While a single young woman,
Katherine Harrison worked as a servant to Captain John Cullick of
Hartford. She enjoyed telling the other servants their fortunes
after having read a book on the
subject
and one of her fortunes concerning whom one of the servants would
marry came true.
Later in life Katherine married
John Harrison, the Wethersfield town crier, and had three daughters.
Her husband died in August of 1666, and she was left to raise her
children and farm the land. She was not well liked by her neighbors
and suffered various forms of harassment by them.
On October 12, 1669 she was
brought before a jury and found guilty of witchcraft. Despite the
guilty finding the court was hesitant to have her executed. It
called on a panel of ministers for advice on establishing rules of
evidence and to formulate procedures that made it much more
difficult to convict someone of witchcraft.
In the end Katherine was released
with the understanding that she leave Wethersfield for her own
safety and to appease her neighbors. Katherine went on to live in
Westchester, New York.
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