Abigail Faulkner
Encyclopedia
Abigail Faulkner (October 13, 1652-February 5, 1730) was an American
woman accused of witchcraft
during the Salem witch trials
in 1692. In the frenzy that followed, Faulkner’s sister Elizabeth Johnson, her sister-in-law Deliverance Dane
, two of her daughters, two of her nieces, and a nephew, would all be accused of witchcraft and arrested. Faulkner was convicted and sentenced to death, but her execution was delayed due to pregnancy
. Before she gave birth, Faulkner was pardoned by the governor and released from prison.
, the daughter of Reverend Francis Dane
and Elizabeth Ingalls. Faulkner was the sister of accused witch Elizabeth (Dane) Johnson, and sister-in-law of accused witch Deliverance (Hazeltine) Dane
. Abigail (Dane) Faulkner's two daughters, Abigail Faulkner and Dorothy Faulkner, were also accused of witchcraft.
On October 12, 1675, Abigail married Lieutenant Francis Faulkner. The Dane and Faulkner families were early settlers who had gained social prominence in Andover.
Francis and Abigail Faulkner had at least seven children:
Faulkner’s grandson, Colonel Francis Faulkner, led a company at the Battle of Concord, and commanded the regiment that guarded General
John Burgoyne
while he was a prisoner of war
.
The one feature that distinguishes the Danes and the Faulkners from their neighbors is their comparative wealth. In 1675, roughly twelve years before his death, Edmund Faulkner bequeathed the bulk of his estate to Francis Faulkner, his eldest son, then just twenty-four. Making young Francis an influential figure in Andover, while his contemporaries were still working their parents’ land, destined to wait several more years before they could accumulate enough money to marry and become landowners. In 1687, Edmund Faulkner died, and Francis inherited the remainder of his father's estate, excepting only a very minor portion left to his sisters and brother.
Not long after his father's death, Francis Faulkner became ill, suffering from convulsions, confusion and memory loss, leaving him unable to manage his own affairs. Abigail Faulkner was granted control of her husband's estate until their sons came of age. As the manager of his estate, Abigail wielded more power than most of the men in Andover, including her own brother-in-law.
Another bone of contention within the community concerned Abigail Faulkner's father. Reverend Dane had served as Andover's minister for more than forty years when the witchcraft trials began in 1692. As the frenzy in Salem progressed, Dane openly expressed doubts regarding the accusations made by Ann Putnam and others; he was disturbed by the fanatical nature of the proceedings.
Reverend Dane was accused of witchcraft in 1692, but was never charged. It is known that a decade prior to the witch trials, Dane had sued the residents of Andover for a salary increase. The court found in Dane’s favor, ordering the town to raise his salary, and to provide an adequate sum to pay for an assistant to be hired. Dane had also opposed a proposal by several residents that Andover be divided into two precincts.
Economic tensions and her husband’s illness, in addition to the doubts her father expressed regarding the accusers, may have caused Faulkner to become an object of suspicion, envy, and resentment within her community.
Faulkner was soon accused of witchcraft by neighbors who claimed she had “afflicted” their children. On August 11, she was arrested and taken to Salem
, where she was interrogated by Jonathan Corwin
, John Hathorne
and Captain John Higginson.
Most of her accusers were young women from Salem, among them, Ann Putnam and Mary Warren
. An exception to this, was the middle-aged William Barker, Sr., who stated under examination that he had been afflicted for three years by the devil. He confessed that he had signed the devil's book, and that Satan had promised to "pay all his debts" and allow him to live in luxury. He stated that George Burroughs
was the "ringleader", but claimed that Faulkner and her sister, Elizabeth Johnson Sr., were his "enticers to this great abomination."
When Faulkner entered the room, her accusers would fall down to the floor in hysterics. She held a handkerchief in her hands while she was examined, and whenever she would squeeze or twist the cloth, her accusers would have "grievous fitts". When magistrate
s demanded to know why she harmed the girls, asking her to look at their distress, Faulkner told the magistrates that she was "sorry the girls were afflicted," but that she had not afflicted them, "it is the devil [who] does it in my shape." The magistrates responded by asking, if she was innocent, why did Faulkner shed no tears over the girls' suffering. She refused to confess, insisting "God would not have her confess that [which] she was not guilty of."
At one point during the examination, Mary Warren fell into "fitts", and was "pulled under the table," apparently unable to come out from under it, but after receiving "a touch of said Faulkner" she was freed.
