Overcoming a Death Sentence:
Abigail Dane Faulkner 1652-1729
Abigail Dane Faulkner faced the
unthinkable: her community turned against her and her family. She was accused
and convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to death. She only escaped the noose
because she was pregnant. Abigail was eventually freed, but instead of fleeing
the scene of her torment, she held her head up and stayed. She fought back.
Abigail Dane Faulkner was an amazingly strong woman.
Abigail Dane was my eighth great
aunt, daughter of my eighth-great-grandfather Francis Dane and his wife
Elizabeth Ingalls. She was born October 13, 1652 in Andover, Massachusetts,
where her father was the local minister. In 1675 at age 22, she married Francis
Faulkner, one of the sons of a wealthy local landowner.
As the years passed, her father fell
out of favor with his parishioners, and they tried to oust him by hiring
another minister. Francis Dane fought back, and the parish ended up splitting the
salary between the two men, leaving both ministers barely able to support their
families. There was considerable ill will between them and their factions of supporters.
While the new minister fell in with
the witchcraft mania sweeping through nearby Salem, Francis Dane opposed the
trials, and drew the wrath of the witch hunters, who began to look at Rev. Dane’s
own family as potential witches.
Abigail Dane Faulkner was an
attractive target. Her husband had been the beneficiary of his father’s largesse;
Edmund Faulkner gave the bulk of his extensive land holdings to Francis
Faulkner when the young man was in his early twenties, years before Edmund died.
Francis’ siblings were left with the remainder of their father’s holdings when
he eventually died, which probably embittered them toward their eldest brother.
Francis’ early fortune would have
left ill will in the community as well. Because he held so much land at such a
young age, he was admitted as an Andover townsman “upon the account of the land
which he now enjoyeth”. The position of townsman conferred benefits and gave
him influence that men older than he was but with less property were denied.
At some point, Francis became ill
with what his wife described as “fits”. He was unable to handle his
responsibilities, so Abigail became the manager of his lands and property.
Female power during that era was rare and was met with disfavor, so there may
have been community hostility directed at her.
In August 11, 1692, Abigail was
arrested and examined by the Salem court officials. Her young daughters,
Abigail Faulkner and Dorothy Faulkner, were also both arrested. They were only
nine and twelve years old, and out of fear and confusion, were persuaded to
accuse their mother of witchcraft, telling the court that “thire mother apared
and mayd them witches.”
 |
| Examination of Abigail Faulkner |
Poor frustrated Abigail admitted to
some of the charges. The examination notes that “she owned: that: she was Angry
at what folk s:d when her Couz Eliz. Jonson was taken up: & folk laught
& s'd her sister Jonson would come out next: & she did look with an
evil eye on the afflicted persons & did consent that they should be
afflicted: becaus they were the caus of bringing her kindred out: and she did
wish them ill & her spirit being raised she did:pinch her hands together.”
This was basically the gist of the complaint against her: that she looked angry
and clenched her fists when people were unpleasant to her. In the hysteria and
hatred of the times, that was enough to persuade people of her guilt.
 |
| Conviction and death sentence |
Abigail was convicted on September
17, 1692 of the “fellony of Witchcraft Comited on the body of Marthah
Sprague allsoe on the body of Sarrah Phelps”. She was sentenced to death,
but the sentence was delayed until the birth of the child she was carrying.
 |
| Bond agreement to free the Faulkner daughters |
Abigail’s daughters were paroled out of prison in October by their uncle Nathaniel Dane and John Osgood, who paid a bond of 500 pounds sterling—a small fortune in those days. Francis Faulkner also put up a bond of 100 pounds sterling to ransom his daughters. Rev. Francis Dane, Francis Faulkner and other Andover residents petitioned the governor of the colony to halt the trials and free the remaining prisoners, including Abigail. Abigail herself presented a petition, arguing that her husband’s health had deteriorated, and her six children would starve if she wasn’t freed to manage their property. Here is a portion of her petition:
“Thankes
be to the Lord I know my selfe altogether Innocent & Ignorant of the crime
of witchcraft w'ch is layd to my charge: as will appeare at the great day of
Judgment (May it please yo'r Excellencye) my husband about five yeares a goe
was taken w'th fitts w'ch did very much impaire his memory and understanding
but w'th the blessing of the Lord upon my Endeavors did recover of them againe
but now through greife and sorrow they are returned to him againe as bad as
Ever they were: I having six children and having little or nothing to subsist
on being in a manner without a head to doe any thinge for my selfe or them and
being closely confined can see no otherwayes but we shall all perish Therfore
may it please your Excellencye your poor and humble petition'r doe humbly begge
and Implore of yo'r Excellencye to take it into yo'r pious and Judicious
consideration that some speedy Course may be taken w'th me for my releasement that
I and my children perish not through meanes of my close confinement here w'ch
undoubtedly we shall if the Lord does not mightily prevent and yo'r poor
petitioner shall for ever pray for your health and happinesse in this life and
eternall felicity in the world to come so prayes from Salem Prison”.
 |
| Abigail's petition to be released |
Abigail’s petition to the governor
was successful, and she was released in December 1692 after spending four
months in the Salem prison. The witch trials were halted shortly after.
Abigail and Francis Faulkner
continued to live in Andover alongside the people who had accused and condemned
her. In 1703, she petitioned the colonial court to exonerate her of witchcraft,
noting that without a declaration of her innocence, she would continue to be
subject to suspicion and rumor. The petition states:
“The
pardon haveing Soe farr had its Efect as that I am as yet Suffred [to] to live
but this only as a Malefactor Convict upon record of the most henious Crimes
that mankind Can be Supposed to be guilty off, which besides its utter Ruining
and Defacing my Reputation, will Certainly Expose my selfe to Iminent Danger by
New accusations, which will thereby be the more redily believed will Remaine as
a perpetuall brand of Infamy upon my family’.
 |
| Abigail's petition to be exonerated |
Abigail and her family had to wait
until 1711 for the courts to grant her exoneration. She continued to live in
Andover until her death on February 5, 1730. Her ailing husband outlived her by
two more years. Despite her fears of a “perpetual brand of Infamy”, her
daughters were able to marry within the community, and her sons became Andover
townsmen like their father. Her strength prevailed.
Sources:
Lewis,
Jone Johnson. "Abigail (Dane) Faulkner." ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020,
thoughtco.com/abigail-dane-faulkner-3528108.
Four
Generations: Population, Land, and Family in Colonial Andover Massachusetts...
By Philip J.
Greven, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1970, pgs. 95-97
http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n166.html. Copies of Abigail Faulkner trial
documents, sentencing, and petitions for pardon.
"Accused
Children in the Salem Witchcraft Crisis", Darya Mattes, 2004, Cornell
University
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