1692 :: Warrant for Arrest of Barkers and Marston

On this date in our family history . . . the 25th day of August . . . in the year 1692 . . . after being accused of the supposed crime of witchcraft, a warrant is issued for the apprehension of certain individuals from our family tree, i.e. . . . 

Essex To the Constables of Andov'r

Complaint being made to me this day, by Sam'l Martin of Andover & Moses Tyler sen'r of Boxford, against Willia Barker sen'r Mary Marstone the wife of John Marstone jun'r & Mary Barker the daughter of Lef't John Barker , all of Andov'r in that the aboves'd William Barker Mary Marstone & Mary Barker, have woefully afflicted & abused, Abigail Martin & Rose foster of Andov'r, & Martha Sprague of Boxford by witchcraft, Contrary to the peace of o'r sovereigne Lord & Lady #[King] William & Mary King & Queen of England &c: & to their Majes'ts Laws in that Case provided:

These therefore require you in their Majes'ts names upon sight hereof, to apprehend & seize the bodies of William Barker sen'r Mary Marstone the wife of John Marstone jun'r & Mary Barker the daughter of Lef't John Barker all of Andov'r & them safely Convey to Salem, before their Majes'ts justices of the peace there, to be examined & proceeded with according to law, for which this shall be yo'r warrant: given und'r my hand & seal this #[eighteenth] 25'th [25] day of August Anno Domini 1692: in the fourth year of their Majes'ts Reigne:/ *Dudley Bradstreet justice of Peace

The s'd Martin & Tyler have given suffitient bond to prosecute s'd persons to effect, which bond remains with me:

(Reverse) [torn] In Obediance Two this warant I have aprehended the within Riten persons and have brought them to Salom the 29'th of August 1692 Before their honours mentined in the Rit: pere me *Ephraim Foster
Constable of Andover

W'm Barker
Mary Marston Mary Barker
Exa'd 29: 6. 92

The names mentioned in this warrant and their kinship to the Keeper of this family history blog are as follows . . . 

• Samuel Martin [step 9th great-grand-uncle] 
• Moses Tyler [9th great-grandpa] 
• William Barker [8th great-grandpa]
• Mary Marston [stepdaughter of 8th great-grand-aunt]
• Mary Barker [7th great-grandma]
• Abigail Martin [wife of step 9th great-grand-uncle]
• Rose Foster [7th great-grand-aunt]
• Martha Sprague [step-8th-great-grand-aunt]
• Dudley Bradstreet [father-in-law of 8th great-grand-uncle] 
• Ephraim Foster [8th great-grandpa]

1727 :: Death of Moses Tyler

On this date in our family history . . . the 2nd day of October . . . in the year 1727 . . . Moses Tyler dies in Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts . . . and is memorialized with a tombstone in the Old North Parish Burying Ground in said county . . . this Moses Tyler is a 9th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . 

The above image was created from page 17 in Volume I of The Tyler Genealogy by Willard Irving Tyler Brigham . . . the text about this Moses Tyler reads in part as follows (click on the above book link to read the entire story) . . . 

Quartermaster Moses Tyler, born in Andover or Roxbury, mass., 1641 or 1642; died in Andover, October 2, 1727; married (1), July 6, 1666, Prudence Blake, born April 15, 1647; died March 9, 1689; daughter of George and Dorothy Blake, of Gloucester, Mass. (who early moved to Boxford); married (2), about 169+, Sarah (Hasey) Sprague, born about 1647; died 1718; widow of Phineas Sprague, of Malden, he having died in 1690; she had several daughters by her first marriage; married (3), July or August 1718, Mrs. Martha Fisk, born about 1649; died February 13, 1735. . . . 

1692 :: Execution of Mary Parker

On this date in our family history . . . the 22nd day of September . . . in the year 1692 . . . in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts . . . Mary Parker nee Ayer is executed (hanged) after being accused and found guilty of the practice of witchcraft . . . in a book entitled Witchcraft in Salem Village in 1692 the following is recorded regarding this Mary Parker . . . 

Mary Parker was of Andover, and a widow. A warrant for her arrest was issued on September 1, being one of the latest issued for any person who was subsequently executed. She was examined on the following day before Hathorne, Corwin, Gedney and Higginson, "Justices of the peace." She was charged with practicing witchcraft on Martha Sprague of Boxford. . . . more accused persons were convicted and sentenced, namely: Margaret Scott, Wilmot Reed, Samuel Wardwell, Mary Parker, . . . Scott, Reed, Wardwell and Parker were executed on Thursday, the 22d. These, with the four convicted the preceding week, were the last persons hanged for witchcraft in 1692 or, for that matter, ever in Massachusetts. . . . 

