Many believe the first known person to have been accused of witchcraft lived in the present-day Northeastern United States, and that is not true. Actually, Joan Wright, or “Jane,” was the first known person to be legally accused.
She is also referred to as “Surry’s Witch” and lived in Elizabeth City (Surry County) in the Virginia Colony. Wright was born sometime around 1526 in England. Joan was a midwife, made medicine with plants, and was even left-handed, which raised suspicions about her. But in 1626, a family in the area refused to have Wright as their midwife, with the baby dying a short time later due to the mother’s breast infection.
Joan Wright was accused of the infant’s death, but it’s believed that she was acquitted despite her admission that she possessed basic knowledge of “witchcraft.”
The formal hearing of Wright is the earliest witchcraft allegation on record against an English settler in any British North American colony
This event in history occurred 66 years before the Salem witch trials.
Written By John G. Clark Jr.