On August 29, Faulkner's eleven-year-old niece and fourteen year-old nephew, Abigail and Stephen Johnson, were also arrested on charges of witchcraft.
Faulkner was reexamined the next day in prison, still insisting that she had never consorted with the devil, nor signed his book, she did admit to feeling animosity toward her family’s accusers. She suggested that the devil had taken advantage of this, in essence framing her for the crime of witchcraft. She had been "angry at what folks said" when her niece was "taken up" for witchcraft. Neighbors had crowded round the Johnson home, laughing, taunting Faulkner, telling her that soon her sister would also be arrested for witchcraft:
On August 31, her sister and nephew confessed to witchcraft. They testified that they had attended a gathering where they were baptized by the devil, who promised them “happiness and joy”, and that at the devil’s behest, they had afflicted Martha Sprague and several people in Andover. They refused to implicate anyone else in their activities.
On September 8, Faulkner's sister-in-law, Deliverance Dane, confessed to witchcraft under examination, though she would later recant insisting that she had “wronged the truth” by confessing. Faulkner’s nine-year-old daughter Abigail was accused of witchcraft and arrested on September 16. The next day her twelve-year-old daughter Dorothy was arrested on the same charge. Faulkner's young daughters confessed soon after their arrest, and were persuaded to condemn their mother as a witch.
One day later, Ann Putnam testified that she had been "afflicted" by Faulkner on August 9, 1692, and that she had witnessed Faulkner or her specter tormenting two other young women.
Faulkner's sentence read:
Faulkner was pregnant when brought to trial, and for this reason, her execution was delayed.
pleading for clemency. She explained that her husband was an invalid, and though his condition had been stable, her arrest caused him to suffer a relapse, leaving her children with no caretaker and "little or nothing to subsist on." Governor
Phips granted her request; she was pardoned and released from prison.
Though released, her name had not been cleared. In 1703, Faulkner petitioned the court asking that she be legally exonerated.
Faulkner petitioned the court for eleven years before they finally granted her request, reversing the bill of attainder
in 1711.
Faulkner’s daughters were released from prison in October 1692, along with their cousins Stephen and Abigail Johnson, on a 500 pound bond paid by Nathaniel Dane and John Osgood. Her niece, Elizabeth Johnson Jr., was found guilty of witchcraft, and sentenced to death in January 1693. Her death warrant was signed by William Stoughton
. Elizabeth, like her aunt, managed to escape the gallows due to the intervention of Governor Phips. Faulkner’s sister, Elizabeth Johnson Sr., was acquitted and released in January 1693, but her attainder was never reversed. Faulkner’s sister-in-law, Deliverance Dane, was released in December 1692, when the case against her was dismissed.
Abigail (Dane) Faulkner died in Andover, Massachusetts on February 5, 1730. Her husband, Francis Faulkner, died in Andover two years later on September 19, 1732.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
woman accused of witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
during the Salem witch trials
Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
in 1692. In the frenzy that followed, Faulkner’s sister Elizabeth Johnson, her sister-in-law Deliverance Dane
Deliverance (Hazeltine) Dane
Deliverance Dane was one of many women accused of witchcraft during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. The trials began in Salem, but quickly began to spread. Dane was from Andover, Massachusetts, and due largely to the work of her father-in-law, much of the hysteria that swept through Salem...
, two of her daughters, two of her nieces, and a nephew, would all be accused of witchcraft and arrested. Faulkner was convicted and sentenced to death, but her execution was delayed due to pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
. Before she gave birth, Faulkner was pardoned by the governor and released from prison.
Family
Abigail (Dane) Faulkner was born on October 13, 1652, in Andover, MassachusettsAndover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2010 census, the population was 33,201...
, the daughter of Reverend Francis Dane
Francis Dane
Francis Dane was baptized in Bishop's Stortford, England, and was probably born there.-Education and early career:...
and Elizabeth Ingalls. Faulkner was the sister of accused witch Elizabeth (Dane) Johnson, and sister-in-law of accused witch Deliverance (Hazeltine) Dane
Deliverance (Hazeltine) Dane
Deliverance Dane was one of many women accused of witchcraft during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. The trials began in Salem, but quickly began to spread. Dane was from Andover, Massachusetts, and due largely to the work of her father-in-law, much of the hysteria that swept through Salem...
