!

                                                                                                                               

If you would like more info about me or my books, please visit my website at: http://katherineeddingersmits.weebly.com/ Subscribe to my newsletter, and I’ll send you a free short story exclusively for subscribers. Newsletters come out once or twice a month and always include contests, freebies, and fun. Unsubscribe any time by clicking at the bottom of all newsletters.