no image
Privacy Level: Open (White)

John Bradstreet (1652 - 1718)

John Bradstreet
Born in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colonymap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 17 Jun 1679 in Essex, Massachusetts Baymap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 65 in Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colonymap
Problems/Questions Profile managers: Bob Keniston private message [send private message] and Bill Ford private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 2 Dec 2010
This page has been accessed 4,499 times.

Biography

John Bradstreet was accused of witchcraft in witch trials

John Bradstreet was born on July 22, 1652, in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts [1] per birth records for Andover, Massachusetts cited below. He was the youngest of eight children born to Simon Bradstreet, who served as governor of Massachusetts and Anne Dudley, the famous poet. His mother died in 1672, when John was twenty years old. His father served as governor of colonial Massachusetts in 1679-1686, and again from 1689 until May, 1692.

In 1679, when John was 27, he married Sarah Perkins, in Topsfield, where she was born. The six known children of John and Sarah were born in Topsfield between 1682 and 1699. This farming community was about 21 miles to the southeast of Andover, and then 10 miles on the road to Salem.

In early fall 1692, toward the end of the famous Salem Witch Trials, both John and his brother Dudley (a justice of the peace who served the warrants) were called out for witchcraft even though they were upstanding members of local Puritan congregations. In John's case, "A dog being afflicted at Salem Village, those that had the spectral sight being sent for, they accused Mr. John Bradstreet (brother to the Justice) that he afflicted the said dog, and now rid [rode] upon him: He made his escape into Pescattequa Government [New Hampshire], and the dog was put to death. " [2]

By mid 1693, the Governor had ruled that spectral evidence would no longer be sufficient to convict someone of witchcraft, prohibited further arrests, and pardon the remaining prisoners accused of witchcraft. [3]

Soon thereafter, John was able to resume farming life with his family in Topsfield, where he lived until his death on January 11, 1718. He was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Topsfield, though there is no stone remaining. [4]

Records

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.[5]
  1. 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
  1. 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. [6]
  1. 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. [7]

Sources

  1. Topsfield Historical Society, Vital Records of Andover, Massachusetts to the end of the Year 1849 Volume I Births (Topsfield, Mass. 1912)(Free e-book)(Records are also available at ma-vitalrecords.org) p. 77
  2. Charles S. Osgood and H.M. Batchelder. Historical Sketch of Salem. Salem: Essex Institute, 1879. Page 83.
  3. "Sir William Phips." https://famous-trials.com/salem/2035-sal-bphi
  4. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/124654424/john-bradstreet
  5. Upham, Charles Wentworth. Salem Witchcraft : with an Account of Salem Village, and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects. Internet Archive, January 1, 1970.
  6. https://www.mass.gov/doc/resolves-of-1957-chapter-145/download
  7. https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2001/Chapter122




Is John your ancestor? Please don't go away!
 star icon Login to collaborate or comment, or
 star icon contact private message private message a profile manager, or
 star icon ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com

DNA
No known carriers of John's DNA have taken a DNA test.

Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.



Comments: 3

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.
According to Sarah's will written in 1740, her children included Sarah Porter and Dorothy Clarke, in addition to Samuel. Mercy and Simon predeceased her, but Mercy's daughter Margaret is also named in the will.

Will as recorded in the record volume (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YT-VNS9?i=443&cat=412735)

Will from probate file (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-YSQ8-G7H?i=124&cat=1931591) Note: the images seem to have been uploaded out of order as the images all seem to be interfiled.

posted by Sam Howes
In https://books.google.com/books?id=uao9AAAAYAAJ&pg=PR10&lpg=PR10&dq=book+of+wild+wilds+wilds+of+topsfield+massachusetts&source=bl&ots=RgMPG3y_f8&sig=ACfU3U3NibzdW5ePnSdAHM2sN14VmA29EA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjLtvHh-7roAhWLGDQIHeuIBosQ6AEwBnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=book%20of%20wild%20wilds%20wilds%20of%20topsfield%20massachusetts&f=false Book of wild wilds wilds of topsfield massachusetts, by Nehemiah Cleaveland, p. viii, there is a section which list children of John and Sarah Perkins including "John, b. 1693, m. Rebecca ____ ; Margaret, b. 1696; Samuel, b. 1699, m Sarah Clarke ...."
posted by Richard Flanagin Jr.
edited by Richard Flanagin Jr.
In Oct 1692, John was living in Salem, Massachusetts (with his brother, Dudley). He was publicly accused of witchcraft after a small girl saw John riding on the back of his dog in a dream. John was acquitted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer; however, the Court ordered his dog to be hanged by the neck until dead.
posted by Wayne Gillespie

B  >  Bradstreet  >  John Bradstreet

Categories: Salem Witch Trials | Accused Witches of New England