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| Birth: | 13 Oct 1652 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts 1 |
| Death: | 5 Feb 1729/30 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts 1 |
| Sex: | F |
| Father: | Francis Dane b. About 1615 in England |
| Mother: | Elizabeth Ingalls |
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| Francis Faulkner (Husband) b. May 1651 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts
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| 2 3 1 4 |
| Marriage: | 12 OCT 1675 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts |
| Children: | |
 Elizabeth Faulkner b. 4 Jul 1676 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts
- Elizabeth Faulkner b. 7 Dec 1678 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts
- Dorothy Faulkner b. 15 Feb 1679/80 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts
 Abigail Faulkner b. 12 Aug 1683 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts
- Frances Faulkner b. 29 Apr 1686 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts
- Edmund Faulkner b. 2 Apr 1688 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts
- Ammi Ruhamah Faulkner b. 20 Mar 1692/93 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts
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| Notes | | |
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Individual:
Accused of witchcraft, along with daughters Dorothy, age 10, and Abigail, age 8
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Mrs. Abigail Faulkner was sentenced to death, but, by the intercession of friends, delay was obtained, and finally she was set free, when orders were given for a general release. Her trial is one of the most noteworthy. She was the daughter of the minister who for forty-five years had lived in Andover, and she was the first who had been condemned in the town of those in high social standing. Her conduct in the courts was worthy of her position, free alike from credulous weakness on the one hand and from scornful defiance on the other. Either from her own good sense, or upheld by the wise counsels of her father (who never yielded to the delusion), she showed the greatest discretion, paying due deference to the court, yet never losing her firmness and dignity. That she was not to be intimidated by superstitious terrors, the examiners knew, it is evident, for they forbore to argue with her about "peace and judgment to come," but they urged her to confess "for ye credit of her Towne!" This seems almost to have a spice of malice and meanness in it, at all events to be very shrewd to bring about the desired end, for to hint even that the fair name of the town was to suffer from the family of the minister was not to help him who had recently been involved in difficulties with his parishioners.
However, the daughter had her father's spirit, and even this innuendo, if it were one, did not move her. She merely made reply in the dignity of simple truth, that "God would not require her to confess that she was not guilty of." Still later, when witnesses were numerous and evidence overwhelming, she made admissions, guardedly, and as if with the design of conceding all that could be conceded with a view to appeasing the clamor for her confession. She admitted it was possible that the devil might be working through her, but if so she was not conscious of it and did not consent to it. She explained some of the charges against her by saying, that when so many of her relations had been accused she had been "raised in her spirit " [that is, excited and indignant], and almost frantic, and she "had pinched her hands together" in her distress. The examiners had charged that by this "pinching of her hands" the afflicted were tortured. She admitted that possibly it was so, but yet it was not she who hurt them, but the devil working through her without her knowledge or consent. It was noted against her that she was unmoved by the sufferings of the afflicted; though she said she was sorry for them "she did not shed a tear." Some seven or eight charged upon her their tortures. Added to the distress of so many accusers was the greatest of all, that of having her two little girls (eight and ten years old) confess themselves witches and charge their mother with being their teacher. Also, Martha Tyler, Johanna Tyler, Sarah Wilson, and Joseph Tyler, confessing themselves witches, "did all acknowledge that they were led into that dreadful sin of witchcraft by the means of the aforesd Abigail Faulkner."
She was kept in prison thirteen weeks, and when set free, by the general "jail delivery," was legally liable to penalty. In the year 1700 she presented a memorial to the General Court praying for the defacing of the record against her, by which she was under the attainder of a convicted criminal: -
"I am as yet suffered to live, but only as a malefactor convicted upon record of ye most heinous crimes that mankind can be supposed to be guilty of, which besides its utter ruining and defaming my Reputation will certainly expose myself to Imminent Danger by new accusations which will thereby be the more readily believed will remain a perpetual brand of infamy upon my family. I do humbly pray that the High and Honourable Court will please to take my case into serious consideration and order the Defacing of ye record against me, so that I may be freed from ye evil consequences thereof."
Not until after eleven years, and much petitioning, was the attainder taken off. The record remains to this day one of the most conspicuous on the pages of the "Book of Witchcraft," in the State Archives. Its clear and distinct writing, among many nearly illegible papers, make it one of the noticeable records; so that even the casual turner of the leaves cannot fail to read it: -
"THE JURY FIND ABIGAIL FAULKNER wife of Francis Faulkner of Andover GUILTY OF Ye FELONY OF WITCHCRAFT Comited on ye body of Martha Sprague also on ye body of Sarah Phelps
SENTENCE OF DEATH PASSED ON ABIGAIL FAULKNER. Copia vera."
- Historical Sketches of Andover
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| Sources | | |
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- Title: Vital Records of Andover, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850
Publication: Topsfield, MA: The Topsfield Historical Society, 1912
Media: Electronic
Text: 'Abigall, d. Francis and Elizabeth, Oct. 13, 1652'
- Title: Marriages in the Town of Andover, MA, 1647-1700
Media: Electronic
Text: 'Francis FAWKNER & Abigail DANE married 12 Oct 1675'
- Title: American Marriage Records Before 1699
Author: William Montgomery Clemens
Publication: Pompton Lakes, NJ: Biblio Co., 1926
Media: Electronic
Text: Abigail DANE
- Title: Historical Sketches of Andover (Comprising the Present Towns of North Andover and Andover), Massachusetts
Author: Sarah Loring Bailey
Publication: Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1880
Media: Electronic
Page: 82
Text: 'His son, Lieut. Francis Faulkner, married Abigail Dane (daughter of Rev. Francis Dane), who was accused of witchcraft and condemned, but reprieved, and finally saved from hanging by the influence o
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