History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 141

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672

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The details of these strange doings, of which the foregoing is but a generalization, are still more mys- terious and unaccountable. Mrs. Abigail Faulkner, a daughter of Rev. Mr. Dane, the senior pastor of the church, who for forty-three years had ministered to the people, was accused of being a witch. She was a well-educated, beneficent, most estimable and pious woman. Her two little girls, Dorothy and Abigail, were also accused with her of the same terrible crime. They were arrested, and mother and children were taken to Salem and cast into the common jail.

To Joseph Ballard, a resident in the southcasterly section of the South Parish, near Ballard Vale, belongs the nuenviable notoriety of first introducing this pes- ulent frenzy into the town-early in 1692. The wife of Mr Ballard had been for a long time afflicted with a disease which had baffled the skill of all her physi- ciaos. The account of the marvelous powers of cer- tain girls in Salem Village for detecting the causes of dicas and applying an effectual remedy came to When brought before the examiners, Mrs. Faulkner was urged to make confession of her crime-confession, being received by them as evidence of penitence, served to palliate the offence and modify the sentence. This she modestly but firmly refused to do. She would not admit, however much pressed, that she was The cars of this helpless family. Mr. Ballard, in his de pour, sought the aid of these wonderful girls in be ledf et b atlicted wife. Two of them came to his house. From thenye they were taken to the meeting- house An escital er and filled the house, drawn by dirty to sce und licar these wonder-working and | in league with Satan, or had consciously anything to

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do with the suffering of the afflicted. Under the re- peated urgency of her examiners, who assumed her guilt, she so far yielded as to admit that possibly the devil might be working through her to aflliet others. though without her knowledge or consent. She further admitted that, when made almost frantic by the terrible accusations, she had " pinched her hands together " in her agony. It was charged that by this pinching of her hands she had consciously tortured her victims. Admitting the possibility that the clinching of her hands might have occasioned suffer- ing, she stoutly maintained that she had no conscious connection with it, but that it was solely the work of the devil, acting through her without her knowledge or consent. That she did not shed tears at sight of the writhings of the afflicted was taken by the magistrat( as evidence of her guilt.

The witnesses brought to substantiate the accusa- tions were, first, Joseph Tyler, Martha Tyler, Johanna Tyler and Sarah Wilson, who confessed that they were witches, but were made such by Abigail Faulkner; and, further, some seven or eight persons from Salem and vicinity were brought forward, who each and all testified that they had been tortured by her.

But the closing act in the tragic trial of this sorely afflicted woman was the bringing forward of her two little girls (one eight, the other ten years of age) as wit- nesses against their mother. Under the influence of the excitement in which they breathed, and the universal opinion of those around them, and the leading ques- tions of their examiners, who seem to have had no doubt at all as to the guilt of the accused, they testi- fied that they were themselves witches, made such by their own mother.

With this kind of evidence-" spectre evidence," it was called-this worthy woman and loving mother was condemned to death. Through the exertions of her father and other influential friends she received a reprieve, and after lingering for thirteen weeks of in- tolerable mental and physical suffering in a felon's prison, she was set free, not by a reversal of judg- ment, but by the general "jail delivery," brough! about by a reaction from the frenzy which for a year had ravaged the country.

Elizabeth Johnson, another daughter of Rev. Mr. Dane, was tried on similar charges to those brought against her sister, Mrs. Faulkner. After five months" imprisonment she was acquitted, but her danghter Elizabeth was con demned and her daughter Abigail and her son Stephen, thirteen years of age, were ac- cused and imprisoned five weeks. This daughter Eliza- beth, who was said, by her grandfather, to be " but simplish at y@ best," made the extraordinary confession that, at the persuasion of Good-wife Carrier, she had been baptized in her well by the devil, who had " dipt her head over in water ; " had been at a witch meeting and seen bread and wine at the devil's sacra- ment, and had atflicted many persons by puppets.

Her free confession to the examiners should have saved her from condemnation.

