Ann Pudeator
woman executed in the Salem witch trials
Ann Pudeator (November 13, 1621 – October 2 [O.S. September 22], 1692) was a wealthy septuagenarian widow who was accused of and convicted of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials in colonial Massachusetts. She was executed by hanging.
Personal life
Ann's maiden name is not known, nor the place of her birth. Thomas Greenslade was her first husband and they had five children (Thomas Jr., Ruth, John, Samuel, and James).
After Thomas' death in 1674, she was hired by Jacob Pudeator to nurse his alcoholic wife, who died in 1675. Ann then married Jacob in 1676. Jacob died in 1682, leaving Ann well-off.
Some have theorized that Ann Pudeator's likely occupation as a nurse and midwife, along with her being a woman of property, made her vulnerable to charges of witchcraft.
Witch trials
When she was accused of witchcraft, the inventory of Goody Pudeator's alleged misdeeds included:
Presenting the Devil's Book to a girl and forcing her to sign it
Bewitchment causing the death of a neighbor's wife
Appearing in spectral form to afflicted girls
Having witchcraft materials in her home, which she claimed was grease for making soap
Torturing with pins
Causing a man to fall out of a tree
Killing her own second husband and his first wife
Turning herself into a bird and flying into her house
Many of these allegations were made by Mary Warren, one of the so-called "afflicted girls". Her other accusers were Ann Putnam Jr., John Best Sr., John Best Jr., and Samuel Pickworth.
“Ann Pudeator” enters the record as woman executed in the Salem witch trials. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Pudeator, woman and executed can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Ann Pudeator” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Pudeator, woman and executed provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4766630. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1621, 1692, 1674 and 1675.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ann Pudeator”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ann Pudeator primary sources, Ann Pudeator archive and Pudeator research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ann Pudeator”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ann Pudeator” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.