Love reading your articles! Wondering who the parents were of Ephraim Foster (constable). I am descended from Andrew & Ann Foster (she was accused & died in jail), but I don’t have an Ephraim in my tree. Andrew Foster was a constable in Glouster before moving to Andover. I was wondering who “arrested” Ann Foster since you said Ephraim was the constable at the time.
Hi Susan, thank you so much! Ephraim Foster (c. 1651-1746) was the son of Abraham Foster (1622-1710) & Lydia Burbank who lived in Ipswich; Abraham was the son of Reginald Foster. From what I've read, there seem to have been at least three separate Foster families in Andover around this time -- one descended from Reginald (i.e., Ephraim's family).
Another line descended from Andrew Foster. This Andrew Foster (d. 1685) was married to Ann Foster, the accused witch who died while in prison in 1692. Both of them immigrated to the colony in the early-mid 17th century. Though Ann & Ephraim shared a surname, they weren't directly related. I'm drawing a lot of this genealogical background from Charlotte Helen Abbott's work -- https://mhl.org/sites/default/files/files/Abbott/Foster%20Family.pdf -- but you may have more detail in your tree already!
I don't know of a record of Ann Foster's actual arrest. In some cases, we still have the warrant, which usually has the signature of whichever constable carried out the arrest. I don't know of one for Ann -- her records start with her examination in Salem (http://www.17thc.us/primarysources/accused.php?id=73&pg=3), but this is more likely a case of documents not being preserved over four centuries, not that there weren't records then.
We DO have an arrest record for Mary Lacey Jr., Ann Foster's granddaughter (http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/archives/BPL/LARGE/B35.jpg). Mary was arrested by Ephraim! So even without Ann's record, it seems pretty likely that Ephraim was the one who carried it out, especially because Ann, Mary Lacey Sr., and Mary Lacey Jr. (Ann's daughter and granddaughter) were all arrested at about the same time and were examined together. I hope this helps! Thank you for reading.
Thank you for my weekly local history lessons. Where was Andover's Meeting House located?
Great question, and thank you for reading! Andover's Meeting House was in the town center. This is now North Andover. A region of the 1692 map featuring the Meeting House appeared in the Andover Bewitched article on Dudley Bradstreet -- check it out here: https://historybuzz.substack.com/p/andover-bewitched-the-bradstreet ! The Old Burying Ground (which was beside the meeting house) is still in place today. https://www.northandoverhistoricalsociety.org/first-burying-ground.
Love reading your articles! Wondering who the parents were of Ephraim Foster (constable). I am descended from Andrew & Ann Foster (she was accused & died in jail), but I don’t have an Ephraim in my tree. Andrew Foster was a constable in Glouster before moving to Andover. I was wondering who “arrested” Ann Foster since you said Ephraim was the constable at the time.
Hi Susan, thank you so much! Ephraim Foster (c. 1651-1746) was the son of Abraham Foster (1622-1710) & Lydia Burbank who lived in Ipswich; Abraham was the son of Reginald Foster. From what I've read, there seem to have been at least three separate Foster families in Andover around this time -- one descended from Reginald (i.e., Ephraim's family).
Another line descended from Andrew Foster. This Andrew Foster (d. 1685) was married to Ann Foster, the accused witch who died while in prison in 1692. Both of them immigrated to the colony in the early-mid 17th century. Though Ann & Ephraim shared a surname, they weren't directly related. I'm drawing a lot of this genealogical background from Charlotte Helen Abbott's work -- https://mhl.org/sites/default/files/files/Abbott/Foster%20Family.pdf -- but you may have more detail in your tree already!
I don't know of a record of Ann Foster's actual arrest. In some cases, we still have the warrant, which usually has the signature of whichever constable carried out the arrest. I don't know of one for Ann -- her records start with her examination in Salem (http://www.17thc.us/primarysources/accused.php?id=73&pg=3), but this is more likely a case of documents not being preserved over four centuries, not that there weren't records then.
We DO have an arrest record for Mary Lacey Jr., Ann Foster's granddaughter (http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/archives/BPL/LARGE/B35.jpg). Mary was arrested by Ephraim! So even without Ann's record, it seems pretty likely that Ephraim was the one who carried it out, especially because Ann, Mary Lacey Sr., and Mary Lacey Jr. (Ann's daughter and granddaughter) were all arrested at about the same time and were examined together. I hope this helps! Thank you for reading.