Her brother Stephen, a lad of thirteen, was charged in the indietment with having "wickedly, mali- tiously & feloniously, with the devil made a cove- nant, wherebye he gave himself, soule and body, to the devil, and signed the Devil's Booke with his blood, and by the devil was baptized, and renounced his Christian baptism, by which wicked and Diabolical covenant with the devil made, the said Stephen Johnson is bound a detestable witch." This severe indictment of a mere boy, the child of one of the most respectable families in the town, is a fair specimen of the charges brought against the various accused persons, and upon which some of them were con- demned and hanged. The magistrates accepted the "spectre evidence " offered by the " afflicted," also the confessions of the accused, as proof positive of guilt. It fared hard with the accused when they fearlessly and persistently denied the allegation of complicity with the devil, and participation in inflicting pains and damage upon their accusers.

Samuel Wardwell, a carpenter by trade, an eccen- tric man, given to palmistry and fortune-telling, and not averse to prophesying a little on occasion, was accused of having tormented and tortured one Martha Sprague, of Boxford, by wicked arts, aud also of hav- ing made a covenant with the devil some twenty years before, by which he promised to honor, wor- ship and believe the devil, contrary to the statute of King James the First in that behalf. After much persuasion, and in the hope of saving his lite, and, perchance, with some faint suspicion that it might be true, to a certain extent, he made a confession of guilt. But, very soon, he recanted and declared his in- nocence, saying that in his confession he had "belyed himself," and woukl hold to the truth of his recanta- tion, though it shouldl cost him his life. And it did cost him his life. He was one of the three from Andover who were hanged.

Ann Foster was another who suffered the same fate. She was an aged woman, ot little strength of mind, sincerely religious, and susceptible to the in- Huences and persuasions of her neighbors. When accused of witchcraft, and confronted by the magis- trates, who fully believed in her guilt, and urged by them and her trusted friends, who believed with the magistrates, she also concluded that she was in reality in leagne with Satan. She was examined four times and confessed that she had bewitched a hog, caused the death of a child, made another child sick, and finally had hurt one Timothy Swan by making rag images or puppets of him, and sticking pins in these puppets. She also confessed to having attended witch meetings in Salem, at which she met the Rey. George Burroughs and another minister with gray hair, who was understood to be Rev. Mr. Dane. A poor, old, broken-down, pious woman, she was in a condition to confess anything her accusers and ex-

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

aminer- desired. Her daughter, who was among the accused, and had confessed, appeared as a witness against her, charging that she herself had been made a witch through her mother's agency. Nothing could persuade or compel the aged mother to con fess this diabolical crime. On account of her contumaey in this instance, all her previous and numerous and astounding confessions passed for nothing, and she was adjudged a persistent witch and condemned to death. But a merciful Providence permitted her to die in jail before the day of execu- tion came.

The most marked case of all which Andover fur- nished in these trials was that of Martha Carrier. She was the wife of Thomas Carrier, a Welshman by birth. Thomas seems to have been a good-natured, even-tempered, shiftless sort of man, who took lite easy, and left the affairs of the family and farm mainly to the care of his wife. He lived to be one hundred and nine years old, notwithstanding his troubles. Martha Carrier was in most respects the op- posite of her husband. She was energetic, stirring, plucky, quick-tempered, easily angered and at times violent in speech ; above all, she was a strong-mind- ed woman, who had the courage to speak as she thought and felt. Thus, when others with weaker minds and more submissive natures yielded to the entreaties of husbands and friends, and confessed crimes of which they were not guilty, no amount of persuasion, entreaty or threatening could induce her to criminale herself unjustly, or to retract a word which she had spoken in defense. The badgering of the examiners, who would have forced a confession from her lips, fell powerless upon her.

