“Witchcraft in East Hampton: A Short Play” by Virginia H. Page (1926-2021), a page of which is seen here, is part of her series of plays about the Gardiner family. It focuses on East Hampton’s 1657 witchcraft trial, known as the Goody Garlick trial. Page’s play is loosely based on historical events that are appropriate for Halloween.
In February 1657, Lion Gardiner’s daughter Elizabeth Gardiner Howell gave birth to a daughter and subsequently became violently ill before dying within a few days, on Feb. 23, 1657. Elizabeth described being pricked with needles during her fevered fits, and her caregivers reported an unidentifiable knocking sound during her illness. In her delirium, she accused Elizabeth Garlick (also called Goody, meaning Goodwife) of torturing her through witchcraft.
In Page’s six pages, she presents fictional dialogue within the Gardiner and Howell families, offering imagined conversations about Howell’s pregnancy, her personal discomfort around Garlick, and the initial joy over the birth of her daughter. The author suggests that a case of personal dislike prompted the confused, feverish accusations that Goody Garlick had tormented Elizabeth Gardiner Howell.
The play includes an angry crowd, almost out of a horror movie, attacking Garlick, demanding her hanging. This doesn’t match with our understanding of events from sources like the town records, in which we see that great consideration prompted the town to refer the case to a more experienced court, which heard the trial on March 19, 1657.
For those interested in learning more about the trial, Loretta Orion’s book “It Were as Well to Please the Devil as Anger Him: Witchcraft in the Founding Days of East Hampton” is an excellent source, providing what is known, including information about Elizabeth Garlick’s reputation within the community, and context to 17th-century witchcraft accusations.
—
This has been updated to eliminate unsupported local lore that Lion Gardiner defended Elizabeth Gardiner, which is not true from what is known. Gardiner went to Connecticut with Garlicks and two other town officials to make sure East Hampton was still under the jurisdiction of Connecticut so they could hold the trial.
