On the Nineteenth day of March last I went to Salem Village and lodged...near the Minister Mr. P's House, and presently after I came into my Lodging Capt. Walcott's Daughter Mary came to Lieut. [?] and spake to me, but suddenly after, as she stood by the Door, she was bitten, so that she cried out at her Wrist, and looking on it with a Candle , we saw apparently the marks of Teeth, both upper and lower set, on each side of her Wrist.  
—From  "A further account of the tryals of the New-England witches : with the observations of a person who was upon the place several days when the..." by Increase Mather, available in the Sabin Americana database.

Accusations, trials, and executions of "witches" were prevalent between the 16th and 18th centuries. Perhaps the most famous account of witches, at least within American folklore, are the Salem Witch Trials. This event, which occurred in Salem Village, Massachusetts from February 1692 to March 1693, has been reimagined and recreated in many forms. There have been plays, films, podcasts, and multiple books providing historical as well as creative accounts of the trials. If you are truly fascinated with colonial and pre-colonial era witch hunts, look no further than The New York Public Library's online resources. Many of our databases have digitized firsthand accounts of these infamous investigations and trials.

Before the events at Salem Village, Europe thoroughly documented multiple firsthand accounts of witch trials, providing illustrations as further documentation of these happenings. One example is a work from the Early English Books Online database called, The apprehension and confession of three notorious witches. Arreigned and by iustice condemned and executed at Chelmes-forde, in the Countye of Essex, the 5. day of Iulye, last past. In 1589, this anonymous author documents the story of three women who would eventually be executed as witches. The author provides detailed accounts and commentary of their alleged spell-casting and shape-shifting existence, which led to their capture and prosecution.

At one point, the trial and execution of accused witches was so rampant that authors dispensed with the individual accounts and began to publish collections. This work, found in the Eighteenth Century Collections Online database, is written in four parts: including a complete history of magic, sorcery, and witchcraft; accounts of encounters with those that practice the dark arts;  true accounts of witch trials; and arguments of why these products of dark magic may actually not exist. 

Online collections of rare printed materials such as Sabin Americana, Early English Books Online, and Eighteenth Collections Online are great places to read hundreds of firsthand accounts of actual witch trials. However, historical newspaper collections are also an excellent resource. For example, in the African American Newspapers: The 19th Century database you can read published diary entries of residents caught in the middle of their town's witch frenzy. Take a look at the beginning of the fascinating account of Mary Smith from 1678 published in The National Era newspaper.

You can explore these items and much more with NYPL's online resources. Many of these resources are available from home with a valid New York Public Library card and PIN number. To learn more explore this guide of the New York Public Library's electronic resources!

Resources

Anon .The apprehension and confession of three notorious witches. Arreigned and by iustice condemned and executed at Chelmes-forde, in the Countye of Essex, the 5. day of Iulye, last past. 1589 Date: 1589 Reel position: STC / 952:19
Early English Books Online. 12 October 2018.

Boulton, Richard. A compleat history of magick, Sorcery, and witchcraft; containing, I. The most Authentick and best attested relations of Magicians, Sorcerers, Witches, Apparitions, Spectres, Ghosts, Daemons, and other preternatural Appearances. II. A Collection of several very scarce and valuable tryals of Witches, particularly that famous one, of the witches of Warboyse. III. An Account of the first Rise of Magicians and Witches; shewing the Contracts they make with the Devil, and what Methods they take to accomplish their Infernal Designs. IV. A full Confutation of all the Arguments that have ever been produced against the Belief of Apparitions, Witches, &c. with a Judgment concerning Spirits, by the late Learned Mr. John Locke. ... Vol. Volume 1. London,  [1715]-16. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale. New York Public Library. 15 Oct. 2018.

Librizzi, Marcus, and Marcus LiBrizzi. "Salem Witch Trials." Conspiracy Theories in American History, edited by Peter Knight, ABC-CLIO, 1st edition, 2003. Credo Reference. 15 October 2018.

Mather, Increase. A further account of the tryals of the New-England witches : with the observations of a person who was upon the place several days when the ... London, 1693. 59pp. Sabin Americana. Gale, Cengage Learning.  12 October 2018.

Smith, Margaret. Stray Leaves Margaret Smith's Diary in the Colony of Massachusetts. The National Era. 3 August 1848. African American Newspapers: 19th Century. 12 October 2018.