Martha (Allin) Carrier (abt. 1643 - 1692)

Born about 1643 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas Carrier — married 7 May 1674 in Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 19 Aug 1692 at about age 49 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Martha (Allin) Carrier was executed for witchcraft in witch trials

Martha (Allin) Carrier is Notable.

Martha Allen was born between 1643 and 1650, the daughter of Andrew Allin and Faith Ingalls, of Andover Massachusetts^[1]. She was noted in her father's will as Martha Carier^[2] Her birth surname is spelled both Allin and Allen.

On May 7, 1674, she married Thomas Carrier^[3]

Children ^{[4] [5]}

1. Richard Carrier, b. 7 Jul 1674, Billerica, Massachusetts Bay; d. 17 Nov 1749, Colchester, Connecticut; m.1 Elizabeth Sessions, 18 Jul 1694, Andover, Massachusetts Bay, m.2 Thankful Brown, 29 Jul 1707, Colchester, Connecticut
2. Andrew Carrier, b. 7 Apr 1677, Billerica, Massachusetts Bay; d, 1749 in Colchester, Connecticut; m. May Adams, 11 Jan 1705, Colchester, Connecticut
3. Jane Carrier, b. 23 Jul 1680, Billerica, Massachusetts Bay; d. 26 Aug 1680, Billerica, Massachusetts Bay
4. Thomas Carrier, b. 18 Jul 1682, Billerica, Massachusetts Bay; d. 7 Mar 1740, Colchester, Connecticut; m. Susannah Johnson, 19 Jun 1705, Andover, Massachusetts Bay
5. Sarah Carrier, b. 17 Nov 1684, Billerica, Massachusetts Bay; d. 6 Dec 1772, Colchester, Connecticut; m. John Chapman, 7 Sep 1707, Colchester, Connecticut.
6. Hannah Carrier, b. 12 Jul 1689, Andover, Massachusetts Bay; d. 7 Feb 1766, Windham, Connecticut; m. Joseph Wood, 29 Dec 1720, Lebanon, Connecticut
7. Two other children who died in 1690 of smallpox

Smallpox in Andover

To Samuel Holt, Andrew Allen and John Allen, Neighbors and friends – We the subscribers of Andover have been informed that your sister Carrier and some of her children are smitten with that contagious disease the small-pox and some have been so inconsiderate as to think that the care of them belongs to the select men of Andover which does not...and shall only take care that they do not spread the distemper with wicked carelessness which we are afraid they have already done...^[6]

The first smallpox epidemic in Andover occurred after Martha and Thomas brought their family from Billerica to Andover.^[7] Many members of her family died in the epidemic, including her father, Andrew Allen, her brothers Andrew Allen III and John Allen, John's wife, Mercy Peters, and Andrew's son, Thomas Allen, ^[8] and also her sister Hannah's husband, James Holt, and son, James Holt.^[9] It appears that Martha and Thomas also lost 2 children to the disease.

The Carrier family was blamed for bringing smallpox to Andover, and barred from entering public places. Modern investigation indicates that the disease was more likely brought by new immigrants from England^[10], however this belief may have contributed to later events.

Salem Witch Trial

Martha (Allin) Carrier was executed for witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials

On May 28, 1692 Martha was the first person from Andover to be accused of witchcraft, during the Salem Witch Trials. She was arrested upon the complaint of Joseph Holton and John Walcott

From the beginning until her death, Martha vigorously maintained her innocence, but the Puritan magistrates had the visionary "Salem girls" on their side. These young girls were believed to have the ability to detect the presence of the devil and provide "spectral evidence" to the court.

Martha, her two oldest sons (Richard and Thomas), and her seven and a half year-old daughter (Sarah) were arrested and kept in jail for almost three months before the trial.

The trial began on August 2, 1692, a special session of the court of Oyer and Terminer in the Salem Village Meeting House.

Old disputes between Martha and her neighbors were brought up and reviewed for suspicious activity. At least four of Martha's neighbors from Andover came to testify that she had used witchcraft against them, killing livestock and causing illnesses. Martha's two teenage sons had been hung by their heels "until the blood was ready to come out of their noses," before they confessed to being involved with witchcraft. The magistrates didn't use the sons' confessions, but they did bring Martha's young daughter, Sarah, to testify against her mother.

