 Besides the theology espoused by their religious leaders , the people of Plymouth Colony had a strong belief in the supernatural . Richard Greenham was a Puritan theologian whose works were known to the Plymouth residents , and he counseled extensively against turning to magic or wizardry to solve problems . The Pilgrims saw Satan 's work in nearly every calamity that befell them ; the dark magical arts were very real and present for them . They believed in the presence of malevolent spirits who brought misfortune to people . For example , in 1660 , a court inquest into the drowning death of Jeremiah Burroughs determined that a possessed canoe was to blame . Massachusetts Bay Colony experienced an outbreak of witchcraft scares in the 17th century , but there is little evidence that Plymouth was engulfed in anything similar . Witchcraft was listed as a capital crime in the 1636 codification of the laws by the Plymouth General Court , but there were no actual convictions of witches in Plymouth Colony . The court records only show two formal accusations of witchcraft . The first , of Goodwife Holmes in 1661 , never went to trial . The second , of Mary Ingram in 1677 , resulted in trial and acquittal . 
