Ann "Goody" Glover

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

On November 16, 1688, Irish Catholic Ann "Goody" Glover was hanged as a witch by the Puritans in Boston. Goody was born in Ireland in the first half of the 17th century and came to Massachusetts colony when she, her husband and daughter, like many Irish men and women, were deported from Ireland by Oliver Cromwell. 

She went first to Barbados, where her husband died, then to Boston. She and her daughter found domestic work in Boston, but unlike most other Irish Catholic immigrants of the time, they refused to convert, in spite of the lack of priests or a church to attend. Holding to her religion would prove a fatal mistake for Ann. Soon, she was falsely accused of stealing from her employer, John Goodwin, and was dismissed from his employ.

The "stolen" items were found to have been misplaced, but the downward spiral of Ann Glover's life was set in motion. When Goodwin's four children began acting "strangely" after Ann departed, no one doubted the cause: witchcraft. 

Who then was the witch? 

Certainly an Irish Papist with a possible grudge against the Goodwins was first on the list. Glover spoke only Irish, no doubt another reason she was looked on with suspicion. She was interrogated by the Reverend Cotton Mather, of later Salem Witch Trial infamy, using translators whose actual knowledge of the language we can only speculate. It was no surprise that Mather claimed Annie Glover had confessed she was a witch. 

Though no other confessed-witch had ever been hanged at the time, Mather condemned Ann Glover to death. On November 16, 1688, Ann Glover was hanged in Boston, for, in all likelihood, the misfortune of being a resolute Irish-speaking Catholic in Puritan New England. 

On November 16, 1988, the Boston City Council took note of the injustice done to Ann Glover 300 years ago by proclaiming that day "Goody Glover Day" and condemning what had been done. 

Read more about this week in the history of the Irish here:
http://thewildgeese.com/…/this-week-in-the-history-of-the-i…