. Abigail (Dane) Faulkner's two daughters, Abigail Faulkner and Dorothy Faulkner, were also accused of witchcraft.
On October 12, 1675, Abigail married Lieutenant Francis Faulkner. The Dane and Faulkner families were early settlers who had gained social prominence in Andover.
Francis and Abigail Faulkner had at least seven children:
- 1. Elizabeth Faulkner born July 4, 1676 in Andover. Died August 17, 1678 in Andover.
- 2. Elizabeth Faulkner born December 7, 1678 in Andover. Married to John Butrick.
- 3. Dorothy Faulkner born February 15, 1680 in Andover. Married to Samuel Nurse on November 25, 1708.
- 4. Abigail Faulkner born August 12, 1683 in Andover. Married to Thomas Lamson on April 6, 1708.
- 5. Frances Faulkner was born on April 29, 1686 in Andover. Married on May 12, 1724 to Daniel Faulkner.
- 6. Edmund Squirrels Faulkner was born on April 2, 1688 in Andover. Married first to Elizabeth Marston on February 19, 1715. Married second on August 17, 1730, to Dorcas Buckston. Married third to Dorothy Robinson on February 2, 1747.
- 7. Ammi Ruhamah (which symbolically means "my people have obtained mercy") Faulkner was born on March 20, 1693 in Andover. Married to Hannah Ingalls on June 7, 1726.
Faulkner’s grandson, Colonel Francis Faulkner, led a company at the Battle of Concord, and commanded the regiment that guarded General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
John Burgoyne
John Burgoyne
General John Burgoyne was a British army officer, politician and dramatist. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles, mostly notably during the Portugal Campaign of 1762....
while he was a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
.
Prelude to prosecution
Nothing in the court records of Andover indicates that Abigail Faulkner had been accused, let alone found guilty, of any crimes or misconduct prior to 1692. However, her sister, Elizabeth Johnson Sr., was something of a scarlet woman, having been tried for fornication several years before.The one feature that distinguishes the Danes and the Faulkners from their neighbors is their comparative wealth. In 1675, roughly twelve years before his death, Edmund Faulkner bequeathed the bulk of his estate to Francis Faulkner, his eldest son, then just twenty-four. Making young Francis an influential figure in Andover, while his contemporaries were still working their parents’ land, destined to wait several more years before they could accumulate enough money to marry and become landowners. In 1687, Edmund Faulkner died, and Francis inherited the remainder of his father's estate, excepting only a very minor portion left to his sisters and brother.
Not long after his father's death, Francis Faulkner became ill, suffering from convulsions, confusion and memory loss, leaving him unable to manage his own affairs. Abigail Faulkner was granted control of her husband's estate until their sons came of age. As the manager of his estate, Abigail wielded more power than most of the men in Andover, including her own brother-in-law.
Another bone of contention within the community concerned Abigail Faulkner's father. Reverend Dane had served as Andover's minister for more than forty years when the witchcraft trials began in 1692. As the frenzy in Salem progressed, Dane openly expressed doubts regarding the accusations made by Ann Putnam and others; he was disturbed by the fanatical nature of the proceedings.
- Dane was indeed to fight the plague with a heroism unequalled by any who had choice in the matter, risking not only his own life and reputation, but what must have come harder, the lives of nearly all the womenfolk in his family. And in this fight he was at first alone, deserted by his own deacons who regarded him at best as an old and failing man, too far behind the times to appreciate the methods of modern science.
Reverend Dane was accused of witchcraft in 1692, but was never charged. It is known that a decade prior to the witch trials, Dane had sued the residents of Andover for a salary increase. The court found in Dane’s favor, ordering the town to raise his salary, and to provide an adequate sum to pay for an assistant to be hired. Dane had also opposed a proposal by several residents that Andover be divided into two precincts.
Economic tensions and her husband’s illness, in addition to the doubts her father expressed regarding the accusers, may have caused Faulkner to become an object of suspicion, envy, and resentment within her community.
Salem witch trials
Things came to a head in early August 1692, when Elizabeth Johnson’s daughter and namesake, was accused of witchcraft and arrested. Faulkner’s niece quickly confessed, telling her examiners on August 10, that she had consorting with the devil, meeting him at a gathering of “about six score”.Faulkner was soon accused of witchcraft by neighbors who claimed she had “afflicted” their children. On August 11, she was arrested and taken to Salem
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
, where she was interrogated by Jonathan Corwin
Jonathan Corwin
Jonathan Corwin was a wealthy New England merchant, and a judge in the Salem, Massachusetts area who was involved in the Salem Witch Trials....