This Mary Parker nee Ayer is a 9th great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . the William Barker, Jr. named below as one of Mary's accusers was a young teenage boy at the time . . . and he is a 7th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . 

Wm Barker Jun'r affirmed to the grand Inquest: that: Mary Parker: did in Company with him s'd Barker : afflict Martha Sprag by: witchcraft. the night before: s'd Barker Confessed: which was: the 1 of Sept'r 1692: this he owned: to the grand Inquest: Sept'r 16: 1692.  Owned in Court

1752 :: Death of Mary Barker nee Barker

On this date in our family history . . . the 10th day of February . . . in the year 1752 . . . Mary Barker nee Barker dies in Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts . . . her parents are John Barker and Mary Stevens . . . Mary was predeceased by her husband (and her first cousin), William Barker, Jr., who was a son of William Barker, Sr. and Mary Dix . . . Mary (b. 1679) and William, Jr. are 7th great-grandparents to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

Ode to Job

On this date in our family history . . . the 7th day of November . . . in the year 1760 . . . 38-year-old Ruth Porter nee Foster dies in Boxford, Massachusetts . . . the following day, the 8th of November, would be the 16th anniversary of the day she had married Benjamin Porter in Andover, Massachusetts . . . this Benjamin and Ruth are 6th great-grandparents to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

Benjamin's family history in Andover traces back to his 3rd great-grandpa, Job Tyler, who is said to have been living in Andover as early as 1639 . . . it has been said of this Job that . . .  

"He was a rude, self-asserting, striking personality" . . . and that . . . He did not . . . "learn prudence very fast, but he was himself. . . . He did not shape his words to suit sensitive ears. He resented dictation and found it hard to restrain himself from what he wanted to do through any prudential policy. . . . From this old canvas there gazes steadily out, not an ideal but a very real personage, an out and out Yankee type."

At a Tyler Family Reunion held in Andover on Wednesday, September 2nd, 1896, the gathering was called to the old North Parish Church, where Job Tyler anciently paid "minister's rates," and where his sons, Moses, Hopestill and John, were early communicants.

At this gathering, songs were sung, organization business was taken care of, and genealogies and letters of regret, as well as poems were read . . . including the following excerpts from a lengthy poetic composition written in honor of our Job . . .

In Newport, quaint Rhode Island town,

way down upon the coast.

There landed from old England's shore,

of whom we can now boast

A "Tyler"; from o'er the sea came he

to the woods and lofty hills.

To found a home and family,

and 'scape old country's ills.

"Sixteen Forty," or thereabout,

he stepped upon the strand

And pitched his tent in an ancient town

now known throughout the land

As Andover, of scholastic fame,

whose influence is known

In Forum, Pulpit, Rostrum,

where Knowledge it is shown.

"Job" was his appellation,

a patient man, 'tis said.

This horny-handed ancestor,

now numbered with the dead,

Who delved from early morn till night,

he strove to make a name,

Respected, loved, esteemed by all,

but yet, unknown to fame.

To gratify his longing

he went from town to town,

To Roxbury, Mendon, Arundel,

before he settled down.

But he came back to Andover,

and here resolved to stay.

Where we revere his memory

on this September day.

The supposition is,

his bones a grave doth fill

In the little old-time burial yard,

not far upon the hill;

No stone doth mark the sacred spot

or record can be found,

But one, his first born,

who lies there beneath historic ground.

The trees do wave their requiem

above the sacred dead,

So we should grant our meed of praise

for the spirits that have fled,

And add our mite of reverence for

those who went before,

And visit, each and all, the spot,

before the day is o'er.

As is stated in that poem, Job's final resting place has been lost to the sands of time . . . thanks to those involved in the referenced gathering, our Job is now memorialized with a bronze tablet attached to a boulder in the Old North Parish Burying Ground in North Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts . . . that boulder was relocated from the old Tyler farm in West Boxford . . . and placed near the gravestone of his son, Moses . . . the memorial was dedicated five years following the above reunion . . . on the 4th day of September in 1901 . . . 

This blogpost was researched and prepared specifically for The Sixth Annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge over at cousin Bill's blog which is known as . . . West in New England . . .

1710 :: Death of Mary Osgood

On this date in our family history . . . the 27th day of October . . . in the year 1710 . . . Mary Osgood nee Clemens dies in Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts . . . Mary was a daughter of Robert Clemens . . . she was married to John Osgood in November of 1653, and it is said that they had a dozen children . . . this Mary is a 9th great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . 