Salem Witchraft Papers for Martha Carrier^[11] include the complaint, examination, depositions, indictments, which name:

Accusers

Afflicted Girls

• Elizabeth Hubbard Salem Village age, 17; niece of Mrs. William Griggs also Accused
• Mercy Lewis Salem Village age, 17; servant to Sergeant Thomas Putnam and George Burroughs
• Ann Putnam, Jr. Salem Village age, 12, daughter of Sergeant Thomas Putnam and Mrs. Ann (Carr) Putnam Sr.
• Susanna Sheldon Salem Village age, 18; also Accused
• Mary Walcott Salem Village age, 17, daughter of Jonathan Walcott and Mary Sibley
• Abigail Williams Salem Village age, 11; cousin of "Betty" Parris; niece of Reverend Samuel Parris; also Accused

Others

• Corporal Benjamin Abbot, Andover
• Sara (Farnum) Abbot, Andover
• Bridget (Henchman) Chandler, Andover
• Phoebe Chandler, Andover
• Andrew Foster, Andover
• Allin Toothaker, Andover
• Samuel Preston, Andover
• Thomas Putnam, Salem
• John Putnam, Jr., Salem
• John Rogers Billerica

Judges/Examiners

• Captain Jonathan Corwin, Judge
• Colonel John Hathorne, Judge; “most intolerant and cruel of the judges”
• Samuel Sewall, Judge; Superior Court Judge; Harvard graduate; publicly apologized for involvement in witch trials

Sarah's confession came six days after her mother was already convicted and sentenced to death. "It was asked by the Magistrates or Justices, John Hathorne, Esq, and others:

• How long hast thou been a witch? A. Ever since I was six years old.
• Q. How old are you? A. Near eight years old, brother Richard says I shall be eight years old in November last.
• Q. Who made you a witch? A. My mother, she made me set my hand to a book...”

The Rev. Francis Dane spoke in her defense and stated that she was a victim of gossip.

Martha denied the charges of witchcraft and making others witches. She spoke her mind freely on her feelings of the Court of Oyer and Terminer and its methods. Quotes include:

• "...I am wronged. It is a shameful thing that you should mind these folks that are out of their wits."
• "I would rather die than confess a falsehood so filthy"

On August 19, 1692, Martha was taken in the back of a cart to Gallows Hill in Salem, with George Jacobs, Sr, George Burroughs, John Proctor, and John Willard were hanged on Gallows Hill.

Jeering crowds lined the streets and gathered at the scaffold to witness the hanging of Martha and the four men, also "convicted" witches. Screaming her innocence from the scaffold, Martha never gave up. A report from the time describes the treatment of Martha and two of the men, including a Mr. Burroughs: "When he was cut down, he was dragged by a halter to a hole or grave between the rocks about two feet deep; his shirt and breeches were pulled off and an old pair of trousers of one of the executed put on his lower parts; he was so put in together with Willard and Carrier that one of his hands and his chin and a foot of one of them was left uncovered."

The trial prompted the well known Boston cleric, Reverend Dr. Cotton Mather, to report, This rampant hag, Martha Carrier, was the person of whom the confession of the rest agreed that the devil had promised her, she should be the Queen of Hell.^[12]

In May 1693, Governor Phips of Massachusetts returned from the Indian Wars and revoked all death sentences and released all those still held. The Governor also revoked the acceptance of "spectral evidence" in court, effectively ending the witch trials.

In 1711, Martha Carrier's name appeared on a list of sufferers whose legal representatives received compensation for imprisonment and death of relatives. The Carrier family received seven pounds, six shillings.

