The Hex of Hadley: A Tale of Mary Webster and Old Scratch The year was 1684. In the small, struggling settlement of Hadley, Massachusetts, Mary Webster lived a life defined by quiet, often weary, virtue. Her husband had passed three years prior, leaving her with little more than a modest cabin, a few hardy hens, and a deep knowledge of the local flora.  She was poor, and in Puritan society, poverty often signaled a lack of God's enthusiastic favor. Yet, she was pious, diligen