In 1692, Mary was accused of witchcraft . . . made a confession . . . but then recanted her confession on the 16th day of October . . . nevertheless, Mary was indicted on charges of witchcraft in January of 1693 . . . and spent about four months in the Salem prison . . . "she, with four others, were then released upon the petition of Mr. Dudley Bradstreet and a number of other Andover people, who had come to a better state of mind." . . . 


P.S. . . . one of Mary's brothers was Robert Clemens . . . who is a 4th great-grandpa to Samuel Langhorne Clemens . . . who is aka Mark Twain . . . who is already my 4th cousin four times removed via one of my Southern lines . . . 

1732 :: Death of Moses Tyler

On this date in our family history . . . the 11th day of October . . . in the year 1732 . . . Moses Tyler dies in Essex County, Massachusetts . . . and is laid to rest in the ancient cemetery in West Boxford . . . this Moses Tyler is an 8th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . 



The above image is from page 40 of Volume I of The Tyler Genealogy by Willard Irving Tyler Brigham . . . the text about Moses Tyler reads as follows . . .

Moses Tyler, born Rowley Village (now West Boxford), February 16, 1667; died October 11, 1732; married, January 3, 1694, Ruth Perley, of Ipswich; born 1676; died in Andover, May 10, 1738, but was buried with her husband in Rowley. It is stated in the History of Boxford that he moved just within the bounds of Andover about 1698, but in 1703 he is constable in Rowley. His name is on the 1711 Rowley tax list; in 1714 his "Province tax" was "£1.9.3"; he is on the preacher's rate of 1720; in 1722 his "Province tax" is "£0.18.8" and "Minister's rate, £0.15.7.", while in 1726, it is, respectively, "£3.8.11" and "£1.4.5." In 1728 he is selectman there. In 1723, with his brother Jacob, he deeds (recorded 1725, Salem, Bk. 45, p. 98), from "Andover," John Johnson, Jr., for £15, ¼ of a saw-mill, on a river, "alias brook, called Cachechorrick" — ¼ part of the iron-work — ¼ part wooden work — ¼ part utensils — ¼ part stream — ¼ part woodyard — ¼ part upper dam — ¼ part ditch from dam to mill for course of water. In 1736, upon the first incorporation of the second church in (West) Boxford, his widow and eldest daughter, Sarah (Porter) , were among the "admitted," having requested "dismission" from the First church.

1679 :: Birth of Mary Barker

On this date in our family history . . . the 3rd day of September . . . in the year 1679 . . . Mary Barker is born in Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts . . . her parents are John Barker and Mary Stevens . . . little Mary will grow up to marry her first cousin, William Barker, Jr., who is a son of William Barker, Sr. and Mary Dix . . . Mary (b. 1679) and William, Jr. are 7th great-grandparents to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

1692 :: Confession of William Barker, Sr.

On this date in our family history . . . the 29th day of August . . . in the year 1692 . . . after being accused of and arrested for the supposed crime of witchcraft, William Barker, Sr. "Conffesses he has been in the Snare of the Divil Three Years" . . . 

 God having called me to Confess my sin and Apostasy in that fall in giving the Devil advantage over me appearing to me like a Black, in the evening to set my hand to his Book, as I have owned to my shame. He told me that I should not want so doing. At Salem Village, there being a little off the Meeting-House, about an hundred five Blades, some with Rapiers by their side, which was called and might be more for ought I know by B and Bu[rroughs] and the Trumpet sounded, and Bread and Wine which they called the Sacrament, but I had none; being carried all over on a Stick, never being at any other Meeting. I being at Cart a Saturday last, all the day, of Hay and English Corn, the Devil brought my Shape to Salem, and did afflict M[artha] S[prague] and R[ose] F[oster] by clitching my hand; and a Sabbath day my Shape afflicted A[bigail] M[artin] and at night afflicted M[artha] S[prague] and A[bigail] M[artin] . E[lizabeth] J[ohnson ] and A[bigail] F[aulkner] have been my Enticers to this great abomination, as one have owned and charged her to her Sister with the same. And the and then all will be well. And now I hope God in some measure has made me something sensible of my sin and apostasy, begging pardon of God, and of the Honourable Magistrates and all Gods people, hoping and promising by the help of God, to set to my heart and hand to do what in me lyeth to destroy such wicked worship, humbly begging the prayers of all Gods People for me, I may walk humbly under this great affliction and that I may procure to my self, the sure mercies of David, and the blessing of Abraham.

