When most people think of Boston between its founding in 1630 and the height of the American Revolution, they probably imagine a procession of Puritan ministers in black followed by patriots like Paul Revere on horseback. In his new book, D. Brenton Simons will change a few minds and shock a few others. Witches, Rakes, and Rogues: True Stories of Scam, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in Boston, 1630-1775 demonstrates convincingly that the narrow, twisting streets of colonial Boston were crawling with murderers, con men, and other blackguards. Bostonians may have been prayerful, but they were also prurient and violent.

While the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 are well-known to the public, few people realize that colonial Boston experienced a number of witchcraft episodes throughout the seventh-century. Four local women, Ann Hibbins, Margaret Jones, Alice Lake, and Mary Glover were---in separate cases---tried, convicted, and executed for the crime of witchcraft. Other women were charged with witchcraft and several narrowly escaped punishment. Even less known today are tales of "diabolical possession" which plagued the town in its first hundred years. In 1693, for example, a group of reputable Bostonians swore that they had witnessed a young woman, Margaret Rule, levitate in midair during the throes of a satanic encounter.

By digging deep into the city's records, Simons also reveals a veritable rogues' gallery, and even uncovers the truth about Boston's first documented serial murder in "Murder by Arsenic: The Ill-Fated Greenleaf Children." He gives colorful accounts of brazen imposters who came to town with almost unbelievable plots to swindle or seduce unwitting town folk. In separate incidents in 1699, three men arrived in Boston pretending to be ministers, only to be unmasked as con men. Some of the town's most daring crimes were committed by women. In 1762 Miriam Fitch attempted to swindle---and possibly kill---three of the town's leading merchants by promising to direct them to a horde of gold coins. Instead, she trapped them in the basement of a mill as a menacing tide flooded the dark compartment.