more "wicked...."

I have written in the past about relatives who lived outside of societal norms and even the law, and shared stories about both a ghost and a spook, but never a witch--until now. 

Edward Farrington, a paternal 9x great-grandfather, was born in Lynn, Massachusetts in July, 1662, and indicted on two counts of witchcraft. But before we get to all the witchy stuff, some background.

Not Edward Farrington.
"Ginger Witch," by AstraZero.

Edward's father, John Farrington (1622 - 2 May 1666) was born in Olney, England, and came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 as a young man with his parents, settling in Lynn.

A few years later, father and son were among a party sent by Governor Winthrop to establishment an English settlement in what is now Southampton on Long Island, New York, at that time claimed but not occupied by the Dutch. An arrangement was made between the English and the actual first inhabitants, the Shinnecock Nation and the town of Southampton was founded. 

We know that John Farrington stayed in Southampton at least a few years, then returned to Lynn (and the historical record) by at least 1660, when he married Elizabeth Knight (abt 1642 - 1705). John was a cooper and farmer. Four years--and three sons later--he died. Elizabeth, a young mother of three boys including Edward, quickly remarried, and steps out of our story as well.

On 9 April 1690, Edward Farrington, now 27, married Martha Browne (abt 1670 - 22 May 1738) in Andover, Massachusetts. Their first daughter, Elizabeth (my future 8x gg) was born in December, and ultimately they had at least six children (records differ), the last born in 17-- "But we want to hear about the witch!"

"...four or five years since, in the town of Andover aforesaid wickedly, maliciously, and feloniously a covenant with the Devil did make and was baptized by the Devil and unto Him renounced his first baptism & promised to be the Devil's both body and soul forever, and to serve the Devil and signed the Devil's Book, by which diabolical covenant by him with the Devil made in manner and form aforesaid. The said Edward Farrington is become a detestable witch against the peace of the sovereign Lord & Lady the King & Queen, their crown & dignity, and the laws in that case made and provided."

That was Grandpa Edward's first indictment. Dated 13 January 1693, and witnessed by his own hand.  (Transcription modernized for convenience.)

Edward Farrington's indictment.
Photo courtesy of the Massachusetts State Archives.

The second indictment against Edward, brought the same day as the first, was slightly more mundane. He was accused of using

"Certaine Detesteable arts called witchcrafts  & Sorceries Wickedly and Mallishiously and felloniously" 

against Mary Warren, who was supposedly

"Tortured Afflicted Pined & Tormented Consumed Pined & wasted against."

Well then. That indictment was witnessed by Ann Putnam, one of the primary accusers in Salem. Belonging to one of New England's most prominent families, Ann began naming names at age twelve, when she first claimed she had been "afflicted." Ultimately she personally accused nearly one third of Salem's suspected "witches." Perhaps karmically, she died relatively young after years of actual chronic illness.

Mary Warren was apparently prone to fits and convulsions, whether genuine or not. Soon after Edward's indictment, she renounced all her accusations, after which she was accused and tried for witchcraft herself. Hysteria was in the air. Like Ann Putnam, Warren never married and died in her mid-thirties.

If their names seem familiar, it is because Mary Warren and Ann Putnam were immortalized as characters in Arthur Miller's 1953 play The Crucible. For those of you who forget your high school English class, Miller used the mass hysteria, suspicions, unsupported accusations, and persecution of "others" during the Salem witch trials as an allegory for the McCarthyism occurring in his own era. Sadly, it seems to be as timely today as when it was written.

From the original production of The Crucible.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Despite the two indictments, Edward Farrington was not tried, nor convicted. By May 1693 the craze had ended, the trials ceased, and everyone still in custody was pardoned by Governor Phips. (Some suggest it was because his own wife was now one of the accused.) Edward returned home to wife Martha and daughter Elizabeth, had more children, and lived an otherwise eventless--or at least undocumented--life for another fifty-odd years. 

"Captain Alden Denounced," Anonymous, 1878. 

Of course, it did not end so well for some of the accused. Edward Farrington was just one of over two hundred people who were called out, of whom thirty were found guilty and twenty put to death. In 2019, we visited the Salem Witch Trials Memorial Park. It was moving and tragic, even without knowing the family connection. The Museum had a thought-provoking exhibit about witch-hunts throughout history, that came down to the simple formula:

"fear + a trigger = a scapegoat." 

At the Memorial Park. Rebecca Nurse also appears in The Crucible.
Photo by your blogger.

I've only recently added Edward Farrington to my family tree, through a breakthrough in a brick wall provided by another online researcher. (Thanks again, Chip!) As I mention, I was not aware when we visited Salem that I had an alleged witch among my ancestors.

What I did know, however, was that some of the Putnam family appear in my extended family tree as well, on my maternal side, which perhaps adds a genetic twist to my parents' acrimonious divorce, but I digress. I did not consider them much, though, as the relationships were distant and not blood: two descendants of Ann Putnam's grandfather, Sarah Putnam (28 Nov 1708 - 13 Apr 1802) and Rachel Putnam (6 Sep 1757 - 10 Oct 1847), married, respectively, a 6x great granduncle of mine, Joseph Steele (1706 - 23 Feb 1788) and Samuel Steele (19 Feb 1751 - 13 Dec 1811), a 1st cousin, seven times removed. 

Families are interesting, and so is history. Considering my own family history always makes me think, and feel a profound connection to this country. Today's meditation?
"We are only what we always were." --Arthur Miller