| Name |
FOSTER, Andrew [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] |
| Suffix |
Jr |
| Birth |
1579 |
Wickham, Suffolk, England  [3, 5] |
|
| Gender |
Male |
| Immigration |
1636 |
Massachusetts, USA |
| _NAMS |
Abt Jul 1682 |
Wilmington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA |
| Most of the land grants, however, were in the extreme southerly corner, near Wilmington, and around Foster's Pond, which was named for him, no doubt. |
- 20260120GHLn-
The name of Andrew Foster of Andover appear in the list of first settlers who came about 1640. There are twelve "items" of grants to him. Only one is dated, a grant of two acres "on west side of Shawshen River, 10th July 1682." The first grant, a house lot, was probably among those of the first settlers on Cochickewick Brook, between the Great Pond and the Merrimac River. His grants, as a whole, appear to be widely scattered in different parts of the town. Most of them, however, were in the extreme southerly corner, n
ear Wilmington, and around Foster's Pond, which was named for him, no doubt.
|
| Land grant |
10 Jul 1682 |
Wilmington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA [5] |
| There are twelve "items" of grants to him. Only one is dated, a grant of two acres "on west side of Shawshen River, 10th July 1682." The first grant, a house lot, was probably among those of the first settlers on Cochickewick Brook, between the Great Pond and the Merrimac River. His grants, as a whole, appear to be widely scattered in different parts of the town. Most of them, however, were in the extreme southerly corner, hear Wilmington, and around Foster\'s Pond, which was named for him, no doubt. |
- 20260120GHLn-
The name of Andrew Foster of Andover appear in the list of first settlers who came about 1640. There are twelve "items" of grants to him. Only one is dated, a grant of two acres "on west side of Shawshen River, 10th July 1682." The first grant, a house lot, was probably among those of the first settlers on Cochickewick Brook, between the Great Pond and the Merrimac River. His grants, as a whole, appear to be widely scattered in different parts of the town. Most of them, however, were in the extreme southerly corner, hear Wilmington, and around Foster's Pond, which was named for him, no doubt.
We do not find him in official station, simply probably because he was located so far from the town center, from town offices. The probate inventory of his estate shows him a diligent man, a good citizen; his will exhibits his Christian spirit and submission. He was made freeman in 1669. His will is dated 18 April 1685. In it he speaks of himself as "very aged," and names his wife Ann his executrix. He died in Andover 7 May, 1685, and his will was proved 30 June, 1685. He is thought by one of the Andover historians, to have been, at death, more than a score of years younger. He could hardly have been so old, unless there was a great disparity in the ages of himself and wife, which, to be sure, very often occurs. His wife died 3 Dec. 1692.
His will says, "I give my soul into the hands of my blessed Lord Jesus Christ who has purchased the same with his precious blood. And my body I leave to my relatives and friends to be decently interred by them. I give my eldest son, Andrew Foster, besides the five acres of meadow I have formerly given him, four acres of meadow more or less, lying at the southeast end of my home meadow which I formerly bought of Andrew Allen lying without the meadow which was fenced and five acres of swampland lying near his house. Also I give unto him forty acres of land to be the same more or less called by the name of polehill ground and one acre of land in Cocneckek field. I give my daughter Sarah besides what she hath of me, two sheep. To my daughter, Hannah, I have given her portion already. To my daughter, Mary, I give twenty acres of land lying in Shawshen Field lying near the land called Copers land."
To his "deare and loveing wife Ann Foster" he gave the end of the house they occupied, three cows, twelve sheep and his household goods for her disposal at death among his children. He gave his son, Abraham, "my farme of about one hundred acres of upland with all the meadow adjoining or neare adjoining," also the house and home lot and orchard, and all the land adjoining, and the remainder of the home meadow bought of Andrew Allen, and the remainder of his stock." Abraham was, during the natural life of his mother, to winter her cows and sheep, to deliver her half the "corn, English and Indian, grown upon the home lot threshed and winnowed," half the fruit of the orchard made into "fydar," and sufficient firewood. He named his "loveing wife, Anne Foster, executive" and his son Abraham executor. His will is signed with "the mark of Andrew Foster" and is witnessed by Thomas and William Chandler. It is recorded in Probate Records. It was proved June 30, 1685.
