Approximately 50 years prior to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, Mary Parsons and her husband, Hugh Parsons, were the first people accused of witchcraft in New England, because of the deaths of their three children in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Hugh Parsons was ultimately acquitted. Mary Parsons was sentenced to die by hanging for murdering the three children. She died, insane, in prison before the sentence could be carried out.
For more information you can visit “Women in the Valley – Mary Parsons of Springfield”.
Hampden County History 