Background
Sarah Solart was born in Wenham to John and Elizabeth Solart. Her father was prosperous, but she and her sisters never received their inheritance when he died in 1672. Sarah first married Daniel Poole who was a laborer and who died in 1682. Sarah then married William Good. The debt that she had after Daniel died became the responsibility of Willam. Because they could not handle the debt, Sarah and William were "reduced to begging work, food, and shelter from their neighbors" and, in 1692, were homeless.
Sarah was described by the people of Salem as being filthy, bad-tempered, and strangely detached from the rest of the village. She was often associated with the death of residents' livestock and would wander door to door, asking for charity. If the resident refused, Good would walk away muttering under her breath. Although she maintained at the trial that she was only saying the Ten Commandments, those who turned her away would later claim she was chanting curses in revenge. When she was asked to say the Commandments at her trial, she could not recite a single one.
Read more about this topic: Sarah Good
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