, John Hathorne
John Hathorne
John Hathorne was an executor in the Salem witch trials, and the only one who never repented of his actions. He was also a merchant in Salem, Massachusetts....
and Captain John Higginson.
Most of her accusers were young women from Salem, among them, Ann Putnam and Mary Warren
Mary Warren
Mary Ann Warren was the oldest of the accusers during the 1692 Salem witch trials, in her teens. She was a servant for John and Elizabeth Proctor. Renouncing her claims after being threatened to be hanged, she was later arrested for practicing witchcraft herself, but did not confess...
. An exception to this, was the middle-aged William Barker, Sr., who stated under examination that he had been afflicted for three years by the devil. He confessed that he had signed the devil's book, and that Satan had promised to "pay all his debts" and allow him to live in luxury. He stated that George Burroughs
George Burroughs
George Burroughs , American Congregational pastor, graduated from Harvard College in 1670, and became the minister of Salem Village in 1680, a charge which he held until 1683. He lived at Falmouth until it was destroyed by natives in 1690. Burroughs then moved to Wells, Maine...
was the "ringleader", but claimed that Faulkner and her sister, Elizabeth Johnson Sr., were his "enticers to this great abomination."
When Faulkner entered the room, her accusers would fall down to the floor in hysterics. She held a handkerchief in her hands while she was examined, and whenever she would squeeze or twist the cloth, her accusers would have "grievous fitts". When magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
s demanded to know why she harmed the girls, asking her to look at their distress, Faulkner told the magistrates that she was "sorry the girls were afflicted," but that she had not afflicted them, "it is the devil [who] does it in my shape." The magistrates responded by asking, if she was innocent, why did Faulkner shed no tears over the girls' suffering. She refused to confess, insisting "God would not have her confess that [which] she was not guilty of."
At one point during the examination, Mary Warren fell into "fitts", and was "pulled under the table," apparently unable to come out from under it, but after receiving "a touch of said Faulkner" she was freed.
On August 29, Faulkner's eleven-year-old niece and fourteen year-old nephew, Abigail and Stephen Johnson, were also arrested on charges of witchcraft.
Faulkner was reexamined the next day in prison, still insisting that she had never consorted with the devil, nor signed his book, she did admit to feeling animosity toward her family’s accusers. She suggested that the devil had taken advantage of this, in essence framing her for the crime of witchcraft. She had been "angry at what folks said" when her niece was "taken up" for witchcraft. Neighbors had crowded round the Johnson home, laughing, taunting Faulkner, telling her that soon her sister would also be arrested for witchcraft:
- "and she [Faulkner] did look with an evil eye on ye afflicted persons consenting that they should be afflicted because they were the cause of bringing her kindred out, and she did wish them ill, that her spirit being roused, she did pitch her hands together. She knew not but that the devil might take advantage, but it was the devil, not she, that afflicted them."
On August 31, her sister and nephew confessed to witchcraft. They testified that they had attended a gathering where they were baptized by the devil, who promised them “happiness and joy”, and that at the devil’s behest, they had afflicted Martha Sprague and several people in Andover. They refused to implicate anyone else in their activities.
On September 8, Faulkner's sister-in-law, Deliverance Dane, confessed to witchcraft under examination, though she would later recant insisting that she had “wronged the truth” by confessing. Faulkner’s nine-year-old daughter Abigail was accused of witchcraft and arrested on September 16. The next day her twelve-year-old daughter Dorothy was arrested on the same charge. Faulkner's young daughters confessed soon after their arrest, and were persuaded to condemn their mother as a witch.
One day later, Ann Putnam testified that she had been "afflicted" by Faulkner on August 9, 1692, and that she had witnessed Faulkner or her specter tormenting two other young women.
Faulkner's sentence read:
- The Jury find Abigail Faulkner, wife of Francis Faulkner of Andover, guilty of ye felonyFelonyA felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
of witchcraft, committed on ye body of Martha Sprague, also on ye body of Sarah Phelps. Sentence of death passed on Abigail Faulkner.
Faulkner was pregnant when brought to trial, and for this reason, her execution was delayed.
