Ann Glover, or “Goody” Glover, was known as the last witch who was hanged in Boston. Originally from Ireland, she was deported to Barbados with her husband during Oliver Cromwell’s occupation during the 1650s. Unfortunately, her husband was killed due to unwavering loyalty to his Catholic faith. Now a widow, Ann and her daughter, Mary, traveled from Barbados to Boston, and settled in the North End neighborhood in the 1680s. She was employed by the Goodwin household as a housekeeper, with one of the duties looking after their five children. During the summer of 1688, some of the children fell ill, to which a doctor concluded that witchcraft was the only cause. The oldest child, Martha, concurred, stating that the illness started after a fight with Ann. Cotton Mather, a prominent Puritan minister, sided with the doctor and daughter, which led to Ann’s arrest. During Ann’s interrogation and testimony, while she could understand the English language, she had difficulty speaking it as it was not her first language. She spoke Irish, which many thought was the “devil’s talk.” She was found guilty and ultimately hanged on November 16, 1688. Three hundred years later, the Boston City Council exonerated Ann Glover, and dubbed November 16th as “Goody Glover Day” in her memory.
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The Ghastly Historian 
