Ann "Goody" Glover (unknown-1688) was hanged for suspected witchcraft in Boston.
Ann "Goody" Glover (unknown-1688) was hanged for suspected witchcraft in Boston.
In honor of the spookiest month, we’re revisiting our favorite Womanica episodes featuring villains, troublemakers, magic, and mystery all October. Join host Jenny Kaplan — with a few special introductions — as she takes you back in time, highlighting women like Sadie the Goat, Marie Laveau, Patricia Krenwinkel and more who were ruthless, vengeful, and mystical. The riveting stories of these women are sure to keep you up at night.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Ale Tejeda, Sara Schleede, and Alex Jhamb Burns. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Aria Goodman, the graphic designer at WMN, and I’m so excited to be introducing this “best of” episode of Womanica.
Today’s episode was originally part of our October 2019 theme, “Witches and Saints.”
She was the last woman to be hanged for witchcraft in Boston – but her trial went on to influence many of the cases of the infamous 1692 Salem witch trials.
Stories of witches are always fascinating, and I found particular attachment to this one as this woman and I share a nickname.
Now here’s host Jenny Kaplan to talk about Ann “Goody” Glover.
Little is known about Ann’s early life. She was born in Ireland and moved to Barbados at some point after Oliver Cromwell’s invasion of Ireland in 1649.
It’s not entirely clear how she got from there to Boston, but by 1680, Anne was living with her daughter Mary in Puritan Boston and working as a housekeeper for a man named John Goodwin.
In the summer of 1688, John’s 13-year-old daughter Martha accused Ann’s daughter of stealing clothes from the family laundry. Ann denied the accusation and ended up in a major fight with the young Goodwin children. During the fight, the Goodwin children started acting strangely, supposedly because of the argument. When the doctor was called in, he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the children so he chalked it up to “witchcraft.”
Ann was quickly arrested and officially charged with witchcraft, a very serious allegation in 1680s Boston where fear of witches ran rampant. The leading accuser in her trial was none other than the Reverend Cotton Mather, who would gain significant infamy for his actions during the Salem Witch Trials a few years later.
During her trial, Ann was unable to answer questions in English, though she apparently understood the language. She was at first accused of speaking “the language of the devil.” When Ann’s accusers finally realized she was speaking Irish, they were able to find an interpreter and continue the trial. Still, her inability to speak English was a mark against her.
Ann was asked to recite the Lord’s Prayer during her trial, which she was able to do in Irish and broken Latin, but not in English. Being unable to say the Lord’s Prayer in English was considered to be the mark of a witch. That belief speaks to the significant anti-Catholic prejudice in Puritan Boston, as most Catholics of the period -- like Ann -- would likely only know the Lord’s Prayer in Latin.
Other evidence supposedly proving Ann’s witchcraft were small doll-like figures found during a search of her home, and an account from Reverend Mather that claimed Ann engaged in trysts with the devil and his minions in her prison cell. Reverend Mather wrote than Ann was “a scandalous old Irishwoman, very poor, a Roman Catholic and obstinate in idolatry.”
Ann was found guilty of witchcraft and hanged on November 16, 1668 in front of a mocking crowd of onlookers. Robert Calef, a Boston merchant who knew Ann, wrote that “Her behavior at her trial was like that of one distracted. They did her cruel. The proof against her was wholly deficient." Ann’s daughter supposedly suffered a mental breakdown as a result of the trial.
In 1988, grappling with the city’s dark history, the Boston City Council officially named November 16th “Goody Glover Day” in honor of Ann.
All month, we’re bringing you the best of villainy, magic, and mystery. Tune in tomorrow for another of our favorite episodes.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!