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All the United States Connecticut Windsor Memorial to Alse Young and Lydia Gilbert

Memorial to Alse Young and Lydia Gilbert

Decades before the Salem Witch Trials, two Connecticut women were executed for alleged witchcraft.

Windsor, Connecticut

Added By
John Meszaros
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Memorial brick to Alse Young.   Johnmeszaros / Atlas Obscura User
Memorial brick to Alse Young.   Johnmeszaros / Atlas Obscura User
A memorial brick to Lydia Gilbert   Johnmeszaros / Atlas Obscura User
A plaque for the Heritage Bricks plaza   Johnmeszaros / Atlas Obscura User
The small Memorial Brick plaza where Alice and Lydia’s memorials can be found.   Johnmeszaros / Atlas Obscura User
  huntberel / Atlas Obscura User
  Calvin the Courageous / Atlas Obscura User
  Calvin the Courageous / Atlas Obscura User
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Though the witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts, are the most well-known, the first executions for witchcraft in the American colonies actually occurred 45 years earlier in Connecticut. Their names were largely forgotten for many years, but a librarian uncovered 17th-century church records that brought these stories to light.

Alse Young, sometimes spelled "Alice," was a resident of Windsor, Connecticut, who had immigrated from England in the 1630s. Records of her life are scarce, and even the reason she was accused of witchcraft isn’t known, though some researchers think she was singled out as the scapegoat for an outbreak of influenza in the area. There are no known records of her trial, but Windsor's church records note that she was executed by hanging on May 26, 1647. (Her daughter, also named Alice, was accused of witchcraft as an adult, though she never went to trial.)

In 2017, Alice Young was exonerated of the witchcraft accusations at the urging of historian Beth Caruso, who formed the group CT Witch Memorial to try to get a monument for Young along with other Connecticut residents accused of witchcraft. Alice Young is currently memorialized on a brick in a park in Windsor’s downtown area. Nearby is a brick memorializing Lydia Gilbert, another woman from the area executed for witchcraft.

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Witches Witchcraft Memorials

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Alice and Lydia's bricks are located in a small plaza in a green area in downtown Windsor. The green lies at the intersection of Central Street and Broad Street near the post office. Parking is available on the street or at the nearby Windsor Public Library.

 

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Added By

Johnmeszaros

Edited By

huntberel, Calvin the Courageous

  • huntberel
  • Calvin the Courageous

Published

October 21, 2022

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Sources
  • https://connecticuthistory.org/alse-young-executed-for-witchcraft-today-in-history-may-26/
  • https://www.wshu.org/podcast/off-the-path-from-new-york-to-boston/2021-10-21/beyond-salem-new-englands-other-witch-hunts-were-in-connecticut
  • https://www.legendsofamerica.com/alse-young-witch/
  • https://www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-taking-note-buchanan-windsor-witches-0324-20190324-mw6ygw65bjc23pkg6uyqr3bfbi-story.html
Memorial to Alse Young and Lydia Gilbert
45 Central St
Windsor, Connecticut, 06095
United States
41.852029, -72.643664
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Ephraim Huit Grave

Windsor, Connecticut

miles away

Vintage Radio and Communications Museum

Windsor, Connecticut

miles away

Matianuck Natural Area Preserve

Bloomfield, Connecticut

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Windsor

Windsor

Connecticut

Places 2

Nearby Places

Ephraim Huit Grave

Windsor, Connecticut

miles away

Vintage Radio and Communications Museum

Windsor, Connecticut

miles away

Matianuck Natural Area Preserve

Bloomfield, Connecticut

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Windsor

Windsor

Connecticut

Places 2

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