The Carrier family, on coming to town, were not made welcome by its officers or citizens. They were not considered desirable inhabitants ; their neighbors did not favor their society. Under these circum- stances, it was but natural that when, in the fury of a frenzy, women and children in large numbers were being accused of witeberaft, Martha Carrier and her children should fall under suspicion and accusation. As manager of affairs, she had, previous to this, had a business controversy about some land with Ben- jamin Abbot, in which she did some sharp scolding and severe threatening, among other things saying, that she would " stick to him as close as the bark of a trop" Soon after this Mr. Abbot had a swelling hon his but and an nleerons sore upon his side, and believed that Martha Carrier was the cause of these troubles. To confirm this belief, it only needed the he should bezm " to mend and grow better" host the day that she was removed to Salem .lail. Boiles the Aodessey sufferers from the machinations Di Mir ha carrier, there were certain Salem girls, as nome other Allover cases, who appeared before he examiners and chargel her with inflicting Corta mon Them. It was on this account that, plants are against her by two Salem

men, and a warrant issued for her arrest. When she was brought up for examination before her accusers, five women and children from Salem appeared and testified that they were " hurt" hy "Goody Carrier." As the examination proceeded, the scene hecame tragic. It was held in the meeting-house, which was crowded with excited people. When the accused woman looked into the faces of her acensers, they were "seized with fits," and "fell into the most intolerable outeries and agonies." They professed to see a black man standing by her side. One of them, in her frenzy, cries out, " I see the souls of thirteen persons whom she has murdered at Andover." With the swiitness of lightning comes from the lips of the infuriated woman the response, "You lie! I am wronged !" Then, turning about and facing the magis- trates, she declares, "It is false; and it is a shame for you to mind what these say who are out of their wits." The accusers immediately reiterate their charges, and, to prove their truth, go into such hysterical spasms, contortions and apparent tortures " that there was no enduring it," says the record. The great crowd of spectators are moved with sym- pathy with the tortured and writhing girls. They are aroused to the most intense excitement. They believe themselves to be witnessing one of the fierce struggles between the kingdom of God and that of the Evil One.

June and July pass away, and the close prison holds " Goody Carrier," but it cannot cramp her bold spirit. Her children are also there. In August she comes forth once more to face her accusers. Her whole life passes in review, as if it were the final judgment. Sharp, cutting words and deeds of retali- ation arerecalled ; her sons are put to torture till they bear witness against her. Not one word of confession passes her lips. Cotton Mather says, as a reward of her adherence to Satan, she has received the promise that she shall be " queen of hell." Angust 11th little Sarah, her daughter, is questioned in court, " How old are you?" " Near eight years old ; brother says I shall be eight in November." "How long hast thou been a witch?" " Ever since I was six years old." " Who made you a witch ?" " My mother." August 19, 1692, witnesses the closing scene. From the scaffold rings out her last testimony, "I am in- nocent."

CHAPTER CXXX. ANDOVER-(Continued).

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS.

WHILE it is impossible to determine the relative amount of the burden borne and sacrifice made by the North and South Precinets of the town in the French and Indian Wars and in the War for Independence, it is safe to assume that the larger share fell to the

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precinct containing the greater number of inhabit- ants. Hence, in the treatment of the stirring events attending these wars, the action of the town will be taken as the action of its larger precinct. Those persons, however, who, either as officers or soldiers, have claim for special notice in a historical sketch of the town, whose residence is known to have been in the North Precinct, will be yielded, as in the case of the first settlers, to the historian of North Andover for mention.

The French and Indian wars were mainly instigated by the mutual jealousies and ambitions of England and France. They were but the sequence to the more desperate and exhaustive ones carried on in Europe by these rival nations. In them the French seem to have been more successful than the English in enlisting the Indians as allies. And there is reason for believing that they not only used the natural savagery of these allies, but stimulated this native tendency to cruelty and blood.

The Jesuit missionaries, who early gained a foot- ing among the Indian tribes in Canada and other parts of the country, were eminently successful in bringing the natives under their influence and con- trol. They have been charged with inflaming their converts with zeal for the destruction of their Eng- lish and Protestant neighbors. The page of history gives color to these charges. The party of two hun- dred French and one hundred and forty-two Indians which, in the winter of 1704, burned the village of Deerfield, slaughtered in cold blood forty-seven of its peaceful citizens and took one hundred and twelve captive, carrying those who could bear the fatigue and cold into Canada, were under the lead of Hertel de Rouville. It was under the same leader that, on the 29th day of August, 1708, a party of Freneh and Indians made at daybreak an attack upon Haverhill. Baneroft says that, when they had " assumed the order of battle, Rouville addressed the soldiers, who, after their orisons, marched against the fort, raised the shrill yell, and dispersed themselves through the village to their work of blood. The ri- fle rang ; the cry of the dying rose. Benjamin Rolfe, the minister, was beaten to death ; one Indian sunk a hatchet deep into the brain of his wife, while another canght his infant child from its dying moth- er, and dashed its head against a stone."

