Andover Bewitched: “The Devil does it in my shape"

Read Abigail Dane Faulkner's story as she narrowly escaped execution during the 1692 witch trials.

Jun 15, 2022

“The Devil does it in my shape,” claimed Abigail Dane Faulkner as she stood on trial for her life.1 It was early August 1692 and her niece, Elizabeth Johnson Jr., was already under arrest. Over the course of her trial, the judges blamed Abigail Dane Faulkner for bringing the Devil to her children, leading them to afflict others in town with painful illness and inexplicable suffering.

Again and again, she denied the accusations, claiming that she should not have to confess for things she did not do. It wasn’t enough. In 1692, she was condemned to die for the crime of practicing witchcraft. It was only the fact that she was pregnant that she survived. Here is her story…

Abigail Dane Faulkner was a prominent member of Andover Village.

Abigail Dane Faulkner Sr. was born to Francis Dane and Elizabeth Ingalls in 1652. She was the youngest of five siblings, all of whom married and started families in and around Andover. Francis Dane was an important religious leader in Andover who was outspoken against the trials — read his story here! Their large family suffered extensively during the trials, with many of Abigail’s relatives taken in for questioning and put on trial as witches.

Abigail Dane married Francis Faulkner in 1675. And importantly, in that same year, Francis Faulkner’s father gave him a large estate.2 This set Abigail and Francis apart from their neighbors; they were wealthy and controlled a large amount of land and money.3 Their families were also among the early founders of Andover, so they had a lot of political and social power too. They lived near the center of Andover Village, in what is today North Andover.

For better or for worse, Abigail’s position made her a target. When her husband became unwell, she became financially and legally responsible for the large estate, granting her even more power, more than that of her male peers.

In 1692, accusations of witchcraft spread from nearby Salem Village (now Danvers) to Andover. Martha Carrier was arrested first, and then others, when the afflicted teenage girls from Salem Village arrived in Andover in search of more potential witches.

She remained determined during her trial, denying the accusations…

Although at first Abigail denied the charges of witchcraft, as the pressure to confess increased, she admitted to being angry with her neighbors, and that it was possible that the Devil had worked through her. We know that these courts were terrifying places, full of intensity and even violence, so it’s no surprise that she would change her story under pressure.

A true confession — admitting that she had practiced witchcraft (even if it wasn’t true) — might have prevented her condemnation. The courts often pursued guilty verdicts only for those who continued to deny the charges, because a confession meant that the community could begin to heal and push the Devil out.4

To add pressure to Abigail, her children were also arrested, including her nine-year-old daughter Abigail and her 12-year-old daughter Dorothy. Abigail Sr.’s sister, sister-in-law, and nieces and nephews were all accused and brought to trial.

Other members of Andover, including William Barker (whose story you can read here) accused Abigail. Salem’s afflicted girls — Rose Foster, Martha Sprague, Sarah Phelps, Ann Putnam, Mary Walcott, and Mary Warren — all testified against her, saying that she was a witch who was hurting them and trying to lead them to the Devil. Her victims were supposedly “Tortured Aflicted Consumed Pined Wasted and Tormented.”5

All of this, combined with her refusal to confess, led the jury to declare her guilty. She was condemned to die for covenanting with the Devil and for practicing witchcraft on September 17, 1692.

There was an execution scheduled for September 22, at which time fellow Andover residents Samuel Wardwell and Mary Parker were put to death. Abigail would have been hanged at this time, but she was pregnant, and so received a stay of execution.

Though she did not know it at the time, this delay gave enough time for the chaos of the trials to settle down. September 22 was the last execution for practicing witchcraft before the tide began to change. Abigail remained in prison for the coming months, but she would eventually return home safely.

Abigail was literate and wrote to the Governor, pleading for a pardon…

Unlike many of her neighbors, Abigail was literate. In December 1692, while in prison in Salem, she wrote to the Governor to request a pardon.

Petition of Abigail Faulkner Sr. for a Pardon, December 3, 1692. In “Salem Selections,” NYPL, via Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive.

“That your poor and humble Petitioner having been this four monthes in Salem Prison and condemned to die having had no other evidences against me but the Spectre Evidences and the Confessors… who have owned to my selfe and others and do still own that they wronged me, and what they had said against me was false.”6

She went on, writing that those who had accused her agreed that she “should not have been put to death… for they never should have enjoyed themselves again in this world.”7 She acknowledged that, had she not been pregnant, she would have already been executed.

In the letter, she asked the Governor to release her so she could return home to care for her children and her ailing husband. The Governor ultimately granted her request and she went home safely, finally, after six months in prison.

In the years that followed…

In the last “Andover Bewitched” entry, I wrote about Elizabeth Johnson Jr.’s long path to having her name cleared. Abigail Dane Faulkner’s story is very similar! Though she survived the trials and was released from prison, her guilty verdict remained. If a new witch panic broke out, she would be at risk all over again.

Again she wrote to the governor, citing her time in prison and her hopes to have her name cleared.8

This time, however, the governor didn’t listen. In 1711, when those victims executed during the trials received an official pardon, Abigail was left out. Finally, nearly three hundred years later, with a bill created in 1957 and an amendment in 2001, Abigail’s name was finally cleared.9

In March 1693, finally safely at home, Abigail gave birth to a healthy boy. She named him Ammi Ruhammah, which aptly means “my people have mercy” and is drawn from the Old Testament. Ammi Ruhammah Faulkner lived a full life; he married Hannah Ingalls and moved to Acton, Massachusetts, where they had six children and worked to develop Acton’s mills.10

Abigail lived for almost forty more years, passing away in 1730 with her husband, Francis Faulkner, still at her side.11

Thank you for reading! If you would like to learn more about the 1692 witch trials, stay tuned. Let me know your questions or ideas in the comments below. I love to hear from you!

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—Toni