Andover Bewitched: Parson Barnard Takes the Stage
How did Andover's Junior Pastor shape the 1692 witch trials?
Born in Connecticut and educated at Harvard College, Revered Thomas Barnard should have been precisely the minister Andover needed to get through the witch trials unscathed. Unfortunately, Barnard's conflict with Andover's other pastor and his belief in the power of spectral evidence added to the hysteria. This is Thomas Barnard's story.
Want an introduction to the 1692 witch trials? Try the first entry in this series!
The young pastor arrived in Andover…
Thomas Barnard was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1657 to parents Francis and Hannah Barnard. He studied to be a pastor at Harvard College and graduated with the class of 1679.1
He was only 22 years old and unmarried when he came to Andover in 1682.2 He married Elizabeth Price in 1686 and began to build his new life in the town.
Barnard lived in what is today North Andover. He was given a prime place in the Village Center because use of the parsonage was part of his small salary. His home was near the Meeting House, which served as both a secular and religious gathering space.
In 1707, Barnard’s original house burned down; he built a new home in 1715.3 You can still visit the Parson Barnard House in North Andover today. The building is still standing, and the North Andover Historical Society offers self-guided and armchair tours to allow you to step back into history.
But let’s go back to the 1690s, as the first whisperings of witch trial hysteria began.
Reverend Barnard’s transition into Andover was not smooth because Andover already had a pastor. If a colonial town was large enough to have a religious leader, they would have only one. Pastors served both religious and secular purposes; he was a significant leader in the town charged with the spiritual and social upkeep of its residents. And importantly, a pastor was expensive to maintain because the town paid his salary through taxes.
Reverend Frances Dane, Andover Village's second pastor, had served the town for over 40 years. When Barnard arrived, the town was strongly established and had experienced little conflict since the town's founding in the 1640s. Dane had strong social connections all across town and would have been a well-known and highly respected figure.
Perhaps, if there had been an easy transition of power from one pastor to the other, the problems would have stayed in the past.
But Reverend Dane didn't want to step down…
Because the pastors were public figures, they were paid by taxes in the town. Dane, about 70 years old in 1682, refused to retire when Barnard arrived. A town of 600 people didn't need two pastors, but Dane would not give up his position and fought the town council to maintain his salary.
Was he afraid of being penniless? Did he distrust Barnard? Did he feel responsible for the town, having served since nearly the town's beginning? It's difficult to know what he thought, but we do know what he did: Dane kept his salary, albeit decreased, and continued to serve as the primary pastor. Barnard served as the Junior Pastor, and made 50 pounds per year while Dane made 30. When Dane stepped down, Barnard would receive the full amount, so Dane’s refusal to retire meant that Barnard was being underpaid.4
This conflict, whether it was overt or subtle, might have led to greater suspicion on Francis Dane. The Dane family received more accusations of witchcraft than any other in Andover, including his niece Martha Carrier, who was executed.
Trying to save the town, Barnard was misled by spectral evidence…
Like many other lawyers and clergy members of his time, Barnard believed that spectral evidence was legitimate. When members of Andover testified that they had witness specters or experienced supernatural pain, Barnard believed them. "Spectral evidence" refers to testimony of supernatural occurrences. Here's one account:
She also affirmed: that she saw Ann Foster or her apparition afflict Mary Walcott & Ann Putnam; she says she verily believes Ann Foster is a witch & that… Foster did afflict her and the above named persons…5
The speaker, Elizabeth Hubbard, claims that a witch has appeared to him as a specter in the night. While this kind of evidence would be dismissed as hearsay now, many seventeenth century people genuinely believed it to be true, on par with a reliable eyewitness account.
But unlike an eyewitness account, it’s not possible to verify the truth of this apparition. If Ann Foster appeared as a specter, only Elizabeth Hubbard could have seen her, so no one else could check the facts. Plus, Ann Foster might have been lying in bed, appearing completely normal to anyone around her while her alleged specter tormented Elizabeth. We can understand now how easily fabricated this evidence was, but many seventeenth century people didn’t see it that way.6
Barnard helped organize a major witch hunt based on spectral evidence in September 1692. He didn’t do this alone, probably working with (or influenced by) other town selectmen. They gathered many Andover residents at the town Meeting Hall and asked them to lay their hands on an afflicted person. Barnard believed this person was suffering from the effects of witchcraft, and that finding the witch would save their life. Supposedly, the afflicted person’s symptoms would disappear as soon as the witch touched them.
