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Mary Barker (1679 - 1752)

Mary Barker
Born in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts Baymap
Ancestors ancestors
Wife of — married 30 Apr 1704 in Andover, Essex County, Massachusettsmap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 72 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts Baymap
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Profile last modified | Created 21 Sep 2010
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Contents

Biography

Mary Barker was accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials

Records

Birth: BARKER, Mary, d. John and Mary, Sept. 3, 1679.[1]

Marriage: BARKER, Mary, and William Barker, Apr. 20, 1704. [2] Mary and William were first cousins, i.e., their fathers were brothers.

Death: BARKER, Mary, wid. Feb. 10, 1752.[3]

At age 14, Mary was accused of being a witch in Andover, Massachusetts.

Witch Trials

Examination of Mary Barker 1st Paper 29 August 1692 Before Maj'r Gidney Mr. Hauthorn and Mr. Corwin

The Examination and Confession of Mary Barker of Andover.[4]

After severall questions propounded and negative answ'rs Returned she at last acknowledged that Goody Johnson made her a witch, And sometime last summer she made a red mark in the devils book with the fore finger of her Left hand, And the Devil would have her hurt Martha Sprague, Rose Foster and Abigail martin which she did upon Saturday and Sabath Day last, she said she was not above a quarter of an hour in coming down from Andover to Salem: to afflict, she sayes she afflicted the above three persons by squeezing her hands. She confesses she was at the witch meeting at Salem Village with her unkle, there was a great many there, and of her company there was only her unkle, Wm. Barker and Mary Marston. Martha Sprague said that Mary Barkers apparition told that she was Baptisied at five myle pond. said Mary Barker said there was such aload & weight at her stom- ach that hindered her from speaking. And is afrayd she has given up herself soul and body to the Devil. she sayes she promised to serve worship and believe in him and he promesed to perdone her sins, but finds he has [dowtbed] her, and that she was Lost of God and all good people, That Goody Johnson and Goody falkner appeared at the same tyme and threatened to teare her in peeces if she did not doo what she then did. she further Sayth that she has seen no appearance since but a fly which did speake to her, and bid her afflict these poor creatures. which she did by pinching with, and Clincheing of her hands for which she is sorry And further the Devil

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]
  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
  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.[6]
  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.[7]

Sources

  1. Vital records of Andover, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, Volume I; Andover Births; page 55
  2. Vital records of Andover, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, Volume II; Andover Marriages; page 42
  3. "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch Andover Deaths : 20 May 2014), Essex > Andover > Deaths 1650-1844 > image 31 of 141; citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston.
  4. “Case Files Referencing Mary Barker.” Case files referencing Mary Barker - New Salem - Pelican. Accessed February 26, 2020. http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/tag/barker_mary.html.
  5. “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.
  6. https://www.mass.gov/doc/resolves-of-1957-chapter-145/download
  7. https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2001/Chapter122

See also:





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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Mary by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Mary:

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Barker-1873 and Barker-185 appear to represent the same person because: Dates, parents match.
posted by Bob Keniston Jr.

B  >  Barker  >  Mary Barker

Categories: Salem Witch Trials | Accused Witches of New England