Andover Bewitched: Tried, Convicted, and Survived!

How did Abigail Dane Faulkner avoid hanging after she was convicted of witchcraft?

Aug 11, 2021

Abigail Dane Faulkner was an Andover resident accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death. She survived due to a stay of execution offered because she was pregnant, and later fought to clear her name. If you’re looking for an introduction to the Andover witch trials before diving in to Abigail’s story, check out the first post in this series here!

Who was Abigail Dane Faulkner?

Abigail Dane Faulkner was born in 1652 in Andover, Massachusetts to the Reverend Francis Dane and Elizabeth Ingalls. She was one of six children, with two brothers and three sisters. In October 1675, Abigail married Francis Faulkner, another prominent member of the Andover community.

Highlight of *Map of Andover Village in 1692,* with arrow indicating Abigail Faulkner’s home.

Francis and Abigail lived in the village center and were financially very well off, especially after Francis’ father died in 1687. They had at least eight children, and some of Abigail’s descendants are still alive today.

Many members of Abigail’s family were accused…

It’s important to remember that even if there was additional evidence of supernatural occurrences around an accused person, motivations for accusations were often about other things. In Abigail’s case, there were no records of any previous court cases against her or accusations of impiety — prior to 1692, she was an upstanding town member.

Many members of the Dane family were accused of witchcraft. Abigail’s father, the Reverend Francis Dane, was one of the most outspoken members of the town fighting against the hysteria of the witch trials – read more about him in the last installment of Andover Bewitched! Plus, Reverend Dane had angered the town by demanding he continue to receive his salary even after the town hired a second pastor.

Other members of the Dane family were involved, like Deliverance Dane, several of Abigail’s sisters, and her daughters too. When Abigail’s sister, Elizabeth Johnson was accused and arrested, Abigail was furious and blamed the afflicted who accused Elizabeth.1 Of course, this only helped draw negative attention to her and she was arrested soon after her sister.

Hysteria grew after Martha Carrier’s arrest…

Martha Carrier was the first person accused of witchcraft in Andover. She was put in prison and the hysteria in the town sparked to life. Two of Martha’s children, Sarah and Thomas Carrier were arrested, plus Elizabeth Johnson, Abigail Faulkner’s sister. Elizabeth, Sarah, and Thomas all claimed that Martha Carrier had brought the Devil to them and baptized them in his ways.2 According to Elizabeth, and young Sarah and Thomas, Martha Carrier told them to torment Mary Walcott, Ann Putnam, and Sarah Phelps in the night.

Abigail spoke out against Elizabeth Johnson’s accusation, but it was too late. With the hysteria brought forth by Sarah, Thomas, and Elizabeth’s arrests, things only got worse. Next, Ann Putnam claimed that she saw Abigail Faulkner’s specter haunting her in the night.

Examinations of Abigail Faulkner, Sr. August 11, 1692. Papers of the Salem Witch Trials, University of Virginia. The top line reads “Abigail Faulkner examined August 11, 1692.”

Abigail was brought to the court in August 1692 and questioned for her outrage on Elizabeth Johnson’s behalf. Was her frustration on behalf of her sister a sign of witchcraft? Abigail claimed that, while she was angry, “it was the devil not she that afflicted” anyone in the town.3

In September 1692, Abigail Faulkner was again accused of witchcraft, and this time, the accusations came from many members of Salem and Andover alike.

While many people accused of witchcraft confessed — even if they didn’t actually believe that they’d done something wrong — Abigail refused to confess.4

In some cases, confessing to witchcraft was the safer option. Martha Carrier, one of the three Andover residents hanged for witchcraft, refused to confess and this was part of the reason why she ended up at the gallows. Others, like Thomas and Sarah Carrier and Elizabeth Johnson, said that they had practiced witchcraft but that someone else had led them into it. There were two options and neither of them were good: confess to witchcraft and take part in the hysteria by risking someone else’s life too, or refuse to confess and risk your own life. Abigail chose the latter.

Abigail was sentenced to death and put in prison…

Since Abigail did not confess, she was arrested and indicted for “torture” and “torment” afflicted upon Martha Sprague and Sarah Phelps Jr.

Deposition of Rose Foster, September 17, 1692. Papers of the Salem Witch Trials, University of Virginia.

The above entry is a deposition of 13-year-old Rose Foster, who claims to have seen:

“Abigail Faulkner or her Appearance most grievously afflict and torment Martha Sprague, Sarah Phelps and Hannah Bigsbe since the beginn[ing] August…I veryly believe that Abigail Faulkner is a witch and that she has often afflicted me and the aforesaid persons by acts of witchcraft.”5

By Rose Foster’s testimony, as well as the testimonies of Martha Sprague, Mary Wolcott, Sarah Phelps and several others, Abigail was found guilty of witchcraft and sentenced to death. Her sentencing reads:

“The Jury find Abigail Faulkner, wife of Francis Faulkner of Andover, guilty of the fellony by Witchcraft Comited on the body of Marthah Sprague [and also] on the body of Sarah Phelps”6

Abigail escaped her fate because she was several months pregnant. Instead of being hanged, Abigail was put in prison. By the time she gave birth to Ammi Ruhamah in March 1693, the hysteria had died down and Abigail was already back at home.

After four months in prison, Abigail wrote to the Massachusetts governor to ask to be released from prison. She wrote that Sarah Phelps and Martha Sprague among her other accusers had recanted and did not want her to die, and that her husband, Francis Faulkner, was unwell and unable to care for their six children.7 She needed to take care of her family!

Abigail was released from prison and returned home, though her sentence followed her back to Andover.

Abigail fought to clear her name of the accusation of witchcraft…

Beginning in 1703, Abigail Faulkner petitioned the Massachusetts courts to erase her sentence. She was afraid that if a new accusation was ever brought against her, she’d be at risk again.

Finally, in 1711, the Province of the Massachusetts Bay published an act which reversed the sentences of 22 people.8 This act cleared the names of many of those accused, even those who had already been put to death.

An Act to Reverse the Attainders of George Burroughs and Others For Witchcraft. Boston: B. Green, 1713. Library of Congress. See note 8.

And this legislation paved the way for Abigail Faulkner and families of other victims to receive restitution from the government for their time wrongfully imprisoned.

The story of the witch hysteria continues even today. A bill entered July 2021 is scheduled to add Elizabeth Johnson, Abigail Faulkner’s sister, to the list of those formally exonerated by the Massachusetts courts, since her name was never cleared.9

More to come…

Tune in two weeks from now for the next entry of Andover Bewitched!

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