Martha Carrier (Salem witch trials)

Puritan accused in the Salem witch trials

Martha Carrier

An 1876 illustration of the courtroom where Martha was convicted of witchcraft.

Born|

Martha Allen (or Allin)

1650

Andover, Massachusetts

Died| 19 August 1692 (aged 42–49)

Salem Village, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Cause of death| Execution by hanging
Monuments| The Twenty benches
Occupation| Housewife
Known for| Convicted of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials
Spouse| Thomas Morgan Carrier
Children| 8

Martha Carrier (née Allen; about 1650 – 19 August 1692) was a Puritan accused and convicted of being a witch during the 1692 Salem witch trials.[1]

## Early life

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Martha Allen was born about 1650 to Andrew Allen (or Allin) (1623–1690), one of the original 23 settlers of Andover, and Faith Ingalls (1623–1690) in Andover.[2] She had three sisters, Mary (1644–1695), Sarah (1646–1716), and Hannah (1652–1698), and two brothers, Andrew (1657–1690) and John (1661–1690).

On 7 May 1674 when she was 7 months pregnant with her eldest child, she married Thomas Carrier (c. 1650–1739). After the marriage, they relocated to neighboring Billerica, some ten miles southwest of Andover, and lived in the north part of town near her sister Mary. [Note: According to the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Martha's spouse was born Thomas Morgan in Wales. Furthermore, he died in Colchester, Connecticut in 1735, not in 1739 as shown in two places above. According to Carrier family lore, Thomas was born in 1626, not in 1636 nor in 1650, as shown above. The Carrier family believes that Thomas was 108 to 109 years old when he died, while walking home with a sack of grain over his shoulder. The significance of the birth year is that Thomas is believed to have been involved in the execution of King Charles I in 1649. The earlier birth year of 1626 would have made him 23 at the time of the execution; and, hence, he was a plausible participant. Whereas, the later birth years of 1636 or 1650 would have made it impossible. Some sources say he came to New England in 1674 and married Martha at that time; one source says this actually occurred in 1664. In either case, Thomas's arrival in New England would have been after the 1660 Restoration of Charles II, and suggests that Thomas was a regicide on the run, like others such as John Dixwell, Edward Whalley, and William Goffe. Tellingly, he changed his name to Thomas Carrier at that time. Thomas is believed to be the progenitor of virtually all of the Carriers in the United States, even though that was not his real name. Willis Carrier, of air conditioning fame, is descended from Thomas and Martha.] Martha had eight children, one of whom died in infancy:[3]

* Unknown Carrier (d. 1690)
* Richard Carrier (1674–1749)
* Unknown Carrier (1675–1690)
* Andrew Carrier (1677–1749)
* Jane Carrier (1680–1680)
* Thomas Carrier Jr (1682–1739)
* Sarah Carrier (1684–1772)
* Hannah Carrier (1689–1772)

They returned to Andover in 1688 where they lived in poverty and were dependent on the family farm to supply them with a living. Martha nursed her father and two brothers when an outbreak of smallpox spread through the city in 1690 but could not save them. Thereby she became a land owner in her own right. Her husband and four of her children also contracted the disease. Her husband and two of the children survived. They were accused of bringing the disease to the city, but investigation has revealed that the disease was most likely brought by new immigrants from England. Thirteen people perished during the epidemic, and the Carriers were barred from entering public places.

A map of Salem Village (1692)

## The Salem witch trials

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### Accusations and arrest

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Martha was accused of witchcraft in May 1692 by a group of young women known as the Salem Girls who consisted of Susannah Sheldon, Mary Walcott, Elizabeth Hubbard and Ann Putnam Jr, who would travel through Essex County, Massachusetts rooting out suspected witches by engaging in a theatrical display. Whether the court actually believed this act is still open to debate, but what is known is that when Martha was confronted by the girls, she acted as any rational person would when faced with their wild behavior. The girls accused her of leading a 300 strong witch army, using her occult powers to murder and afflict people with terrible diseases and of being promised the dubious position of "Queen of Hell". Martha vehemently denied these charges and in turn charged her accusers with insanity.[4]

A warrant was signed for Martha's arrest and she was arrested on 28 May 1692 along with her sister Mary and brother-in-law Roger Toothaker, and their daughter Margaret Toothaker (born 1683). Martha's young children were sent to prison with her, apparently in hopes that their confinement would cause her to confess. The first accused "witch" in Andover, Martha was accused of witchcraft by her neighbor Benjamin Abbot after he fell sick and blamed his illness on her bewitching him after they had gotten into an argument that involved a land dispute. She was taken to jail and placed in chains to keep her spirit from roaming. Three days later, Martha underwent the examination that always preceded the witchcraft trials, but she maintained her innocence.[5]

### Trial and conviction

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Martha's trial started on 31 May 1692 and she was transported to the Salem Village Meeting House to face the accusing girls, overviewed by judges John Hathorne, Jonathan Corwin, and Bartholomew Gedney. When Martha entered the room, the girls fell to the floor, writhing with cries of agony.[6]

The Salem Village Meeting House served as the courtroom during the trial.