These Indians, thus led, came from the mission stations of the Jesuits. Their French commander did nothing to curb, but everything to stimulate their passion for blood. Of like forays, the Jesnit his- torian of France relates with pride that they had their origin in the counsels and influence of the Catholic missionaries.

In these wars for colonial supremacy and colonial commerce in America, the colony of Massachusetts heartily co-operated with the mother country. The fisheries on the Banks of Newfoundland then, as now, were a coveted possession. Massachusetts fur-

nished her full quota of soldiers for every expedition having the conquest of Canada, Newfoundland or Acadia in view. In these expeditions many of the young men of Andover enlisted, no inconsiderable number of whom lost their lives, either being killed in battle or dying from wounds. privation or disease. The successful expedition against Lonisburg brought grief to many Andover homes.

This expedition was of Massachusetts origin. Wm. Shirley, Governor of the State, advising it, the Leg- islature authorized the same by a majority of one. The mother country was not consulted in the matter. The force employed was mainly from New England, and composed exclusively of volunteers. Pennsylva- nia, indeed, sent a small quantity of provisions, and New York furnished a limited supply of artillery.

How many of these troops were furnished by An- dover, history does not inform us, but no doubt a proportionate contingent went from this town.

Louisburg was the strongest fortress in North America. Situated on a neck of land on the south side of the harbor, its walls were forty feet thick at the base, and from twenty to thirty feet high, surrounded by a ditch eighty feet wide. For armament it was furnished with one hundred and one cannon, seventy- six swivels and six mortars. This fortress was man- ned by more than sixteen hundred well-equipped sol- diers. The harbor was further defended by a battery of thirty twenty-two pounders, posted on an island, and by a royal battery, situated on the main shore, having thirty large cannon, a moat and bastions, all so complete as to justify the belief that, with a garrison of but two hundred men, it might successfuly resist the attack and siege of five thousand.

The forees of New England that had the hardihood to attack this strong, well-equipped and ably-manned fortress consisted of less than four thousand undisci- plined militia, -mechanies, farmers, tradesmen, offi- cered by men of like occupations, and commanded by William Pepperell, a Maine merchant. Their offensive armament consisted of eighteen eannon and three mortars, all told. Having effected a landing, a small squad of four hundred men marched by the city, with cheers for the fortress, to the northeast harbor. This bold act produced a panie among those who manned the royal battery, leading them to spike the cannon in the night and flee. This battery thus abandoned fell into the hands of the audacious ineursionists, and, speedily refitted for service, was used with effeet against its foriner possessors.

Repeated attempts to take the island battery fail. These failures are not relished by the troops. A volun- teer company, under otheers of their own choice, enlist for a night attack. Unfortunately, their boats are dis- covered while on the way to the island, and are rid- dled by a deadly cannonade from the battery. A fear- ful contest ensues on the landing of the boats, result- ing in the loss of sixty killed and one hundred and sixteen taken prisoners. The remainder take to their

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boats and escape. This disastrous attack was on the night of May 26th. Ou June 17, 1745, without fur- ther serious fighting, the fortress, city and batteries were surrendered. Failing to receive anticipated supplies, the garrison had become discontented, and the commander, Duchambon disheartened. Thestrong hold was given up while still intact and capable of holding out for months against the force besieging il. The conquerors, on entering the fortress, seeing its unequaled and unimpaired strength, are said to have ascribed this easy victory, not to their own valor, but to the God of battles, saying reverently, "God has gone out of the way of His common providence in : remarkable and almost miraculous manner, to incline the hearts of the French to give up, and deliver this strong city into our hands."