Mrs. Ann Foster was the executrix of her husband's will, she was in court, June 30, 1687, and made oath to the inventory of her husband's estate. She attended to the probate in person, and of course understood the methods and the reason of the law. She had business experience, and was certainly a woman of acknowledged integrity and of average capacity and ability. Nevertheless, seven years later, she was accused, tried, and condemned as a witch. Her case, with others, is spread upon Miss Bailey's excellent History of Andover. Miss Bailey says, "Several women who confessed, accused Marther Carrier as the cause of their being led into witchcraft. Three of them were Ann Foster, her daughter, Mary Lacey, and her granddaughter Mary Lacey Jr. Ann Foster said she rode on a stick with Martha Carrier to Salem Village (now Danvers), that the stick broke and she saved herself by clinging around Martha Carrier's neck. She said they met 300 witches at Salem Village. The story was confirmed by the daughter and granddaughter.
The history comments further: "Ann Foster, however, was not hanged, having died in prison before the law could take its course. She was an aged woman, a widow, without friends of influence to give aid in her distress. She was evidently weak in mind and body, and was ready at the trial to confess almost anything, and believe everything which was suggested against them. Indeed, some of these women had been so long used to contemplate their natural and acquired depravity, in its most aggravated forms, that some of the sensitive and self-accusing were ready, even in ordinary religious mediations, to regard themselves as guilty of almost all sin, believing literally that 'he that offendeth in one point is guilty of all.' The piety of Ann Foster is especially spoken of by her sons, and there can be little doubt that she was led to charge herself with the sin of witchcraft in all sincerity and contrition. A broken-down old woman in her decrepitude and weakness, torn from her quiet home, brought on a long journey to prison and a courtroom, accused under such a weight of miseries. She was four times examined, July 15, 16, 18, 21. It is pitiful to think of this poor, tottering, feeble creature, dragged again and again before her accusers, and finally dismissed to the sheriff to be 'taken care of as guilty." Miss Bailey thinks Mrs. Foster "overdid in confession." She confessed that she had bewitched a hog of John Lovejoy's, caused the death of one of Andrew Allen's children, made another child sick, and 'hurt' Timothy Swan. She said "her manner of hurting was to make images (called in the records "puppets") of the persons with rags, and stick pins in them, or tie knots in the rags or burn them in the fire. The persons whom these images were made to represent would suffer whenever she pinched or burned or pricked the puppet."
The daughter accused the mother of bewitching her, but this the mother would not confess. The examiner asked: "Do you not acknowledge that you did so?" and she replied: "No, and I know no more of my daughter's being a witch than what day I shall die upon." Again he says: "You cannot expect peace of conscience without a free confession," when she replied: "If I knew anything more, I would speak of it to the utmost." Again the daughter accused her, and the mother's emotion played upon her lips. "What are you doing?" said the examiner. "I am praying to the Lord," she replied. "What Lord?" said the examiner sternly, "What God do witches pray to?" when overborne and distracted the Christian mother exclaimed, "I cannot tell, the Lord help me."
About a score of years thereafter, upon petition, the State made some return to the children of the unfortunate victims. Ann Foster's son's petition is as follows:
"To the Honorable Committee now Setting at Salem:
Whereas my mother, Ann Foster, of Andover suffered imprisonment 21 weeks and upon her Tryall was condemned for supposed witchcraft upon such evidence as is now generally thought insufficient and died in prison, I being well persuaded of my mother's innocency of the crime for which she was condemned, I humble desire that the attainder may be taken off.
The charges and expenses for my mother during her imprisonment is as follows: The money which I was forced to pay the keeper before I could have the dead body of my mother to bury her was 12 pounds."
