Ancestral witches were one of the key stories spotlighted in last week’s episode of “Who Do You Think You Are” on NBC. The series, which follows celebrities as they explore their family tree, included a story about an ancestress who had been accused of being a witch! Of course, many genealogists are aware of the witchcraft hysteria of early New England, but are stunned to find an ancestor involved in this episode of the country’s history. Well, as part of the research team that worked with Ancestry.com to trace the ancestry, here is “the rest of the story.”

It’s not that uncommon to find an accused witch among an extensive New England ancestry. Over 310 men and women were accused of witchcraft during the 1600s in the British colonies, and they were not all in Salem or in 1692. While Massachusetts was by far the leader (as if that’s something to brag about), witches were accused as far south as Virginia, and in most of the other colonies as well. In fact, eventually, about 43 of them were found guilty and died as a witch, most being executed, but some died in the squalor of the prison.

A few years ago, I had an opportunity to research the accused witches and found much confusion among the various lists in print and on the web. That led to an effort to make an accurate list, based on credible sources, so that all genealogists could readily identify possible witches in their family tree. That article, Witches in Colonial America, is now online with as full a list as possible. It includes the name of the accused witch, birth and death dates (as far as known), the location, the date and the outcome of the accusation. Of course, one of the nice things about having a witch in the family tree is that more information may be available about him or her. So, stop by the list and see how many of your ancestors you can find! And, if you find a credible witch that’s not on our list, send me a note so we can add him or her.

There are also more than 50 names of persons who appear on such witch lists in error; they were never actually accused or are mistakes in older lists. It’s a good place to double check when a name comes up as a witch.

And, don’t forget to tune into NBC for the next episode of the fascinating new series!