10/17/2026
On October 17, 1711, the General Court declared the charges of witchcraft against eight Andover residents to be “null and void.” Among those exonerated were Martha Carrier, Rebecca Eames, Abigail Falkner, Anne Foster, Mary Lacey, Mary Parker, Mary Post, and Samuel Wardell. Carrier, Parker, and Wardell were executed for their alleged sorcery. In this Map of Witch Hysteria, the houses with a black roof represent residents who were arrested during the trials.
Less than a decade after the trials, the General Court acknowledged that the panic had driven accusers to target “persons of known and good reputation.” Beneath the spiritual hysteria lay petty local grievances: Martha Carrier was accused by her neighbor, Benjamin Abbott, after they had a boundary dispute. Abigail Dane Faulkner may have been accused due to the town’s frustration with her father, Reverend Francis Dane, who demanded that the town continue to pay his salary, even after a second pastor was brought in.
Want to learn more about Andover’s accused “witches”? Check out our "Andover Bewitched" series on History Buzz: https://historybuzz.substack.com/s/andover-bewitched
(First Photo: Map of the Witch Hysteria, Andover Center for History & Culture | Second Photo: 1711 "Act to Reverse the Attainders of George Burroughs and Others For Witchcraft," Massachusetts State Archives)