This sum of money the petitioner received, and also for his sister Mary Lacey 18 pounds on petition and by order of her husband Lawrence Lacey.
|
| LifeSketch |
The name of Andrew Foster of Andover appear in the list of first settlers who came about 1640. There are twelve "items" of grants to him. Only one is dated, a grant of two acres "on west side of Shawshen River, 10th July 1682." The first grant, a house lot, was probably among those of the first settlers on Cochickewick Brook, between the Great Pond and the Merrimac River. His grants, as a whole, appear to be widely scattered in different parts of the town. Most of them, however, were in the extreme southerly corner, hear Wilmington, and around Foster\'s Pond, which was named for him, no doubt. We do not find him in official station, simply probably because he was located so far from the town center, from town offices. The probate inventory of his estate shows him a diligent man, a good citizen; his will exhibits his Christian spirit and submission. He was made freeman in 1669. His will is dated 18 April 1685. In it he speaks of himself as \"very aged,\" and names his wife Ann his executrix. He died in Andover 7 May, 1685, and his will was proved 30 June, 1685. He is thought by one of the Andover historians, to have been, at death, more than a score of years younger. He could hardly have been so old, unless there was a great disparity in the ages of himself and wife, which, to be sure, very often occurs. His wife died 3 Dec. 1692. His will says, \"I give my soul into the hands of my blessed Lord Jesus Christ who has purchased the same with his precious blood. And my body I leave to my relatives and friends to be decently interred by them. I give my eldest son, Andrew Foster, besides the five acres of meadow I have formerly given him, four acres of meadow more or less, lying at the southeast end of my home meadow which I formerly bought of Andrew Allen lying without the meadow which was fenced and five acres of swampland lying near his house. Also I give unto him forty acres of land to be the same more or less called by the name of polehill ground and one acre of land in Cocneckek field. I give my daughter Sarah besides what she hath of me, two sheep. To my daughter, Hannah, I have given her portion already. To my daughter, Mary, I give twenty acres of land lying in Shawshen Field lying near the land called Copers land.\" To his \"deare and loveing wife Ann Foster\" he gave the end of the house they occupied, three cows, twelve sheep and his household goods for her disposal at death among his children. He gave his son, Abraham, \"my farme of about one hundred acres of upland with all the meadow adjoining or neare adjoining,\" also the house and home lot and orchard, and all the land adjoining, and the remainder of the home meadow bought of Andrew Allen, and the remainder of his stock.\" Abraham was, during the natural life of his mother, to winter her cows and sheep, to deliver her half the \"corn, English and Indian, grown upon the home lot threshed and winnowed,\" half the fruit of the orchard made into \"fydar,\" and sufficient firewood. He named his \"loveing wife, Anne Foster, executive\" and his son Abraham executor. His will is signed with \"the mark of Andrew Foster\" and is witnessed by Thomas and William Chandler. It is recorded in Probate Records. It was proved June 30, 1685. Mrs. Ann Foster was the executrix of her husband\'s will, she was in court, June 30, 1687, and made oath to the inventory of her husband\'s estate. She attended to the probate in person, and of course understood the methods and the reason of the law. She had business experience, and was certainly a woman of acknowledged integrity and of average capacity and ability. Nevertheless, seven years later, she was accused, tried, and condemned as a witch. Her case, with others, is spread upon Miss Bailey\'s excellent History of Andover. Miss Bailey says, \"Several women who confessed, accused Marther Carrier as the cause of their being led into witchcraft. Three of them were Ann Foster, her daughter, Mary Lacey, and her granddaughter Mary Lacey Jr. Ann Foster said she rode on a stick with Martha Carrier to Salem Village (now Danvers), that the stick broke and she saved herself by clinging around Martha Carrier\'s neck. She said they met 300 witches at Salem Village. The story was confirmed by the daughter and granddaughter. The history comments further: \"Ann Foster, however, was not hanged, having died in prison before the law could take its course. She was an aged woman, a widow, without friends of influence to give aid in her distress. She was evidently weak in mind and body, and was ready at the trial to confess almost anything, and believe everything which was suggested against them. Indeed, some of these women had been so long used to contemplate their natural and acquired depravity, in its most aggravated forms, that some of the sensitive and self-accusing were ready, even in ordinary religious mediations, to regard themselves as guilty of almost all sin, believing literally that \'he that offendeth in one point is guilty of all.