History is messy. We like to think of the Salem Witch Trials as this contained, tragic event where everyone caught in the net either died on a gallows or rotted in a cell until the governor finally grew a conscience. But that’s not quite how it went down. When people talk about Salem 1692 they missed one, they’re usually hunting for that shred of defiance—the person who didn't just sit there and take it.
The truth is actually weirder.
Most people can name Abigail Williams or John Proctor. They know about the "afflicted" girls twisting on the floor of the meeting house. But the records from that brutal year show that the legal system in colonial Massachusetts was surprisingly porous if you had enough money, enough connections, or just enough sheer audacity to run. While nineteen people were hanged and one was pressed to death under heavy stones, there were others who simply vanished from their cells. They broke the rules of the tragedy.
The Escape Artists of Essex County
It's a common misconception that once you were accused in 1692, you were basically a ghost walking. Not true.
Take the case of Philip English. He was probably the wealthiest man in Salem, a merchant with a massive house and a fleet of ships. When he and his wife Mary were accused of witchcraft, they didn't just wait for the noose. They used their status. After being moved to a jail in Boston—which was slightly less hellish than the Salem dungeons—they literally walked out. With the help of some well-placed friends and likely a few bribes to the jailer, they fled to New York.
They weren't "missed" by the accusers; they were missed by the executioner.
New York’s Governor Fletcher actually protected them. It’s wild to think about. While Sarah Good was being told she’d have "blood to drink," the Englishes were waiting out the hysteria in comfort, eventually returning to Salem once the madness cooled off to demand their property back. Most people forget that the trials weren't just about religious fanaticism. They were about land, power, and who could afford to escape.
🔗 Read more: God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise: The True Story Behind the Phrase Most People Get Wrong
Why some names disappeared from the ledger
Ever wonder why some arrest warrants just... stopped?
The "missing" ones often fall into the category of the "unnamed." During the height of the panic in late summer, the accusations started flying toward people of higher social standing. This was the turning point. When the spectral evidence started pointing at the wives of prominent ministers and wealthy businessmen, the legal machinery began to grind gears.
There’s a specific kind of person people refer to when they say Salem 1692 they missed one. They are talking about the ones who saw the writing on the wall and bolted into the woods. Daniel Andrew was one. He was a local leader, a bricklayer, and an educated man. When he was named, he didn't show up for his examination. He vanished into the wilderness, likely hiding out in the outer settlements or heading toward the Piscataqua River.
He stayed gone until the "Oyer and Terminer" court was dissolved. He survived because he refused to play the game.
The "One" Who Survived the Noose
Then there’s the story of Elizabeth Proctor. She’s often the "one" people think the system missed, though not for lack of trying.
Elizabeth was scheduled to hang alongside her husband, John. The only reason she didn't? She was pregnant. The law at the time wouldn't allow the execution of an unborn child—a rare moment of colonial mercy, even if it was technically just a legal delay. By the time she gave birth, the hysteria had broken. The court was gone. She was reprieved, though she emerged from jail to find her home looted and her husband dead.
💡 You might also like: Kiko Japanese Restaurant Plantation: Why This Local Spot Still Wins the Sushi Game
Honestly, the "missing" part of the Salem story isn't about ghosts. It’s about the failure of the court to account for human resilience.
- Bribery was rampant. If you had silver, your cell door might accidentally stay unlatched.
- Geography was a shield. The Massachusetts frontier was vast. If you could make it to the New Hampshire border, the Salem warrants carried very little weight.
- The "Specter" problem. Once the "afflicted" girls started naming the wrong people—people too powerful to be witches—the whole thing collapsed under its own absurdity.
The case of Mary Bradbury
Mary was over 70 years old. She was convicted, sentenced to die, and yet... she never made it to the gallows.
Her friends and family managed to spirit her away. We don't have a cinematic diary entry describing the midnight breakout, but we know she wasn't executed and eventually reappeared after the "witchcraft" brand was lifted. She is a prime example of the Salem 1692 they missed one narrative. The community, or at least a brave subset of it, simply decided they wouldn't let an old woman be murdered for a lie.
It makes you realize that Salem wasn't a monolith. Not everyone was screaming "witch." Some were quietly sharpening saws or greasing hinges to get their neighbors out of harm's way.
The legal loophole that saved dozens
By October 1692, things changed. Increase Mather, a hugely influential minister, famously said, "It were better that ten suspected witches should escape, than that one innocent person should be condemned."
This shift in thought is why "they missed" so many toward the end. The use of spectral evidence—the idea that a witch’s spirit could leave their body to pinch a child—was finally banned. Without that, the cases fell apart. Dozens of people still in jail were suddenly "missed" by the hangman because the rules of evidence changed overnight.
📖 Related: Green Emerald Day Massage: Why Your Body Actually Needs This Specific Therapy
If you were accused in May, you were likely dead. If you were accused in September, you had a fighting chance.
What most people get wrong about the "missing" victims
We often think the trials ended because people realized witches weren't real. They didn't. Most people in 1692 still absolutely believed in the devil and his handiwork.
They just stopped believing that the court could accurately find them.
The "one they missed" isn't a single person; it's a category of survivors who navigated a broken system. Some, like Tituba, the enslaved woman who was one of the first accused, survived because she confessed and stayed in jail. She was eventually sold to a new master and disappeared from the Salem records entirely. Her story is a different kind of "missing"—a person erased by the very history that used her as a catalyst.
Real Actions for History Buffs
If you're looking to find the "ones they missed" or want to dive deeper into the actual primary sources of 1692, you have to move past the tourist plaques.
- Scour the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive. This is a project by the University of Virginia. It has the actual transcriptions of the warrants. Look for the "Return" section on the back of the warrants. If it doesn't say "executed," you’ve found a survivor.
- Visit the Rebecca Nurse Homestead in Danvers. Most people go to the "Witch Museum" in Salem, which is a bit kitschy. The Nurse Homestead is the actual site. You can see the boundary lines where families would have had to flee to escape the local constables.
- Study the "Petition for Reversal of Attainder." In 1711, the colony finally tried to make things right by paying off the survivors. Reading the list of names who claimed damages is the best way to see who actually made it through the fire.
The real story of Salem 1692 they missed one is that the "one" is actually a collection of rebels, fugitives, and lucky survivors. They remind us that even in the middle of a total societal breakdown, there are always people who find a way to slip through the cracks. They didn't just wait for history to happen to them. They ran, they hid, and they lived to see the madness end.
Check the 1711 payouts. Look for the names that don't appear on the memorial stones in central Salem. That’s where the real survivors are hiding.
Next Steps for Researching Salem Survivors:
First, access the Massachusetts Archives Collection, Volume 135, which contains the original petitions from survivors and their families. This primary source reveals the specific financial and social costs paid by those who weren't executed but were "missed" by history for centuries. Second, cross-reference the 1692 arrest warrants with the 1711 Act to Reverse the Attainder to identify individuals who successfully evaded capture or survived imprisonment. This process provides a factual, data-driven look at the actual survival rate of the trials beyond the famous nineteen victims.