While doing some research on my ancestor, Mary (Perkins) Bradbury and her trial of being accused of witchcraft. The names of local people in Salisbury who signed a petition to have her arrested on the ground of being a witch were also my ancestors, Nathaniel Eastman and his wife, Elizabeth (Hudson) Eastman. It was surprising to see Elizabeth’s name as she was familiar with the puritan courts herself, having been charged in her early years of fornication. In the History of Salisbury and Amesbury is this little notice at the bottom of the page relating to Elizabeth Hudson.
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| Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury bu David Webster [1883] p. 142 |
Elizabeth
Hudson was born in Lynn, Massachusetts about 1648, the daughter of Jonathan and
Elizabeth Hudson. When she was 23 years
old, she married Nathaniel Eastman of Salisbury, Massachusetts on April 30, 1672,
at Salisbury. He was a farmer. There are no accurate dates, but relatively
soon after their marriage, Elizabeth gave birth to a daughter Marah (or
Mara).
From Wikipedia:
"Early in
colonial history, men took more responsibility for an act of fornication or a
bastardy charge. Women before the courts claimed that they engaged in sexual
activity with men and explained to the courtroom that if somehow, they ended up
pregnant, the man would marry them, thus preventing the birth of a bastard
child. A child being born out of wedlock
automatically resulted in a trial to determine who the father was and who and
how the bastard would be cared for. To catch fornicators, one had to find
either the couple committing the act, or the couple had to confess their sin
immediately. Someone seeing a pair engaged in fornication was rare. Thus, court
cases often relied on confessions to bring about charges in a case of bastardy.
By 1668, in the Massachusetts colony and others, the government
enforced the practice of having midwives interrogate women during childbirth.
It was believed that women endured so much anguish during birth that they would
not lie and would truthfully confess to their sin of fornication and reveal who
the baby's father was. Either the pregnant women would willingly tell someone
that she had a bastard son, and then she would name the father, or a midwife
would ask the mother to tell whether her child was legitimate. Bastardy cases
in the colonies involved women of high, low, and middle standing, like England. Once a bastard child was born, women
could not deny a charge of adultery or, more commonly, a charge of fornication."
In October
1672, a court case was filed against Joseph Hall of Lynn, Massachusetts as
being the father of her child with Elizabeth being charged with the crime of
fornication.
Deposed October
7, 1672, was Elizabeth Osgood, midwife, who said Elizabeth told her that Joseph
Hall of Lynn was the father of her child.
Hannah Brown, wife of Nathaniel Brown deposed the same as did her
in-laws, Roger Eastman and his wife, Sarah, all on the same date.
The case
went to court and appeared in The Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts
of Essex County, Massachusetts, p. 103:
No record of
Elizabeth receiving any lashes and probably a fine was paid for her crime. As for her daughter Mara, she was raised as
an Eastman. Her father was probably the
same Joseph Hall who married Elizabeth Rand in 1673 in Lynn, Massachusetts and had
other children with his wife. It is not known if Mara suffered being a product of a relationship between her mother and another man and not the man who was considered to be her legal father. On August
13, 1693, "Mara, daughter of Nathaniel Eastman" was admitted with full communion
to Church of Salisbury, Massachusetts and eventually married Samuel Joy and
raised a large family of children of her own.
As the years went on, other children were born to Nathaniel and Elizabeth Eastman including my ancester, Sarah Eastman. The Church and Courts may have condiered the matter closed. Whether Elizabeth's neighbors faithful puritans really never spoke or whispered about Elizabeth's "fornication" before her marriage, is unknown, but being human nature, I bet there probably was some gossip which may have caused Elizabeth to join others in a petition against Mary Bradbury if she thought she may have thought less of or spoken against her at some time.
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| The arrest of Mary Bradbury and her accusers |
In 1692,
Elizabeth and her husband, Nathaniel Eastman as well his
parents signed a petition against Mary Bradbury, who was
indicted for (among other charges): "Certaine Detestable arts called
Witchcraft & Sorceries Wickedly Mallitiously and felloniously hath used
practiced and Exercised At and in the Township of Andivor in the County of
Essex aforesaid in upon & against one Timothy Swann of Andivor In the
County aforesaid Husbandman -- by which said Wicked Acts the said Timothy Swann
upon the 26th day of July Aforesaid and divers other days & times both
before and after was and is Tortured Afflicted Consumed Pined Wasted and
Tormented..." [see my blog post from September 2023 on Mary (Perkins)
Bradbury]
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| Petition aginst Mary Bradbury as a witch |
Elizabeth Eastman died on June 10, 1716 in Salisbury, Massachusetts at the age of 68 years.
Despite my
ancestor’s attempt to have another ancestor hung as a witch, several
generations later their descendants would marry and join the family lines
together with the marriage of William Southard and Maria Ambrose on January 4,
1837 in Corinna, Maine. William Southard
being the 7th generation descendant of Mary Bradbury and his wife,
Maria being the 5th generation descendant of Elizabeth (Hudson)
Eastman. Maybe all was fogiven.