\' The piety of Ann Foster is especially spoken of by her sons, and there can be little doubt that she was led to charge herself with the sin of witchcraft in all sincerity and contrition. A broken-down old woman in her decrepitude and weakness, torn from her quiet home, brought on a long journey to prison and a courtroom, accused under such a weight of miseries. She was four times examined, July 15, 16, 18, 21. It is pitiful to think of this poor, tottering, feeble creature, dragged again and again before her accusers, and finally dismissed to the sheriff to be \'taken care of as guilty.\" Miss Bailey thinks Mrs. Foster \"overdid in confession.\" She confessed that she had bewitched a hog of John Lovejoy\'s, caused the death of one of Andrew Allen\'s children, made another child sick, and \'hurt\' Timothy Swan. She said \"her manner of hurting was to make images (called in the records \"puppets\") of the persons with rags, and stick pins in them, or tie knots in the rags or burn them in the fire. The persons whom these images were made to represent would suffer whenever she pinched or burned or pricked the puppet.\" The daughter accused the mother of bewitching her, but this the mother would not confess. The examiner asked: \"Do you not acknowledge that you did so?\" and she replied: \"No, and I know no more of my daughter\'s being a witch than what day I shall die upon.\" Again he says: \"You cannot expect peace of conscience without a free confession,\" when she replied: \"If I knew anything more, I would speak of it to the utmost.\" Again the daughter accused her, and the mother\'s emotion played upon her lips. \"What are you doing?\" said the examiner. \"I am praying to the Lord,\" she replied. \"What Lord?\" said the examiner sternly, \"What God do witches pray to?\" when overborne and distracted the Christian mother exclaimed, \"I cannot tell, the Lord help me.\" About a score of years thereafter, upon petition, the State made some return to the children of the unfortunate victims. Ann Foster\'s son\'s petition is as follows: \"To the Honorable Committee now Setting at Salem: Whereas my mother, Ann Foster, of Andover suffered imprisonment 21 weeks and upon her Tryall was condemned for supposed witchcraft upon such evidence as is now generally thought insufficient and died in prison, I being well persuaded of my mother\'s innocency of the crime for which she was condemned, I humble desire that the attainder may be taken off. The charges and expenses for my mother during her imprisonment is as follows: The money which I was forced to pay the keeper before I could have the dead body of my mother to bury her was 12 pounds.\" This sum of money the petitioner received, and also for his sister Mary Lacey 18 pounds on petition and by order of her husband Lawrence Lacey. [5] |
- 20260120GHLn-
The name of Andrew Foster of Andover appear in the list of first settlers who came about 1640. There are twelve "items" of grants to him. Only one is dated, a grant of two acres "on west side of Shawshen River, 10th July 1682." The first grant, a house lot, was probably among those of the first settlers on Cochickewick Brook, between the Great Pond and the Merrimac River. His grants, as a whole, appear to be widely scattered in different parts of the town. Most of them, however, were in the extreme southerly corner, hear Wilmington, and around Foster's Pond, which was named for him, no doubt.
We do not find him in official station, simply probably because he was located so far from the town center, from town offices. The probate inventory of his estate shows him a diligent man, a good citizen; his will exhibits his Christian spirit and submission. He was made freeman in 1669. His will is dated 18 April 1685. In it he speaks of himself as "very aged," and names his wife Ann his executrix. He died in Andover 7 May, 1685, and his will was proved 30 June, 1685. He is thought by one of the Andover historians, to have been, at death, more than a score of years younger. He could hardly have been so old, unless there was a great disparity in the ages of himself and wife, which, to be sure, very often occurs. His wife died 3 Dec. 1692.
His will says, "I give my soul into the hands of my blessed Lord Jesus Christ who has purchased the same with his precious blood. And my body I leave to my relatives and friends to be decently interred by them. I give my eldest son, Andrew Foster, besides the five acres of meadow I have formerly given him, four acres of meadow more or less, lying at the southeast end of my home meadow which I formerly bought of Andrew Allen lying without the meadow which was fenced and five acres of swampland lying near his house. Also I give unto him forty acres of land to be the same more or less called by the name of polehill ground and one acre of land in Cocneckek field. I give my daughter Sarah besides what she hath of me, two sheep. To my daughter, Hannah, I have given her portion already. To my daughter, Mary, I give twenty acres of land lying in Shawshen Field lying near the land called Copers land."
