Abigail Faulkner (née Dane; October 13, 1652 – February 5, 1730), sometimes called Abigail Faulkner Sr., was an American woman accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials in 1692.Lamson, William Judson. Descendants of William Lamson of Ipswich, Mass., 1634-1917, pp. 32-33 New York: Tobias A. Wright, 1917Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, p. 259, 262, 397-98 New York: Vintage Books, 2003. In the frenzy that followed, Faulkner's sister Elizabeth (Dane) Johnson (1641–1722), 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.
Family Abigail Dane was born on October 13, 1652, in Andover, Massachusetts, the daughter of Reverend Francis Dane and Elizabeth Ingalls.Finnell, Arthur Louis. The Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry Lineage of Members,p.108, 224 Baltimore: Clearfield, 2007Lamson, William Judson. Descendants of William Lamson of Ipswich, Mass., 1634-1917, p. 32 New York: Tobias A. Wright, 1917 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. Abigail (Dane) Faulkner's two daughters, Abigail Faulkner and Dorothy Faulkner, were also accused of witchcraft. All of these survived the trials.
On October 12, 1675, Abigail married Lieutenant Francis Faulkner.Robinson, Enders A. Salem witchcraft and Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables, p. 289 Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1992 The Dane and Faulkner families were early settlers who had gained social prominence in Andover.Bailey, Sarah Loring. Historical Sketches of Andover, p. 82 Boston: Houghton, 1880
Francis and Abigail Faulkner had at least eight children: Elizabeth Faulkner born July 4, 1676, in Andover.Frances LaMarco, trans. Andover, MA Vital Records to 1850 Topsfield, MA: The Topsfield Historical Society, 1912. accessed September 16, 2009 Died August 17, 1678, in Andover. Elizabeth Faulkner born December 7, 1678, in Andover. Married to John Butrick.Butrick, Richard Porter. Butrick, Butterick, Buttrick in the U.S.A., 1635-1978, p.5 Washington: Butrick, 1979 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.Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England, p. 219 New York: W. W. Norton, 1998 However, her sister, Elizabeth Johnson Sr., was something of a scarlet woman, having been tried for fornication several years before.
The one feature that distinguished the Danes and the Faulkners from their neighbors was their comparative wealth.Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England, p. 218-219 New York: W. W. Norton, 1998 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.Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England, p. 218 New York: W. W. Norton, 1998 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. 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 point 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.Massachusetts Historical Society. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, p. 13 Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1957 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.Starkey, Marion L. The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Inquiry into the Salem Witch Trials, p. 182, 188 New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1949.
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.Starkey, Marion L. The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Inquiry into the Salem Witch Trials, p. 182 New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1949.
Reverend Dane was accused of witchcraft in 1692, but was never charged.Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, p. 328 New York: Vintage Books, 2003 It is known that a decade prior to the witch trials, Dane had sued the residents of Andover for a salary increase.Gildrie, Richard P. The Profane, the Civil, & the Godly: The Reformation of Manners in Orthodox New England, 1679-1749, p. 177 University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994. 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.Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England, pp. 218-220 New York: W. W. Norton, 1998.
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.Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England, p. 220 New York: W. W. Norton, 1998 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".Gragg, Larry. The Salem Witch Crisis, p. 149 Westport, CT: Praeger, 1992
Faulkner was soon accused of witchcraft by neighbors who claimed she had "afflicted" their children.Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England, p. 219-220 New York: W. W. Norton, 1998 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 Jr. 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.Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, p. 259 New York: Vintage Books, 2003 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.Lamson, William Judson. Descendants of William Lamson of Ipswich, Mass., 1634-1917, p. 33 New York: Tobias A. Wright, 1917 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".Robinson, Enders A. The Devil Discovered: Salem Witchcraft 1692, p. 328 New York: Hippocrene Books, 1991 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." 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.Starkey, Marion L. The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Inquiry into the Salem Witch Trials, p. 228 New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1949
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.Starkey, Marion L. The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Inquiry into the Salem Witch Trials, p. 188 New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1949 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.Gragg, Larry. The Salem Witch Crisis, p. 148, 150 Westport, CT: Praeger, 1992 They refused to implicate anyone else in their activities.Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, p. 260 New York: Vintage Books, 2003