Hartford Police Department Witch Trials Limited Edition Halloween Patch 2026

Hartford Police Department Limited Edition Halloween, First in Nation to hold Witch Trials years before Salem Mass. The Limited Patch Set with Historical overview of Hartford's Witch Trials and Locations. Limited to 250 patches. Limited Edition Card, Numbered Patch.

Long before the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692, Hartford, Connecticut, was the center of one of America's earliest witch-hunting episodes.

Between 1647 and 1663, Connecticut authorities prosecuted people accused of witchcraft, often relying on superstition, religious fears, neighborhood disputes, and accusations of supernatural harm.

Connecticut executed seven people for witchcraft, with the first known execution occurring in Hartford in 1647. The Hartford witch panic of 1662–1663 became one of the most significant episodes of colonial witchcraft persecution before Salem.

On May 25, 2023, the Connecticut General Assembly adopted House Joint Resolution 34, absolving the colonial witchcraft victims and apologizing to their descendants.

The four victims of the Hartford Witch Panic

• Mary Sanford, Hartford, executed in 1662.

• Rebecca Greensmith, Hartford, executed in 1663.

• Nathaniel Greensmith, Hartford, executed in 1663.

• Mary Barnes, Farmington, executed in 1663.

A historical injustice finally acknowledged

On May 25, 2023, the Connecticut General Assembly adopted House Joint Resolution 34, absolving the colonial witchcraft victims and apologizing to their descendants.