The examination of Martha Carrier

Judges examined Martha Carrier on 31 May 1692 over a witchcraft accusation in Salem Village. This was a preliminary hearing, and the accusing girls fell to the floor when she entered, according to Wikipedia.

On 31 May 1692, Martha Carrier faced an examination on a charge of witchcraft. The History of Massachusetts blog says the judges were John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin and Ingersoll's Tavern in the village of Salem was the venue. Wikipedia calls the day the start of her trial and says the judges also included Bartholomew Gedney. It places the hearing at the Salem Village Meeting House. The hearing was an examination before any trial.

Wikipedia reports that when Carrier entered the room, the accusing girls fell to the floor, writhing and crying out in agony. The Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive at the University of Virginia holds a written statement from the case file, in which an accuser says Carrier bit and pinched them and threatened to cut their throat.

The History of Massachusetts blog also quotes Mather, who wrote that confessions by witches, her own children among them, said the Devil had pledged her the title of Queen of Hell. That is Mather's account of what others confessed.