To his "deare and loveing wife Ann Foster" he gave the end of the house they occupied, three cows, twelve sheep and his household goods for her disposal at death among his children. He gave his son, Abraham, "my farme of about one hundred acres of upland with all the meadow adjoining or neare adjoining," also the house and home lot and orchard, and all the land adjoining, and the remainder of the home meadow bought of Andrew Allen, and the remainder of his stock." Abraham was, during the natural life of his mother, to winter her cows and sheep, to deliver her half the "corn, English and Indian, grown upon the home lot threshed and winnowed," half the fruit of the orchard made into "fydar," and sufficient firewood. He named his "loveing wife, Anne Foster, executive" and his son Abraham executor. His will is signed with "the mark of Andrew Foster" and is witnessed by Thomas and William Chandler. It is recorded in Probate Records. It was proved June 30, 1685.
Mrs. Ann Foster was the executrix of her husband's will, she was in court, June 30, 1687, and made oath to the inventory of her husband's estate. She attended to the probate in person, and of course understood the methods and the reason of the law. She had business experience, and was certainly a woman of acknowledged integrity and of average capacity and ability. Nevertheless, seven years later, she was accused, tried, and condemned as a witch. Her case, with others, is spread upon Miss Bailey's excellent History of Andover. Miss Bailey says, "Several women who confessed, accused Marther Carrier as the cause of their being led into witchcraft. Three of them were Ann Foster, her daughter, Mary Lacey, and her granddaughter Mary Lacey Jr. Ann Foster said she rode on a stick with Martha Carrier to Salem Village (now Danvers), that the stick broke and she saved herself by clinging around Martha Carrier's neck. She said they met 300 witches at Salem Village. The story was confirmed by the daughter and granddaughter.
The history comments further: "Ann Foster, however, was not hanged, having died in prison before the law could take its course. She was an aged woman, a widow, without friends of influence to give aid in her distress. She was evidently weak in mind and body, and was ready at the trial to confess almost anything, and believe everything which was suggested against them. Indeed, some of these women had been so long used to contemplate their natural and acquired depravity, in its most aggravated forms, that some of the sensitive and self-accusing were ready, even in ordinary religious mediations, to regard themselves as guilty of almost all sin, believing literally that 'he that offendeth in one point is guilty of all.' The piety of Ann Foster is especially spoken of by her sons, and there can be little doubt that she was led to charge herself with the sin of witchcraft in all sincerity and contrition. A broken-down old woman in her decrepitude and weakness, torn from her quiet home, brought on a long journey to prison and a courtroom, accused under such a weight of miseries. She was four times examined, July 15, 16, 18, 21. It is pitiful to think of this poor, tottering, feeble creature, dragged again and again before her accusers, and finally dismissed to the sheriff to be 'taken care of as guilty." Miss Bailey thinks Mrs. Foster "overdid in confession." She confessed that she had bewitched a hog of John Lovejoy's, caused the death of one of Andrew Allen's children, made another child sick, and 'hurt' Timothy Swan. She said "her manner of hurting was to make images (called in the records "puppets") of the persons with rags, and stick pins in them, or tie knots in the rags or burn them in the fire. The persons whom these images were made to represent would suffer whenever she pinched or burned or pricked the puppet."
The daughter accused the mother of bewitching her, but this the mother would not confess. The examiner asked: "Do you not acknowledge that you did so?" and she replied: "No, and I know no more of my daughter's being a witch than what day I shall die upon." Again he says: "You cannot expect peace of conscience without a free confession," when she replied: "If I knew anything more, I would speak of it to the utmost." Again the daughter accused her, and the mother's emotion played upon her lips. "What are you doing?" said the examiner. "I am praying to the Lord," she replied. "What Lord?" said the examiner sternly, "What God do witches pray to?" when overborne and distracted the Christian mother exclaimed, "I cannot tell, the Lord help me."
About a score of years thereafter, upon petition, the State made some return to the children of the unfortunate victims. Ann Foster's son's petition is as follows:
"To the Honorable Committee now Setting at Salem:
Whereas my mother, Ann Foster, of Andover suffered imprisonment 21 weeks and upon her Tryall was condemned for supposed witchcraft upon such evidence as is now generally thought insufficient and died in prison, I being well persuaded of my mother's innocency of the crime for which she was condemned, I humble desire that the attainder may be taken off.