Massachusetts Remediation

1. 17 October 1710, Convictions Reversed, The General Court of Massachusetts Bay, An act, the several convictions, judgments, and attainders be, and hereby are, reversed, and declared to be null and void.^[13]
2. 17 Dec 1711, Compensation to Survivors, Governor Dudley, GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY, approved compensation to such persons as are living, and to those that legally represent them that are dead [For Martha Carrier, 7 pounds, 6 shillings]^[13]
3. 28 Aug 1957, No Disgrace to Descendants, General Court of Massachusetts, ...such proceedings, were and are shocking, and the result of a wave of popular hysterical fear of the Devil in the community, and further declares that, as all the laws under which said proceedings...have been long since abandoned and superseded by our more civilized laws, no disgrace or cause for distress attaches to the said descendants or any of them by reason of said proceedings.^[14]
4. 31 Oct 2001, Additional Victims Included, Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives in General Court, AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE WITCHCRAFT TRIAL OF 1692, chapter 145 is hereby further amended by adding Bridget Bishop, Susannah Martin, Alice Parker, Margaret Scott and Wilmot Redd.^[15]

Sources

1. ↑ "Descendants of Andrew Allen of Andover The Essex Antiquarian. 3:7. 1899 found in The Essex Antiquarian. Salem, MA: The Essex Antiquarian, 13 vols. 1897-1909. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2006.)
2. ↑ Case #370 Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881 Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.)
3. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1568/rd/21174/282/426917483
4. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records Billerica Volume 1, page 35, also shown in NEHGS
5. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records Andover Births, volume 1, page 92, also shown in NEHGS
6. ↑ “Historical Sketches of Andover, (Comprising the Present Towns of North Andover and Andover) : Bailey, Sarah Loring : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive. Boston, Houghton, January 1, 1880. https://archive.org/details/historicalsketch00bail/page/202/mode/1up/search/pox.
7. ↑ Greven, Philip J. Four Generations: Population, Land, and Family in Colonial Andover, Massachusetts (Cornell University Press, 1972) -p. 107
8. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records Andover Deaths, Volume 2, page 375, also shown in NEHGS, which states ALLEN (Allin), Andrew [jr., smallpox. dup., Oct. 24, 1690. [9br. 26, 1690 dup.]; John, smallpox, Nov. 26, 1690; Mercy, w. John, small pox, Dec. 25, 1690.; Thomas, s. Andrew and Elisabeth, small pox, Dec. 18, 1690,
9. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records Andover Deaths page 466 showing HOLT James, s. James and Hannah, small pox, Dec. 13, 1690; and James, "father of James," Small pox, Dec. 14, 1690
10. ↑ [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Carrier_(Salem_witch_trials)
11. ↑ The Salem Witchcraft Papers (SWP No. 024) Martha Carrier
12. ↑ Salem Witchcraft [Microform] : with an Account of Salem Village and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects : Upham, Charles W. (Charles Wentworth), 1802-1875 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive. Boston : Wiggin and Lunt, January 1, 1867. https://archive.org/details/cihm_34248/page/n225/mode/1up/search/carrier.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} “Salem Witchcraft : with an Account of Salem Village, and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects : Upham, Charles Wentworth, 1802-1875, Author : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, January 1, 1970. https://archive.org/details/salemwitchcraftw02upha_0/page/480/mode/1up?q=Foster.
14. ↑ https://www.mass.gov/doc/resolves-of-1957-chapter-145/download
15. ↑ https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2001/Chapter122

See also:

• Great Migration 1634-1635, G-H. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume III, G-H, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB116/i/7118/400/235154305
• Wikipedia: Martha Carrier (Salem witch trials)
• “Case Files Referencing Martha Carrier.” Case files referencing Martha Carrier - New Salem - Pelican. Accessed February 27, 2020. http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/tag/carrier_martha.html.
• Bowen's Boston News-Letter and City Record|Bowen's Boston News-Letter and City Record]] (Abel Bown, Boston, May 6, 1826) Vol. 1
• Page 232: "Her own daughter, a child a bout seven years old, was allowed to testify against her mother. The testimony and confession she gave may be seen in the second volume of Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts."
• Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Biography of Martha Carrier, Accused Witch." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/martha-carrier-biography-3530322 (accessed January 12, 2020).
• Wikipedia: Martha_Carrier_(Salem_witch_trials)
• Wikidata: Item Q23616374