Samuel Preston Sr. (abt. 1651 - 1738)

Born about 1651 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts

Husband of Susannah (Gutterson) Preston — married 27 May 1672 in Andover, Massachusetts

Husband of Mary (Rolandson) Preston — married 24 Sep 1713 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 10 Jul 1738 at about age 87 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts

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Biography

Samuel Preston Sr. was a witchcraft accuser in the Salem Witch Trials

Records

Marriage: PRESTON, Samuell, and Susanna Gutterson, May 27, 1672.^[1]

Births of Children (Andover, Mass)^[2]:

1. PRESTON, Samuell, s. Samuell and Susanna, Mar. 16, 1672.
2. PRESTON, William, s. Samuell and Susanna, Jan. 11, 1674.)^[3]
3. PRESTON, Susanna, d. Samuell and Susanna, Mar. 30, 1677.
4. PRESTON, Mary, d. Samuell and Susannah, Jan. 5, 1678.
5. PRESTON, Jacob, s. Samuell and Susannah, Feb. 24, 1680-81.
6. PRESTON, Elizabeth, d. Samuell and Susannah, Feb. 14, 1682.
7. PRESTON, John, s. Samuell and Susannah, May 1, 1685.
8. PRESTON, Joseph, s. Samuell and Susannah, Jan. 26, 1686-7.
9. PRESTON, Ruth, d. Samuell and Susannah, Feb. 7, 1688-9.
10. PRESTON, Lydia, d. Samuel and Susannah, Oct. 8, 1690.
11. PRESTON, Priscilla, d. Samuell and Susannah, Mar. 19, 1695-6.

Death: PRESTON, Samuel, sr., July 10, 1738, a. abt. 84 y. ^[4]

Note

Note: Salem Witchcraft Trial Available on Ancestry here

Note: Salem witch trials From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Available on Wikipedia here and here.

Testimony at Trial

(Testimony of Samuel Preston v. Martha Carrier ) [+ August 3, 1692 ]

Samuel Preston aged about 41: years Saith that about 2 yeares since I had some difference w'th Martha Carrier w'ch also had hapened sever'll times before and soon after I lost a Cow in a strange manner being Cast upon her back w'th her heels up in firm ground when she was very Lusty it being in June & within abo't month after this the s'd Martha & I had some difference again at which Time she told me I had lost a Cow lately & it Would not or should not be long before I should loose Another w'ch accordingly came to pass. for I had a Cow that was well kept w'th English Hay & I could not p'rceive that she aild any thing & yet she pined & quickley lay downe as if she was asleep & dyed Jurat in Curia ^[5]

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.^[6]
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.^[7]
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.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Vital records of Andover, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, Volume II; Andover Marriages; page 280
2. ↑ Vital records of Andover, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, Volume I; Andover Births; page 312
3. ↑ Vital records of Andover, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, Volume I; Andover Births; page 313
4. ↑ Vital records of Andover, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, Volume II; Andover Deaths; page 530
5. ↑ http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n24.html
6. ↑ “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.
7. ↑ https://www.mass.gov/doc/resolves-of-1957-chapter-145/download
8. ↑ https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2001/Chapter122

See also:

• The Salem Witchcraft Papers (SWP No. 024) Martha Carrier
• Preston, Edward M. A History of Captain Roswell Preston of Hampton, Connecticut (E.M. Preston, Nevada City, California, 1899) Page 6
• Charles Henry Chandler and Sarah Fiske Lee. The History of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, 1735-1914: With Genealogical Records of the Principal Families. Fitchburg, Mass.: Sentinel Printing Company, 1914, p. 560.
• The New York genealogical and biographical record, Vol LII, p. 326-238 (1921) Available at archive.org here