Betty Parris

Elizabeth "Betty" Parris (November 28, 1682 – March 21, 1760) was one of the young women who accused other people of being witches during the Salem witch trials. The accusations made by Betty (Elizabeth) and her cousin Abigail caused the direct death of 20 Salem residents: 19 were hanged (mostly women) and one man was pressed to death.

Her father, Samuel Parris, was a well-known minister in the Salem Church. Her mother, Elizabeth Parris, died a few years after the witch trials. Her older brother Thomas Parris was born in 1681, and her younger sister Susannah Parris was born in 1687. Others living in the Parris household included Betty's orphaned cousin, Abigail Williams, and Tituba, a slave from Barbados.

Her father was appointed minister for Salem Church in 1688 following a community effort to find a new minister. Wife Elizabeth, daughter Betty son Thomas daughter Sussanah, Abigail Williams, and Tituba all moved from Boston to join Parris in Salem. By contract, Parris and his family were granted to live in the ministry house and owned the land around it. The house accommodated the whole Parris family including Abigail, Tituba, and another slave by the name of John. According to A Quest for Security (page 83).

In 1692, the Salem Witch Trials broke out after several girls claimed to be targeted by a 'devilish' hand. After several months, over 150 men, women, and children were charged with witchcraft and sorcery. The Trials were diminishing around September 1692 when the public began to resist the idea of witchcraft. Eventually, the Massachusetts General Court granted freedom to all those accused of sorcery and apologized to their families for the hardships created from the Salem Witch Trials.

Shortly after Samuel's affairs with the church in 1692, his daughter Elizabeth Parris and niece Abigail Williams seemed to go missing for short periods of time. "...along with other New England youth, '[Elizabeth and Abigail] had been led away with little Sorceries" (105). Elizabeth, Abigail, and the girls attempted fortune-telling methods during their missing periods in hopes of discovering future husbands and social statuses. They used an object called a "venus glass", which allowed them to observe the shape of an egg white as it floated in a glass of water. In the water, the egg white would resemble a shape or symbol depicting their futures.In one instance, a girl found a coffin shape inside her glass and became quite frightened after the incident according to John Hale's A Modest Enquiry Into the Nature of Witchcraft.

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