This was pronounced " the greatest success achieved by England during the war." But not an English soldier was among the victorious forces. To Massa- chusetts belongs the glory of the capture. When the news of the victory reached the colony, there were great rejoicings. Bells were rung, thanksgiving praises offered and laudatory sermons preached in the church- 14. Amidst this general rejoicing there were, here and there among the humble homes upon the hill-sides and along the river banks of the country towns, mourn- ing and tears for sons, brothers, fathers and husbands, whose lives were the price of the splendid victory. Andover had her share in this mourning.

The following soldiers from Andover were killed or died from sickness or wounds received while "in the King's service at Louisbourg :

Bengamin Frie. Samuel Farnum, Jr Ephraim Barker

Andrew Allen. Benj. Carlton.

Joseph Marble.

Philip Abbott.

Jonathan Chaudler Davul Johnson, Tam Abbott Framein Data

I-aas Chandler.

.Jonathan Darlin.

Timothy Johnson, Jt . Jauch Maitin.

-- sixteen in all, most of whom died from sickness.

The war between France and England, including the colonies of each, was brought to a close by the treaties of Aix-la-chapelle in 1748. After much bloodshed, the accumulation of burdensome debt and incredibile suffering on the part of both the belliger- ents, the treaty restored the condition of each to that before the war. Louisbourg was given back to . France.

county of York, as a recognition of their services and losses. This was signed by Captain James Stevens, who commanded a company in this expedition, and James Frye, a private, both of Andover, and fifty-six others belonging to Essex or Middlesex County. The petition was favorably received and the grant made, "on condition that they take associates of the Cape Breton soldiers, not excluding representatives of those who are dead, so as to make the whole number of grantees one hundred and twenty ;" that they pro- vide a suitable house " for the publick worship of God -- a learned Protestant Minister of Good Conversation to be settled " among them, and schools. But it does not appear that any of the petitioners from Andover availed themselves of the privileges of this grant.

The peace was of short duration. The jealousies and rivalries of the two neighboring nations could not be overcome by treaty stipulations. An ambition for colonial extension and commercial aggrandize- ment dominated the statesmen and merchants of both countries. The colonies also, with antipathies nour- ished by religious animosity, and stimulated by re- lentless war, could not readily sit down side by side and cultivate the amenities of peace.

In the spring of 1755-only seven years from the date of that elaborate treaty by which its wise fram- ers, the foremost statesmen of the day, who " be- lieved themselves to be the pacificators of the world," had thought to have created a colonial policy for Europe, "on a basis that would last for ages,"-a new war began. Mother country and colonies, both eager for the fight, united in a bold and comprehensive plan, looking to the subjection of all the French col- onies in America. With this object in view, four well-furnished expeditions were set on foot-the first under the command of the ill-fated Braddock, with the young man Washington in charge of a Vir- ginia contingent, having Fort Du Quesne as its first objective point ; the second directed against Crown Point, by way of Lakes George and Champlain; the third against Oswego, and the fourth against Nova Scotia. Of the latter, Major-General Winslow was in command, with Major Joseph Frye, of Andover, as one of his subordinate officers. In the company of Major Frye were many young men from his native town of Andover. This last expedition was success- ful. The forces of the enemy were beaten and three stronghokls taken. But a sad service awaited the conquerors.

Perce returned in the colonies for a season, and op jettines for the people to pursue their chosen Acadia had been for some years under English rule. The people were peaceful, industrious, virtu- ous, home-loving and pions; but they were French and Catholic, hence they were distrusted. They had offered no resistance to their English rulers, shown no disposition to rebel, but they belonged to a hostile nation and faith, and they were in a position where authorities determined on their removal; and it was further determined that they should not be permitted Wir hove without the dread of Indian attacks al home, or The tar of enlistments for military service abroad Dining this brief interval the town in- opsed in number- and wealth. Some of its citizens Mar event n pod with m ambition to form a new withment A petition was sent to the General Ant in behalt of frosous who had been engaged in ' they might do mischief to their rulers. The home the tu lancton enterprise, and the relatives of such as had lost their lives in , for a grant of land in the

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 141

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1672

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672