Massachusetts Woman Pardoned After Being Convicted of Witchcraft in 1693

A woman convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to death in Salem, Massachusetts in 1693 has been pardoned.

On Thursday, the state legislature voted to exonerate Elizabeth Johnson Jr., who was tried and found guilty of being a witch amid the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials.

She is the last “witch” to be officially cleared.

Nineteen people from Salem and neighboring towns were hanged and one man was pressed to death after teenage girls claimed to have seen them engage in sorcery. Because Salem Village was run by theocratic nutjobs, the girls’ claims were deemed credible.

Johnson, who was 22 at the time, was spared execution when Gov. William Phips voided her punishment after realizing Salem was run by idiots.

“We will never be able to change what happened to victims like Elizabeth but at the very least can set the record straight,” said state Sen. Diana DiZoglio, who tacked the pardon onto a budget bill, which passed.

The measure passed after a months-long lobbying effort by a group of high school students from North Andover. While all others convicted of witchcraft had been exonerated, Johnson somehow managed to slip through the cracks over the years.

As the Associated Press reported,

In the 328 years that have ensued, dozens of suspects officially were cleared, including Johnson’s own mother, the daughter of a minister whose conviction eventually was reversed. But for some reason, Johnson’s name wasn’t included in various legislative attempts to set the record straight.

Johnson could not be reached for comment, though she is presumably super stoked about it.