(John Hale. A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft (Boston: Green & Allen, 1702), pp. 33–34. )

The entire case file for William can be seen HERE . . . this William Barker is an 8th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

1693 :: Death of Robert Eimes

On this date in our family history . . . the 22nd day of July . . . in the year 1693 . . . the death of Robert Eames is recorded in the Vital Records of Boxford . . . which is in Essex County, Massachusetts . . .

Boxford Deaths to the end of the year 1849 (page 221) . . . AMES (see also Eames, Eams), Robart, sen., July 22, 1693. [July 22, 1698, B.C.]

In the year 1899, The Essex Antiquarian, published the following article about Ames Genealogy on page 88 . . .

The name of Ames is also spelled in the Essex county records Aimes, Eames, Eams, Emes, Emms and Ems.

The ancestor of the Essex county family was ROBERT AMES. He lived in Boxford; and was a husbandman. His homestead was an eighth of a mile westerly of the residence of John T. Wood in the West parish. He married Rebecca Blake of Boxford (then Rowley village), one of his nearest neighbors, in 1661. She was condemned as a witch Sept. 17, 1692, but was included in the general reprieve July 22, 1693. He died in Boxford July 22, 1693; and she died May 8, 1721, aged eighty-one.

This Robert Eames is a 9th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

1647 :: Birth of Prudence Blake

On this date in our family history . . . the 15th day of April . . . in the year 1647 . . . Prudence Blake is born in Gloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts . . . this Prudence is a sister to Rebekah Blake . . . both are daughters of George and Dorothy Blake . . . AND . . . Prudence AND Rebekah are BOTH 9th great-grandmas to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

1692 :: Salem Witch Trials

On this date in our family history . . . the 17th day of September . . . in the year 1692 . . . Rebekah Eams nee Blake and Mary Parker nee Ayer are tried and condemned after being accused of practicing witchcraft . . . both Rebekah and Mary are 9th great-grandmas of the Keeper of this family history blog . . .





Salem Witchcraft:
With an Account of Salem Village,
and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects,
Volume 2 (Google eBook)
by
Charles Wentworth Upham
Wiggin and Lunt, 1867

1692 :: Rebekah Accused as a Witch

On this date in our family history . . . the 19th day of August . . . in the year 1692 . . . Rebekah Eames is examined before Salem Majestrats on accusation of being a witch . . . this Rebekah is a 9th great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .






See also . . . The Devil in the Shape of a Horse by cousin Bill West . . . and Five People Hung for Witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts by cousin Heather Wilkinson Rojo . . .

1721 :: Death of Rebekah Eams

On this date in our family history . . . the 8th day of May . . . in the year 1721 . . . Rebekah Eams nee Blake dies in Boxford, Massachusetts . . . and is laid to rest in the Mount Vernon Cemetery . . . In the witchcraft excitement of 1692 Mrs. Rebecca Eames was accused, tried and condemned to death, but after being imprisoned for 7 months in Salem jail she was released and lived some 20 years thereafter. . . . this Rebekah is a 9th great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . as well as a 9th great-grand-aunt . . .



Note . . . the photo of Rebekah's headstone is courtesy of findagrave contributor, Bill Boyington . . .

1692 :: Letter from Salem prison

On this date in our family history . . . the 5th day of December . . . in the year 1692 . . . Rebecka EAMES petitions Governor Phips as follows . . .

That wheras your Poor and humble petitioner having been here closely confined in Salem Prison neare four monthes and likewise Condemned to die for the crime of witchcraft w'ch the Lord above he knowes I am altogether innocent and ignorant off as will appeare att the great day of Judgment having had no Evidences against me but the Spectre Evidences any my owne confession w'ch the Lord above knowes was altogether false and untrue I being hurried out of my Senses by the Afflicted persons. Abigaill Hobbs and Mary Lacye who both of them cryed out against me charging me with witchcraft the space of four dayes mocking of me and spitting in my face saving they knew me to be an old witch and If I would not confesse it I should very Spedily be hanged for there was some such as my selfe gone before and it would not be long before I should follow them w'ch was the Occasion with my owne wicked heart of my saying what I did say: and the reason of my standing to my confession att my tryall was : That I know not one word w't I said when I was upon my Tryall att what the honoured Majestr'ts said to me but only the Name of Queen Mary: But may it please your Excellencye: when Mr Matther and Mr Brattle were here in Salem they disowned w't they before had said against me and doe still owne and say w't they has sayd against me was Nothing but the Divells delusions and they knew nothing in the least measure of any witchcraft by me: your poor and humble petition'r doe begg and Implore of yo'r Excellencye to Take it into yo'r Pious and Judicious consideration To Graunt me A Pardon of my life Not deserving death by man for wichcraft or any other Sin That my Innocent blood may not be shed and your poor and humble petitioner shall for ever pray as she is bound in duty for yo'r health and happiness in this life and eternal felicity in the world to come So prays. 