The charges and expenses for my mother during her imprisonment is as follows: The money which I was forced to pay the keeper before I could have the dead body of my mother to bury her was 12 pounds."
This sum of money the petitioner received, and also for his sister Mary Lacey 18 pounds on petition and by order of her husband Lawrence Lacey.
|
| Pioneer |
Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA |
| a founder of the town of Andover -LDS |
| Will |
18 Apr 1685 |
Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA |
| mentioned his eldest son Andrew, daughter Sarah, daughter Hannah, daughter Mary, "deare and loving wife Ann Foster," and son Abraham |
| Death |
7 May 1685 |
Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA [3, 4, 5, 6] |
- 20260119GHLn- LDS
Andrew Foster
Male
1579-1685
• MNHJ-G1N
Death record for Andrew Foster
Andover, Essex, Massachusetts,
• 7 May 1685
aged 106 years
_______________
- age 106
|
 |
MA death record Andrew FOSTER II 16850507 LDS
20260119GHLn- LDS
Andrew Foster
Male
1579-1685
• MNHJ-G1N
Death record for Andrew Foster
Andover, Essex, Massachusetts,
• 7 May 1685
aged 106 years |
| Burial |
7 May 1685 |
Essex, Essex, Massachusetts, USA [3, 4, 5, 6] |
|
| Will proved |
30 Jun 1685 |
Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA |
| He was made freeman in 1669. His will is dated 18 April 1685. In it he speaks of himself as "very aged," and names his wife Ann his executrix. He died in Andover 7 May, 1685, and his will was proved 30 June, 1685. |
- He was made freeman in 1669. His will is dated 18 April 1685. In it he speaks of himself as "very aged," and names his wife Ann his executrix. He died in Andover 7 May, 1685, and his will was proved 30 June, 1685.
|
| FSID |
MNHJ-G1N [9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15] |
| Person ID |
I114031 |
WETZEL-SPRING |
| Family |
ALCOCK, Anna, b. 7 May 1617, England d. 3 Dec 1692, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, USA (Age 75 years) |
| Marriage |
1640 |
Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA |
|
| residence jt |
Bef 1685 |
Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA |
| More About Ann Foster Home, Site of |
- 20260121GHLn-
More About Ann Foster Home, Site of
Widow Ann Foster was around 75 years old and very frail when she was accused of witchcraft in 1692.
The first person to be accused in Andover was Martha Carrier, who was arrested by South End constable John Ballard on May 31. Ballard’s brother Joseph was married to Elizabeth (Phelps), who had been ill all summer. Joseph Ballard invited two afflicted girls (believed to be Ann Putnam Jr. and Mary Walcott) from Salem Village to visit his wife. He thought the girls might be able to confirm if witchcraft was behind his wife’s sickness. The girls’ first targets were the elderly Ann Foster, her daughter Mary Lacey, and her granddaughter Mary Lacey Jr. Joseph Ballard was likely the one who filed the complaint against Ann.
Ann Foster was interrogated by the magistrates four times over a week, starting on July 15. Perhaps her age and fragility made her especially vulnerable. She confessed to witchcraft immediately, only the eighth person to do so. The devil came to her in the form of a bird on three occasions, she said. She could afflict people by merely looking at them. She had been made a witch six years earlier by Martha Carrier (already in jail), had ridden to a witch meeting in Salem Village on a stick with Carrier, and she had seen Reverend George Burroughs in attendance at the meeting (he was also already jailed). The most astounding claim was that there were 305 witches operating in the area. It was their mission, Ann Foster said, to create the devil’s kingdom in Essex County.
By July 21, Ann’s daughter, 40-year-old Mary Lacey, and granddaughter, 18-year-old Mary Lacey Jr., were also arrested for witchcraft. Mary Sr. had moved to the North End of Andover when she married Lawrence Lacey in 1673, but it was common for relatives of accused witches to fall under suspicion. Both Laceys confessed to witchcraft, and implicated Ann Foster and each other. Ann, for her part, did not accuse her family members.
Accusing and jailing Ann Foster and her family did not help Elizabeth Ballard, who died on July 27. Had she been killed by witchcraft?
