This Day In History: May 26, 1647 On May 26, 1647, Alse Young of Windsor, Connecticut had the dubious distinction of becoming the first person to be executed for the crime of witchcraft in the American colonies. In the newly formed New England colonies, witchcraft was considered a capital crime by the Puritans (no big surprise there), and before 1662 … Continue reading This Day in History: May 26th