Andover Bewitched: The Bradstreet Family

What do an early settler of Andover, a Justice of the Peace, and an accused witch have in common?

Oct 20, 2021

Members of the Bradstreet family were founders of Massachusetts Bay Colony and of Andover. In 1692, as the witch trials broke out, two brothers were caught up on opposites sides: Dudley Bradstreet was Andover’s Justice of the Peace, and John Bradstreet was an accused witch. Interested in the full story of the 1692 witch trials? Check out the first entry in this series here.

The Bradstreet Family helped found Massachusetts Bay Colony…

Simon and Anne Bradstreet were some of the first English settlers of Andover and were among the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Anne Bradstreet was the first poet to write in English verse in the American colonies, and her poems were published in Boston and in London.1 Anne was also the daughter of a Massachusetts Bay Colony founder, Thomas Dudley.

Anne and Simon married in 1628 and arrived to the new colony in 1630 via the Arbella, an English ship in the Winthrop fleet. After several moves from Ipswich to Newtown (now Cambridge), they finally arrived in Andover around 1648. Simon Bradstreet was one of the twenty-three founding members of Andover, a leader in town and one of the first property owners.2 Simon and Anne lived in what is today North Andover but was known then as Andover’s village center.

Simon Bradstreet served as Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony twice, in 1679 and again in 1689. In May 1692, as the hints of witch hysteria broke out in Salem, the Colony’s charter was dissolved, re-chartered, and replaced by the “Province of Massachusetts Bay.” William Phips was royally appointed as governor instead. The brand new Governor Phips oversaw the witch trials and established the Court of Oyer and Terminer.3

Then nearly 90 years old, Simon Bradstreet returned to Salem, where he had a large home, and where he passed away a few years later. Simon and Anne had eight children. They have many descendants who still live today and can trace their ancestry back to these early Andover residents.

I’ll discuss two of their children today: Dudley and John, a judge and an accused witch.4

Dudley Bradstreet’s house indicated here in the Village Center, now North Andover. For some time, it was thought that Bradstreets lived in what is now known to be Parson Thomas Barnard’s house.

Justice Dudley Bradstreet arrested nearly fifty accused witches…

Dudley Bradstreet served in many town positions in Andover, as a selectman, as a representative in the general court, as an assistant to the governor, and in even more roles too.5 In 1692, he had the unenviable position as the Justice of the Peace in Andover. Justices of the Peace were responsible for making arrests and carrying out smaller civil and criminal cases.6

As the witch hysteria broke out, Dudley Bradstreet wrote the arrest warrants and examined accused witches in court. For months, anyone accused of witchcraft in Andover was brought before Justice Bradstreet.

See, for example, these two documents, detailing the story of a Haverhill woman accused of afflicting two Andover men:

*Complaint of Robert Swan and John Swan v. Mary Clarke,* August 3, 1692. Salem Witch Trials Archive, University of Virginia.

First, on August 3, Robert and Thomas Swan made a complaint against Mary Clark “for themselves and several of their neighbors,” accusing Mary of “sundry acts of witchcraft.” Bradstreet witness and recorded this accusation, and immediately wrote a warrant for Mary Clark’s arrest.7

*Warrant for the apprehension of Mary Clark, & Officer's Return*. August 3, 1692. Salem Witch Trials Archive, University of Virginia.

His warrant notes “she is Highly suspected to be guilty of several acts of witchcraft.” According to Bradstreet’s instructions, Mary Clark would be seized from her home in Haverhill and “forthwith safely convey[ed] to Salem, before ye above Justices of ye Peace…there to be examined, & proceeded with according to Law.”8

Once in Salem, Mary Clark was out of Dudley Bradstreet’s hands; it seems she was examined and jailed but survived the trials. Mary Clark’s story is but one example, as Dudley Bradstreet carried out nearly fifty arrests in Andover during the hysteria.

But Dudley Bradstreet was conflicted! Like Reverend Francis Dane, he believed that the hysteria was a danger rapidly growing out of control.

The Andover Touch Test was too much for Justice Bradstreet…

In September 1692, Reverend Thomas Barnard gathered the afflicted people at the Andover meeting house. He conducted a “Touch Test.” This “test” for witchcraft involved putting the hands of an accused witch on an afflicted person; if the afflicted person felt better, the accused was certainly a witch.

It’s important to note that this was considered legitimate evidence in the court, so this “test” was a big deal. The Salem courts used the touch test too, but Barnard took it too far. Instead of using it on a case-by-case basis, Barnard’s touch test involved dozens of people on a town-wide search.

Eighteen Andover residents were formally accused of practicing witchcraft on one day because of Barnard’s test.

It seems that this massive number of newly accused witches shook Dudley Bradstreet. He refused to sign any further arrest warrants afterwards and, as accusations turned toward him and his wife Ann, they fled the town.9

Dudley and Ann did return to Andover by December 1692, after the hysteria had calmed down. (The last witch trials execution was in September 1692). Both of them signed petitions to bring an end to the trials and to return their neighbors from jail. One letter, signed by many Andover townspeople, including Ann and Dudley, reads:

We were surprised to hear that persons of known integrity and piety were accused of so horrid a crime, not considering, then, that the most innocent were liable to be so misrepresented and abused… As for the rest of our neighbors…we have had no cause to judge them such persons as, of late, they have been represented and reported to be, nor do we know that any of their neighbors had any just grounds to suspect them of that evil that they are now charged with.10

Dudley’s brother, John Bradstreet, was also accused of witchcraft…

Also following the Andover Touch Test, John Bradstreet, Justice Dudley Bradstreet’s brother, was accused of witchcraft. The accusation was shaky, as it seems to have been mostly based on a dog barking at him, and it seems that it was never formalized in the court.

Before he could be arrested, he fled the town for New Hampshire. Like Dudley and his wife, John likely survived because he went into hiding and waited for the hysteria to ease. He seems to have returned to the area, possibly to Topsfield, after the trials ended.11

The Bradstreet family was well-established and well-known, with long connections to the government and the Colony. Justice Bradstreet participated in the trials – but even this was not enough to protect John, Dudley, and Ann from the threat of accusation.

Finally, it’s important to remember that not everyone had the means to leave town. As the hysteria spread across Massachusetts Bay Colony, it must have seemed that nowhere and no one was safe.12

Thank you for reading, and as always: stay tuned for more entries of Andover Bewitched!

I’m excited to hear from you, so if you have any questions or if there’s any aspect of the trials you’d like to learn more about, leave a comment.

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— Toni