The Court of Oyer and Terminer condemned Ann Foster to death by hanging on September 17. Five days later, on September 22, eight people were hanged. Ann Foster was not among them. September 22 turned out to be the last execution day of the witchcraft trials. Governor William Phips dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminer in October, and a new court would not address the accused and condemned until early in 1693. It was too late for Ann Foster. On December 3, still condemned, she died in Salem jail after five months of imprisonment.
What brought a charge of witchcraft to Ann, and why did she confess? Family tragedies from the past may have been part of it, surmises author Richard Hite in his book In the Shadow of Salem: The Andover Witch Hunt of 1692. Ann and her husband Andrew Foster’s daughter Hannah married a man named Hugh Stone in 1667. The Stones had seven children by 1686. Also by that year, Hugh Stone had been fined in court on three separate occasions for drunkenness. In 1689, Stone murdered Hannah by slashing her throat. When he was hanged for the crime in January of 1690, Stone’s last words implied some blame was due his wife’s family for his terrible act, even if alcohol also played a role. Later in 1690, Hannah and Hugh Stone’s 19-year-old son Simon was wounded by natives in New Hampshire, something that apparently affected Simon’s health for years. Ann’s granddaughter Mary ran away from home for a time after the murder, which she claimed was at the suggestion of the Devil. Hite suggests Ann may have thought her family troubles could have been caused by witchcraft. All three generations – Ann Foster, her daughter Mary Lacey, and her granddaughter Mary Lacey, Jr. were accused. “The witch hunters of 1692 showed a propensity to attack those already suffering adversity,” says Hite.
It remains a mystery where Ann Foster lived in 1692, or where her remains are buried. There is a lot of conflicting information. Ann’s husband, a Scot named Andrew, was one of the “original proprietors of Andover.” He died seven years before the witchcraft hysteria took hold, in 1685, at the reported age of 106 years. In his will, he said he was “leaving to my deare and loving wife Ann Foster, the use and the sole liberty of living in that end of my house I now live in.” Where was that house? According to Charlotte Helen Abbott’s Early Records of the Foster Families of Andover, “Under the grandstand at the track at the Richardson training stables on Elm Street, is the site of what was known as the “witch’s cellar,” a part of Ann’s home.” However, according to the Plan of Andover in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, Essex County, 1692, a map created by the Andover and North Andover Historical Societies in 1992, the accused Sarah Wilson is more likely the “witch” whose cellar stood near the stables grandstand. It is Joseph Wilson’s house that is located on the map at the spot where Merrimack College meets Route 114 today.
Also according to the Plan of Andover, one of the Foster sons lived north of Foster’s Pond in 1692. While the Plan of Andover identifies the son as Andrew, the Foster’s Pond Corporation says it was son Abraham who lived there. It was Abraham who “had to pay £2 10s to get his mother’s body from the prison” when she died in December, according to Charlotte Helen Abbott. Perhaps Ann Foster lived with her son north of Foster’s Pond, and perhaps she is buried there. The pond was named after her husband Andrew, according to the Foster’s Pond Corporation. In 1692, it was much smaller in size, covering approximately 50 acres. After a dam was built in the early 1850s, the pond started to increase in size. Today, its area has more than doubled, covering 120 acres.
Another theory about the location of Ann Foster’s final resting place is suggested by Char Lyons, historian of the South Church in Andover. She points out Foster Circle, off of Elm Street, as an area once owned by the Foster family and a possible location for Ann Foster’s burial place.
North of Foster’s Pond, near the intersection of Rattlesnake Road and Pinetree Lane, is a possible location of former Foster property. Another possibility is Foster Circle, off of Elm Street.
https://salemwitchmuseum.com/locations/ann-foster-home-site-of/
|
| Children |
| | 1. FOSTER, Hannah, b. Abt 1645, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA d. 20 Apr 1689, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA (Age 44 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 2. Foster, Mary, b. 9 Jul 1652, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA d. 18 Jun 1707, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA (Age 54 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 3. Foster, Sarah, b. 1 Oct 1636, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA d. 5 Sep 1697, Groton, New London, Connecticut, USA (Age 60 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 4. Foster, Andrew III, b. Abt 1638, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA d. 7 May 1697, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA (Age 59 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 5. Foster, Abraham [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 6. Foster, William [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
|
| Family ID |
F64128 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
1579 - 1685 (106 years)
