Abigail Faulkner

Abigail Dane was born on October 13, 1652, in Andover, Massachusetts, the daughter of Reverend Francis Dane and Elizabeth Ingalls. Faulkner was the sister of Elizabeth Johnson, and sister-in-law of Deliverance Dane, both of whom were accused of witchcraft in Salem during the 1692 hysteria. The Dane and Faulkner families were early settlers who had gained social prominence in Andover. Francis and Abigail Faulkner had at least eight children: • Elizabeth Faulkner born July 4, 1676, in Andover. Died August 17, 1678, in Andover. • Dorothy Faulkner born February 15, 1680, in Andover. Married to Samuel Nurse on November 25, 1708. • Abigail Faulkner (Jr.) born August 12, 1683, in Andover. Married to Thomas Lamson on April 6, 1708. • Frances Faulkner was born on April 29, 1686, in Andover. Married on May 12, 1724, to Daniel Faulkner, her first cousin. • Edmund 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. • 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, a second cousin through his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Ingalls Dane. • Paul Faulkner 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. ==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. 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. This made 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. 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. ==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, where she was interrogated by Jonathan Corwin, John Hathorne and Captain John Higginson. 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. 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 magistrates 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." Faulkner was reexamined the next day in prison, still insisting she had never consorted with the devil, nor signed his book, but 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. 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. One day later, Ann Putnam Jr. 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. ==Aftermath and exoneration==

In December 1692, four months after her arrest, Faulkner petitioned Governor Phips 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." Faulkner's daughters were released from prison in October 1692, along with their cousins Stephen and Abigail Johnson, on a £500 bond paid by Nathaniel Dane and John Osgood. Her death warrant was signed by William Stoughton. 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. ==Further reading==