Background on the Parsons Family
The Parsonses were one of the first families of Northampton; Mary and her husband, Cornet Joseph Parsons, started their family in the newly settled town in 1654. Cornet Joseph Parsons earned his title as a color-bearer in the Hampshire Troop of Horses, and held various positions of merit in the town. In his early career, he earned money and distinction working as a merchant and fur trader for the Pynchon family, and eventually kept the first tavern in Northampton. The Parsonses would eventually become the wealthiest family in Northampton. Their wealth can also be measured in terms of their family size: Mary and Joseph had a total of eleven children, most of whom lived to adulthood.
Going back a bit further in their lives, however, we can learn a few details that may have caused issues for them in Northampton.
Mary Bliss was born in England, probably in 1628, and her family moved to Hartford soon after her birth. After the death of her father, Thomas Bliss, Mary's mother, Margaret, moved the family to Springfield, where the family prospered despite the loss of the father. Mary's brothers were successful in business, and court records indicate that her mother, Margaret, was quite business minded and well able to defend her property in several legal disputes.
Mary Bliss met and married Cornet Joseph Parsons in Hartford in 1646, after which they moved to Springfield; the first Parsons child was born in 1647.
Mary's troubles with witchcraft may have begun during this period, though in a rather unusual way. In May of 1649, another woman named Mary (Lewis) Parsons, married to Hugh Parsons (and apparently no relation to our Mary Parsons) was the defendant in a slander trial brought by the widow Marshfield. William Pynchon heard the case, in which John Matthews and his wife testified that Mary (Lewis) Parsons had spread rumors about the widow being a witch; Mary denied them, but Pynchon found her guilty and sentenced her to be whipped or to pay three pounds to the widow Marshfield.
But the troubles of Mary (Lewis) Parsons of Springfield were not to end here. In 1650, Mary's infant child died. It was said that Mary herself had killed the child, and she was accused of witchcraft. William Pynchon again presided over her case in Springfield, but as such an accusation was beyond his jurisdiction, he sent the case to Boston. The charges of witchcraft were dismissed, but Mary was convicted of the murder of her child, for which she was sentenced to hang. Mary probably died in jail before the sentence was carried out.
During her trial, Mary (Lewis Parsons) accused her husband of witchcraft, and her neighbors were prone to agree with her. Hugh Parsons was eventually indicted for witchcraft in Boston, although he was acquitted shortly thereafter; he never returned to Springfield.
While the Mary (Lewis) Parsons story itself is a tragic one, we also need to consider what effect it may have had on another, younger, Mary (Bliss) Parsons, who was living in the same town and had the exact same name as an accused witch and a murderess. Testimony from later trials indicates that during the time of the Mary (Lewis) Parsons trial, Mary (Bliss) Parsons was known to have fits so severe that her husband locked her up to keep her from leaving the house. Such fits were apparently a common occurrence in young women during witchcraft times; the children of Reverend George Moxon experienced such fits during the same trial. But the fact that Mary (Bliss) Parsons was a grown woman made her look suspicious. In any case, many of those who would eventually go on to testify in Mary (Bliss) Parsons' trial knew her, or knew of her reputation, from the time she lived in Springfield, and she would never be able to dissociate herself from the connection with witchcraft.