Edward’s Pond

Edward’s Pond. Would You Sink or Swim in Edward's Pond? , . , This shallow depression in the middle of the Green was once a local landmark called Edward's Pond. The town filled in the pond around 1869, with the condition that no buildings be erected so the land would remain part of this public space in perpetuity. , Although small, this body of water has an intriguing past. In 1692, while the Salem witch trials took place in Massachusetts, six women in Fairfield County were publicly accused of witchcraft, a crime punishable by death. , A year earlier Catherine Branch accused several women of bewitching her, including Mercy Disborough of Compo (now Westport). Hoping to prove her innocence, Mercy asked "to be tryed by being cast into ye water." Both Mercy and Elizabeth Clawson of Stamford, who had also been labeled a witch, were taken to this pond, bound hand to foot and pushed into the water. , At that time it was believed that a witch would float. Witnesses testified that both women "put into the water swam like a cork." Despite the outcome, neither woman was executed as the jury did not agree on a verdict. , ( Photo captions ) , Howard Pyle, "Arresting a Witch, "Harpers New Monthly Magazine, 1883. The illustration shows a woman being arrested for witchcraft. Since no images of the accused women survive from the 1600s, in the 19th century these victims were often depicted as "old hags." , This detail of a 1779 property map of the town's central four squares, shows a much larger Edward's Pond., Later in the 1800s, Edward's Pond was called "Academy Pond," because it was a popular place for students from nearby Fairfield Academy to gather, swim and skate.