Andover Bewitched: The Witch Trials of 1692

Did you know that Andover was involved in the witch trials?

Jul 14, 2021

More than fifty Andover residents were accused of witchcraft, and three were hanged during the grueling trials. Beginning this week, we’ll share a series of articles about the people and places of Andover’s story of bewitchment.

Hello History Buzz readers,

This is the first article in my brand new “Andover Bewitched” column. I’ll post new columns every other Wednesday, telling stories of seventeenth century Andover and the many town residents involved in the 1692 witch trials. I can’t wait to share this column with you and look forward to hearing your questions and comments as the story unfolds.

Toni

When was Andover’s witch hysteria? And where?

The story begins in 1692, fifty years after Andover was settled.1 With controversies in the church finally settled, it seemed like it would be a successful and untroubled year, but peace did not last long as the town was swept up in the dangerous fervor of the witch hysteria.

Though we know now that the paranoia at the heart of the witch trials was connected to religion and the town members’ social relationships, to be in the middle of it was terrifying. When town authorities began spinning accusations, it was easy to fall in line, especially because stories of witches and the fear of the Devil was already common. In the seventeenth century, most people believed that “witchcraft” was Satan working through a person and that the witches had made a deal with the Devil. Even a morally good person could be led astray or manipulated by the Devil, and as such, no one was safe.

In May 1692, Martha Carrier moved back to Andover with her husband and four children.2 Martha was the first Andover resident accused of witchcraft. She’s a good example of the kinds of people accused, who were usually on the outskirts of society for one reason or another. Martha and her husband, Thomas, lived in Billerica for several years, where Thomas worked as a poorly-paid laborer. Since Thomas could not support his family with his income, the town of Billerica forced them to leave. Martha brought the family to Andover, where she was born and raised.

Unfortunately for Martha and for Andover, the family brought smallpox with them, a deadly disease that killed nearly thirty percent of anyone infected. Smallpox killed her father, both brothers, her sister-in-law, and several more nephews and left the town bitterly angry with her. The town tried to remove Martha, but she refused and demanded that the town offer financial support as she and her husband recovered from the disease.

In 1692, Benjamin Abbott accused her of causing him pain and illness. He remained sick until Martha was arrested when he suddenly began to recover. Sarah Abbott’s deposition describes an argument between Benjamin and Martha, and then:

“After that [he] felt strange and unusual things had happened to his cattle, for four have died suddenly and strangely, which we could not tell any natural reason for… and many such things which we can give nor account a reason of, unless it should be the effects of Martha Carrier’s threatenings.”3

Others came forward too, with similar tales of Martha’s alleged witchcraft harming them and their children. She was arrested and put on trial, during which members of the audience claimed to see ghosts and feel pain each time Martha denied her charges. Many members of the town came forward to accuse Martha Carrier, telling tales of sick livestock and unexplainable illnesses. Her four children were also arrested in the hope that it would encourage her to confess to practicing witchcraft and making deals with the Devil.

After grueling trials, Martha and two other Andover residents were hanged in August and September of 1692. A fourth, Ann Foster, was condemned to die, but passed away in prison before reaching her execution date.

Sarah Abbott’s account of Martha Carrier’s witchcraft, from her published testimony. *Via* A Guide to the Primary Sources of the Salem Witch Trials, see note 3 to view Benjamin’s testimony too.

How many people were accused of witchcraft in Andover?

In July, August, and September 1692, more than fifty people were accused of witchcraft in Andover. That’s about one in twelve Andover residents! Many of the accused were members of the same family, and they were as young as seven and as old as seventy-two, both men and women. No one was safe. As the trials went on, more people were implicated as the accused tried to defend themselves. They even pointed fingers at fellow family members while fighting for their lives.

Andover wasn’t alone in the hysteria of the witch trials. In 1692 and 1693, over 200 people were accused of witchcraft in Massachusetts, and twenty people were executed for their alleged crimes. Andover, Salem, Salem Village (now Danvers) and Topsfield were some of the most significant sites for the hysteric outbreak.4

How did the courts test for witchcraft?

Central to the trials in Andover and elsewhere was “spectral evidence,” or the evidence of dreams and imaginings. Afflicted persons claimed that the accused had visited them in dreams or appeared as visions. Though it was only the victims’ testimony, these visions were submitted as evidence during the trials.

Though it did involve spectral evidence, Andover’s witchcraft testing was different from the other towns. There were several ways of testing for witchcraft, especially the “touch test.” When an afflicted person had physical contact with the witch, their illness would supposedly cease; if the afflicted had no reaction, then the accused was innocent.

While other towns used the touch test method on an individual basis, Andover held a town-wide touch test. Several afflicted girls were brought to the town meeting house on September 7. One accused town member, Mary Osgood, described the experience:

“We were blindfolded and our hands were laid upon the afflicted persons, they being in their fits and falling into their fits at our coming into their presence… some led us and laid our hands upon them and then they said that we were guilty of afflicting them.”5

This test resulted in seventeen arrests. Many of the accused confessed to making deals with the Devil or to practicing witchcraft. Those that denied the accusation, like Martha Carrier, were far more likely to be executed, while those who confessed remained in prison.

A later and dramatized imagining of a witch trial, featuring the accused on trial, an afflicted man at her feet, and townsfolk watching aghast. *The witch no. 1* by J.E. Baker, 1892, via Library of Congress.

How did the witch trials end?

As is the nature of hysteria, as Andover’s fervor soon wound down, the trials ended and the voices of reason and logic settled the residents. Those accused were released from prison and returned to their lives as best as possible.

In the following years, several accused witches gained restitution for their imprisonment. One such Andover resident, Abigail Dane Faulkner, avoided execution because she was pregnant when she was meant to be executed. After she was released from prison, the accusation of witchcraft remained. In 1703, she wrote to the Massachusetts General Court asking for her sentence to be lifted and to receive restitution for the damages to her reputation during her imprisonment.

In 1709, Massachusetts courts paid out nearly 600 pounds in restitution and reversed the charges brought against “all those accused and found guilty of witchcraft.”6

Though the chaos and fear of the trials ended, the town carries the memory of the hysteria to this day. Salem has dedicated a park in memory of the victims of the trials. In Danvers, the Witchcraft Victims’ Memorial, erected in 1992, stands in tribute to those who died on the supposed site of the gallows. The memorial includes the three Andover victims: Samuel Wardwell, Martha Carrier, and Ann Foster.7

More to come…

In my next entry of Andover Bewitched, I’ll share more about the significant people and places involved in the 1692 witch trials. If you have any questions, or if there’s any aspect of the trials you’d like to learn more about, leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you. Click here to open a free Substack account, so you can like, share, and comment.

Thanks for reading!

— Toni