William Barker Sr (1646 - 1718)

Born 1646 in Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts

Husband of Mary M (Dix) Barker — married 20 Feb 1676 in Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 4 Mar 1718 at about age 72 in Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts

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Biography

William Barker Sr was accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials

Salem Witch Trials

Accusations against William's son: 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, (Recognizance for William Barker, Jr., and Mary Barker). ^[1]

Memorandum: That on the Thirteenth day of Jan'ry 1692 In the Fourth Year of the Reigne of our Sovereigne Lord and Lady William and Mary by the Grace of God of England &c: King & Queen defenders of the faith &c: Personally appeared before W'm Stoughton Esq'r cheife Justice of their Maj'ies Province of the Massachusets bay in New England Jno Barker and Jno Osgood both of the Towne of Andiver in the County of Essex Husbandmen and acknowledged themselves to be Joyntly & Severally indebted unto our s'd: Sovereigne Lord & Lady and the survivor of them their Heires & Successors in the sum of one Hundred Pounds to be levied on their or either of their lands & Tenni- ments goods & chattles for the use of our s'd: Sovereigne Lord & Lady the King & Queen or Survivor of them on Condition that W'm Barker Jun'r & Mary Barker haveing stood Committed for Suspition of Witchcraft shall make their personall appearance before the Jus- tices of our s'd: Lord & Lady the King & Queen at the next Court of Assizes and Generall Goale Delivery to be holden for the County of Essex then & their to answer to all such matters and things as shall in their Maj'ies behalfe be alledged against them and to doe & re- ceive that which by the s'd: Court shall be then & there Injoyned them and thence not to departe without licence -- ^{[2] [3]}

Confession from Prison of William Barker, Sr.: 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 design was to Destroy Salem Village, and to begin at the Ministers House, and to destroy the Church of God, and to set up Satans Kingdom, 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 Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft [Boston, 1702], ^[4]

Burial

"Here Lyes Buried The Body of William Barker Who Died March The 4th 1718 In 73rd Year of His Age" ^[5] . William Barker, Sr. was arrested and examined for witchcraft in Salem on 29 August 1692. He readily confessed to the charge. He told the magistrates that the witches' "design was to Destroy Salem Village, and to begin at the Ministers House, and to destroy the Church of God, and to set up Satan's Kingdom, and then all will be well." Despite his confession, Barker survived the hysteria.

Records

Marriage: BARKER, William, and Mary [M. or D]ix [Dix. CTR], Feb. 20, 1676.^[6]

Births of Children (Andover)^[7]:

1. BARKER, William, s. William and Mary, Jan. 22, 1677.
2. BARKER, Hannah [Baker. CTR], d. William and Mary, Sept. 5, 1681.
3. BARKER, Stephen, s. William and Mary, June 20, 1683.
4. BARKER, Hannaniah, s. William and Mary, Apr. 19, 1685
5. BARKER, Hepsibah, d. William and Mary, Mar. 24, 1686-7.
6. BARKER, John, s. William and Mary, Mar. 15, 1688-9.
7. BARKER, John, s. William and Mary, Feb. 10, 1689-90.
8. BARKER, Samuel, s. William and Mary, Feb. 13, 1691-2.
9. BARKER, Mary, d. William and Mary, May 12, 1695.
10. BARKER, Abiell, s. William and Mary, July 15, 1697.

Death: BARKER, William, sr., Mar. 4, 1717-18, in his 73d y.^[8]

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.^[9]
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 Sarah Good, £30]^[9]
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.^[10]
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.^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ ( Essex County Archives, Salem -- Witchcraft Vol. 2 Page 33 )
2. ↑ ( Mass. Archives Vol. 135 No. 105 )
3. ↑ ( Miscellaneous Papers -- Essex Institute, Salem No. 9 )
4. ↑ excerpted in George Lincoln Burr , ed., Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706 [N.Y., 1914; reissued , 1968], pp. 419-420.)
5. ↑ FindaGrave Memorial for William Barker
6. ↑ Vital records of Andover, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, Volume II; Andover Marriages, page 44
7. ↑ Vital records of Andover, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, Volume I; Andover Births; Pages 52-57
8. ↑ Vital records of Andover, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, Volume II; Andover Deaths; page 387
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} “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. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17845/17845-h/salem2-htm.html#Page_ii.480.
10. ↑ https://www.mass.gov/doc/resolves-of-1957-chapter-145/download
11. ↑ https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2001/Chapter122

See also:

• “Case Files Referencing William Barker Sr.” Case files referencing William Barker Sr. - New Salem - Pelican. Accessed February 26, 2020. http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/tag/barker_william_sr.html.
• The Salem Witchcraft Papers (SWP No. 009) William Barker, Sr.
• American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI): American Genealogical-Biographical
• Gen. Column of the " Boston Transcript". 1906-1941.( The greatest single source of material for gen. Data for the N.E. area and for the period 1600-1800. Completely indexed in the Index.): Jun 25, 1913, 3405
• American Marriages Before 1699: American Marriages Before 1699 about Mary Dix; Clemens, William Montgomery. American Marriage Records Before 1699. Pompton Lakes, NJ, USA: Biblio Co., 1926.
• New England, Salem Witches and Others Tried for Witchcraft, 1647-1697
• U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900: U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 about William Barker
• New England Marriages Prior to 1700; Torrey, Clarence A.
• Barker Genealogy by Elizabeth Frye Barker, Frye Publishing Co. New York, 1927.
• Genealogical and Personal Memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Edited by William Richard Cutter, A.M., volume II, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York, 1910.

Acknowledgments

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