Shazam! actor’s relative was accused of being a witch because she was able to float in water with her hands and feet bound.
Zachary Levi’s search for family history with the NBC genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? led to some startling results for the Shazam! star. On Sunday, Levi was taken aback by the news that his paternal 10-times great-grandmother, Elizabeth Clawson, was accused of being a witch in the year 1692, the same year as the Salem witch trials. Standing near the pond where Clawson was ducked in, a heartbroken Levi shared:
“To find out that my 10-times great-grandmother was essentially accused of being a witch is just so mind-blowing and also, like, troubling and sad and surreal. It’s always difficult to try and put yourself into somebody else’s shoes, but 1692, my 10-times great-grandmother gets thrown into this pond, with her hands and feet bound into one another. She knows the gravity of the situation. She understands what happens to someone who’s accused of and convicted of being a witch. I mean, that’s death. I would imagine she was scared and angry and confused. I can imagine being in this spot, being surrounded by a bunch of people that you thought were your friends.”
After a little more digging, Levi and Ann Little, professor of history at Colorado State University, discovered a petition written by Clawson’s husband, Stephen Clawson, and signed by 76 people defending Clawson against the accusations of witchcraft. Little explained:
“The community, in supporting Elizabeth Clawson, was undertaking something of a risk because of the fear of guilt by association to defend an accused witch. And Stephen certainly was taking a risk in soliciting support for his wife. We’ve seen in both England and in New England whereby husbands get accused of witchcraft when trying to defend their wives from the accusation of witchcraft. So, he did something that is very unusual and very brave.”
Who Do You Think You Are? Takes Celebrities on a Journey Into the Past
Though Clawson lived in Fairfield, Connecticut, not Salem, Massachusetts, Levi’s ancestor was still sent to trial, where she could have been executed if found guilty. During the witch trials, women who were accused of witchcraft were ducked, bound hand and foot, and put into water as a way to determine whether the suspect was a witch or not. It was believed that “a pure, good-hearted Christian would sink,” so when she floated, they thought she was a witch. Fortunately, Elizabeth Clawson wasn’t convicted and was set free.
Who Do You Think You Are airs Sundays at 7:00 p.m. EST on NBC.