Your poor and humble petition'r
Rebecka Eames
from Salem prison
Decem the 5th: 1692

This Rebecka is a 9th great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

1711 :: Reversal of Attainder for Rebecca Eames

On this date in our family history . . . the 17th day of October . . . in the year 1711 . . . there was passed an act to reverse the attainders of a number of persons previously accused of witchcraft . . . among those accused was one Rebecka Eames nee Blake . . . who is a 9th great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . the following is from The Salem Witchcraft Papers . . .

Province of the Massachusets Bay: Anno Regni Anna Reginae Decimo.

An Act to reverse the attainders of George Burroughs and others for Witchcraft

Forasmuch as in the year of our Lord one Thousand six hundred ninety two several Towns within this Province were Infested with a horrible Witchcraft or possession of devils; And at a Special Court of Oyer and Terminer holden at Salem in the County of Essex in the same year 1692. George Burroughs of Wells, John Procter , George Jacobs , John Willard , Giles Core , and [] his wife, Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Good all of Salem aforesaid Elizabeth How of Ipswich, Mary eastey , Sarah Wild and Abigail Hobbs all of Topsfield, Samuel Wardell , Mary Parker* ; Martha Carrier , Abigail Falkner : Anne Foster , Rebecca Eames , Mary Post and Mary Lacey all of Andover, Mary Bradbury , of Salisbury, and Dorcas Hoar of Beverley Were severally Indicted convicted and attainted of Witchcraft and some of them put to death, others lying still under the like sentance of the said Court, and liable to have the same Executed upon them.

The Influence and Energy of the Evil Spirits so great at that time acting in and upon those who were the principal accusers and Witnesses proceeding so far as to cause a Prosecution to be had of persons of known and good reputation, which caused a great disatisfaction and a stop to be put thereunto until theire Majesty's pleasure should be known therein:

And upon a Representation thereof accordingly made her late Majesty Queen Mary the second of blessed memory by Her Royal Letter given at her Court at Whitehall the fifteenth of April 1693. was Graciously pleased to approve the care and Circumspection therein; and to Will and require that in all proceedings ag't persons accused for Witchcraft, or being possessed by the devil, the greatest Moderation and all due Circumspection be used, so far as the same may be without Impediment to the Ordinary course of Justice.

And some of the principal Accusers and Witnesses in those dark and severe prosecutions have since discovered themselves to be persons of profligate and vicious conversation.

Upon the humble Petition and suit of several of the s'd persons and of the children of others of them whose Parents were Executed. Be it Declared and Enacted by his Excellency the Governor Council and Representatives in General Court assembled and by the authority of the same That the several convictions Judgments and Attainders against the said George Borroughs , John Procter , George Jacob , John Willard , Giles Core and [] Core , Rebecca Nurse , Sarah Good , Elizabeth How , Mary Easty , Sarah W[ild] Abigail Hobbs , Samuel Wardell , Mary Parker* , Martha Carrier , Abigail Falkner , Anne Foster , Rebecca Eame[s], Mary Post , Mary Lacey , Mary Bradbury , and Dorcas [Hoar] , and every of them Be and hereby are reversed made and d[eclared] to be null and void to all Intents, Constructions and purposes wh[atso] ever, as if no such convictions, Judgments or Attainders had ever [been] had or given. And that no penalties or forfeitures of Goods or Chattels be by the said Judgments and attainders or either of them had or Incurrd.

Any Law Usage or Custom to the contrary notwithstanding. And that no Sheriffe, Constable, Goaler or other officer shall be Liable to any prosecution in the Law for anything they then Legally did in the Execution of their respective offices.

Made and Pass'd by the Great and General Court or Assembly of her Majestys Province of the Massachusets: Bay: in New England held at Boston the 17th day of october. 1711.

See also . . . Salem Witch Trials Aftermath 1711 where you can view images of this document from the Library of Congress . . .

*P.S. . . . this Mary Parker is also a 9th great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . she was hanged as a witch on the 22nd day of September in the year 1692 . . .