THIS FILE IS FOR GENEALOGICAL PURPOSES ONLY

Dinah SILVESTER

BIRTH: 2 APR 1642, Weymouth, Norfolk Co., MA
DEATH: AFT 1673

Father: Richard SILVESTER
Mother: Naomi ?

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 _Richard SILVESTER _|
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|--Dinah SILVESTER 
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|_Naomi ? ___________|
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INDEX

Notes

[NI0305] Updated June 13, 2001. Compiled by Howder (www.howderfamily.com) from the following source(s):

(1) Silvester, Albert Henry, "Richard Silvester of Weymouth, Mass., and Some of his Descendants," New England Historical and Genealogical Register volume LXXXV (Boston, MA: 1931), p. 250, 257.

- In March 1660/1 Dinah was "before the court of Plymouth, charged with accusing the wife of William Holmes of witchcraft... action taken at court caused Dinah to retract and apologize..." (page 250).

(2) Deetz, James & Patricia Scott Deetz, "The Times of their Lives; Life, Love, and Death in Plymouth Colony" (W. H. Freeman and Company: New York, NY, 2000), pages 92-95.

- There are only three explicit references to witchcraft in the Plymouth Colony (page 92). In 1661, Dinah Silvester made an accusation against Goodwife Holmes, spouse of William Holmes, claiming to have seen Goodwife Holmes transform into a bear. The Holmes family sued for defamation, Dinah's claim could not be substantiated and she was "sentenced to pay a fine of five pounds sterling to William Holmes, or be publicly whipped" (page 93) or pay only the cost of the lawsuit if she admitted fault, which she did. This source believes that ongoing internal family tensions, conflicts with outsiders, and a general animosity towards Goodwife Holmes may have played contributing factors (pages 93-95).

- Soon after this incident, John Palmer Jr., broke-off his engagement to Dinah Silvester, and paid 20 pounds damage to her. "He was clearly harassed by he Sylvesters over this..." (p.94)

- Dinah faced criminal charges, along with her brother John, when they assaulted a Marshfield constable in the process of arresting their mother in 1666.

- She once again brushed with the law "on a charge of fornication (sex between a man and a single woman)" and later "... Elkanah Johnson of Marshfield was bound to appear before the July 1669 meeting of the court in Plymouth due to a complaint against him 'in reference unto a child layed unto him by Dinah Sylvester. '" (p. 94)