This town-wide “touch test” resulted in about eighteen arrests, including Mary Parker, who was later executed. Barnard told his followers that confession could save their lives. While he was right — confession instead of denial did generally prevent execution — it wasn’t always a saving grace. Those who confessed were also arrested and brought to trial, where only a judge could decide who was guilty and who was innocent.
But the “touch test” was also a major turning point. Because so many people were arrested, the town residents began to get nervous. Even Barnard surely feared accusations. His fellow pastor, Francis Dane, had seen his family fall under suspicion, and in Salem, the Reverend George Burroughs was executed for suspicion of witchcraft.
Not even a pastor like Barnard was truly safe. Perhaps Barnard changed his mind out of fear, or because he was convinced by the older minister’s advice.
Barnard finally had a change of heart…
Despite his previous disagreements with Francis Dane, and his earlier support for spectral evidence, Barnard eventually changed his mind in support of the town. He began to fight against the hysteria of the trials instead of egging it on. In late 1692, when Francis Dane wrote a bold petition to the Massachusetts Bay Colony government, begging them to put an end to the trials, Barnard signed it too.
We are also very sensible of the distressed condition of several poor families, on whom this great trouble is fallen; some… of our neighbors are like to be impoverished & ruin[e]d by the great charge they are at to maintain… their famil[i]es…in Prison, and by the fees that are demanded of them, whose case we pray may be considered.7
Our troubles which hitherto have been great, we foresee are like to continue and increase, if other methods be not taken then as yet have been, for there are more of our neighb'rs of good reputation & approved integrity, who are still accused, and complaints have been made against them…8
This petition was not the only one of its kind, but it was powerful — it showed the Governor that significant religious figures questioned the use of spectral evidence. It also demonstrated that these powerful people did not want the fervor of the trials to continue.
After the trials…
Eventually, the Governor heard the pleas of Dane, Barnard, and others. He ended the special court and banned any further executions. The courts processed the remaining trials over the following year, and no one else was executed under suspicion of witchcraft.
Barnard remained the pastor of North Parish in Andover until his death in 1718. Francis Dane passed away in 1697, over 80 years old.9 Barnard remarried twice and had several children, some of whom carried on the clergy family tradition.
As the trials ended, Barnard began to fight for the residents of Andover. He joined with other leaders in the community to seek restitution from the government for those imprisoned or executed during the trials. Here is an example of a letter he wrote in congress with other Essex County ministers:
Can you spot Thomas Barnard’s name at center, just below the text? The ministers write: “there were errors and mistakes in the aforesaid trials” and “there is great reason to fear that Innocent persons then suffered, and that God may have a controversy with the Land upon that account.”10 In the letter, Barnard and his fellow clergy ask the governor to clear the names of all those accused, hoping that this too would clear their consciences.
It took nearly six years for this petition (and others like it) to be heard, but in 1711, Governor Phips cleared the names of those condemned for witchcraft.11
Barnard was buried in the Old North Church Burying Ground, where he remains.12 You can still visit his marker in North Andover today.
Thank you for reading! Did you learn something new? Have you ever visited the Barnard House, or Barnard’s headstone? I love to hear from you, so I invite you to share your comments and questions in the comments below!
Tune in two weeks from now for the next entry of Andover Bewitched. And click here to open a free Substack account, so you can like, share, and comment.
— Toni
Charlotte Helen Abbott, “Records of the Barnard Family of Andover,” Memorial Hall Library. Harvard was originally founded in 1636 with the intent to train new clergy in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. See: History and Mission, Harvard Divinity School website.
Read more in Juliet Haines Mofford, Andover Massachusetts: Historical Selections from Four Centuries.
“Parson Barnard House,” Salem Witch Trials Museum. Curiously, the Barnard house was thought to later belong to the Bradstreet family — but this myth has since been disproven. Visit the North Andover Historical Society website for more!
Of course, not everyone believed in spectral evidence! Read Francis Dane’s story here — he was outspoken against it, and his efforts led to the banning of spectral evidence in 1693.
Ibid.
It seems likely Dane and Barnard continued to share their salary until Dane’s death, as Dane remained in Andover. Dane’s FindaGrave entry is here.
This act was symbolic and financially and spiritually important. It gave the accused and their families an opportunity to request (and usually receive) restitution; and it cleared their names in the eyes of the law and theoretically absolved them of the sin of witchcraft. See Reversal of Attainder, Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive.
Wow! Fascinating story Toni - thanks for sharing your research and hypotheses with us.