Aftermath and exoneration
In December 1692, four months after her arrest, Faulkner petitioned Governor PhipsWilliam Phips
Sir William Phips was a shipwright, ship's captain, treasure hunter, military leader, and the first royally-appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay....
pleading for clemency. She explained that her husband was an invalid, and though his condition had been stable, her arrest caused him to suffer a relapse, leaving her children with no caretaker and "little or nothing to subsist on." Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Phips granted her request; she was pardoned and released from prison.
Though released, her name had not been cleared. In 1703, Faulkner petitioned the court asking that she be legally exonerated.
- "The pardon so far had its effect that I am as yet suffered to live, but this only as a malefactor, convicted upon record of ye most heinous crimes, which besides its utter ruining and defacing my reputation will certainly expose myself to imminent danger of new accusations which will be ye more readily believed, and will remain a perpetual brand of infamy upon my family. I do humbly pray that this high and honorable court will plan to take my case into serious consideration, and order the defacing of ye record against me, so that I may be freed from the evil consequences thereof."
Faulkner petitioned the court for eleven years before they finally granted her request, reversing the bill of attainder
Bill of attainder
A bill of attainder is an act of a legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a judicial trial.-English law:...
in 1711.
- Upon the humble Petition and suit of several of the said persons and of the children of others of them whose Parents were Executed. Be it Declared and Enacted by his Excellency the Governor Council and Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same That the several convictions Judgments and Attainders against the said George Burroughs, John Proctor, George Jacobs, John Willard, Giles Corey and Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Good, Elizabeth How, Mary Eastey, Sarah Wildes, Abigail Hobbs, Samuel Wardwell, Mary Parker, Martha Carrier, Abigail Faulkner, Anne Foster, Rebecca Eames, Mary Post, Mary Lacey, Mary Bradbury, and Dorcas Hoar, and every of them Be and hereby are reversed made and declared to be null and void to all Intents, Constructions and purposes whatsoever, as if no such convictions Judgments, or Attainders had ever been had or given. And that no penalties or Forfeitures of Goods or Chattels be by the said Judgments and attainders or either of them had or Incurred. Any Law Usage or Custom to the contrary notwithstanding. And that no Sheriff, Constable, Jailer or other officer shall be Liable to any prosecution in the Law for anything they then Legally did in the execution of their respective offices.
- Made and passed by the Great and General Court or Assembly of Her Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England held at Boston the 17th day of October, 1711.
Faulkner’s daughters were released from prison in October 1692, along with their cousins Stephen and Abigail Johnson, on a 500 pound bond paid by Nathaniel Dane and John Osgood. Her niece, Elizabeth Johnson Jr., was found guilty of witchcraft, and sentenced to death in January 1693. Her death warrant was signed by William Stoughton
William Stoughton (Massachusetts)
William Stoughton was a colonial magistrate and admininstrator in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He was in charge of what have come to be known as the Salem Witch Trials, first as the Chief Justice of the Special Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692, and then as the Chief Justice of the...
. Elizabeth, like her aunt, managed to escape the gallows due to the intervention of Governor Phips. Faulkner’s sister, Elizabeth Johnson Sr., was acquitted and released in January 1693, but her attainder was never reversed. Faulkner’s sister-in-law, Deliverance Dane, was released in December 1692, when the case against her was dismissed.
Abigail (Dane) Faulkner died in Andover, Massachusetts on February 5, 1730. Her husband, Francis Faulkner, died in Andover two years later on September 19, 1732.
In Literature
In Kathleen Duble's novel "The Sacrifice," Faulkner is a main character. However, because the story centers around her daughter Abigail, her name is changed to Hannah in order to avoid confusion. Faulkner is depicted as having instructed her daughters to accuse her of witchcraft in order to free them from prison, making "The Sacrifice."Further reading
- Duble, Kathleen Benner. The Sacrifice Margaret K. McElderry, 2005
- Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England, W. W. Norton, 1998 (p. 218-220)
- Lamson, William Judson. (1917) Descendants of William Lamson of Ipswich, Mass., 1634-1917, Tobias A. Wright (p. 32-35)
- Norton, Mary Beth (2003). In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, Vintage Books
- Robinson, Enders A. (1992) Salem Witchcraft and Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables, Heritage Books (p. 289-290)
- Starkey, Marion L. (1949) The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Inquiry into the Salem Witch Trials, Alfred A. Knopf (p. 128, 182-190, 228)