Neighbors were summoned to air their grievances. One local witness complained that Martha's craft caused him to lose a fistfight to her son Richard. Several other women who were accused confessed that Martha had led them to practice witchcraft. Ann Foster said she rode on a stick with Martha to Salem Village, her nephew Allen Toothaker testified that he lost two of his livestock, attributing their deaths to Martha. Samuel Preston blamed the death of one of his cows on Martha claiming that after a disagreement she had placed a hex on the animal. Other Andover citizens used her as a scapegoat for their supposed witchcraft and she soon became the principal name mentioned whenever a new person was accused.[7]

On June 28, 1692, a summons for witnesses against Martha included Samuel Preston Jr, Phoebe Chandler and John Rogers. Phoebe Chandler (born 1681) testified by claiming: I was struck deaf, and could hear no prayer, nor singing, till the last two or three words of the singing" during a Sabbath Day meeting.[8] During the trial, the Salem Girls screamed before the court that they could see the ghosts of the thirteen Andover smallpox victims.[citation needed]

> It is false and a shame for you to mind what these say, that are out of their wits!

—Martha Carrier's response to the accusations of the Salem Girls during her trial, 19 August 1692.

Her trial was also fully transcribed at the direction of Cotton Mather, who believed this case to represent the strongest case for the use of spectral evidence. The evidence he found persuasive was the testimony of Martha's 18-year-old son, Richard, and her 7 year-old daughter, Sarah, that she made them become witches to haunt others at her direction. However, John Proctor wrote governor William Phips that he witnessed these children's torture in the jail where he was also imprisoned. The children were reportedly hung by their heels "until the blood was ready to come out of their noses" or until they said what their interrogators wanted to hear.[9]

Throughout all this, Martha Carrier remained defiant and stubborn. She did not confess while many others around her did so she might save her life. There is a possibility that she simply did not expect the outcome of the trials would lead to her execution, as she was one of the first Andover citizens accused and clearly believed the proceedings were a ridiculous invention of a group of adolescents. Others, seeing the punishment meted, quickly confessed to outrageously trumped up charges, often naming Martha as a principal ringleader in return for clemency. She accused the court of complicity in her plotting.[10]

Reverend Cotton Mather (1663–1728) was a key figure during the trial and called Martha Carrier "a rampant hag".

In refusing to submit to the unanimous wishes of the judges, ministers and politicians who gave the hysteria legitimacy, she stood up to oppressive authority figures wielding not only physical power, but spiritual authority and she spoke her mind.[11] Her actions against the court did not save her as she, another woman and four other men were found guilty by the court for witchcraft and sentenced to death by hanging on 5 August 1692.[12]

## Execution

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On 19 August 1692, Martha was taken in the back of a cart to Gallows Hill in Salem. Cheering crowds lined the streets and gathered at the scaffold to witness the hanging of Martha and the four men who were also convicted of witchcraft. She never gave up as even from the scaffold, her voice was heard asserting her innocence refusing to confess to "a falsehood so filthy". Her body was dragged to a common grave between the rocks about two feet deep where she joined the bodies of George Burroughs and John Willard.[13]

### Aftermath

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In 1711, her family received a small amount of recompense from the Massachusetts government for her conviction: 7 pounds and 6 shillings. The Massachusetts government apologized to Thomas Carrier for the hanging of his wife and reversed the conviction. The Salem documents themselves reveal that her crime was not witchcraft but an independence of mind and an unsubmissive character.[14]

## Legacy

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Martha Carrier has inspired hundreds of people as one of many who suffered with courage under a frenzied and baseless witch-hunt. Twenty benches stand in a Memorial for the victims in a downtown park in Salem, one for each of those who were killed in the hysteria.[15]

The Salem Witch Trials Memorial Park in Salem

Kathleen Kent, a descendant of Martha, wrote the novel The Heretic's Daughter, which focuses on the persecution of the Carrier family from the point of view of Sarah Carrier during the Salem Witch Trials.[16]

## See also

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* Salem witch trials
* List of people executed for witchcraft
* List of people of the Salem witch trials

## References

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1. ^ A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England. google.be. 1829. ISBN 9781976589010. Retrieved 19 March 2016. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
2. ^ Holman, Mary Lovering (1938). Ancestry of Charles Stinson Pillsbury and John Sargent Pillsbury. p. 1015. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
3. ^ "The Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project". billericalibrary.org. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
4. ^ "Famous American Trials: Salem Witchcraft Trials 1692". umkc.edu. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
5. ^ "More Witches Were Accused in Andover than in Salem". andoverhistorical.org. 21 October 2015. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
6. ^ "Salem Witchcraft Trials". womenhistoryblog.com. 13 June 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
7. ^ "Witches of Massachusetts - C-1". legendsofamerica.com. 2003. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
8. ^ "Some Salem/Witch Links". ancestry.com. 14 August 1998. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
9. ^ Satan and Salem: The Witch-Hunt Crisis of 1692. google.be. 29 May 2015. ISBN 9780813937083. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
10. ^ "Martha Carrier". womenshistory.about.com. 25 February 2015. Archived from the original on 30 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
11. ^ "Martha (Allen) Carrier (1643–1692), hanged as a Salem Witch". voiceinverse.wordpress.com. 31 October 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
12. ^ "Martha Allen Carrier profile". blogspot.be. 1 September 2010. Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
13. ^ "Martha Carrier". virginia.edu. 2002. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
14. ^ "The Salem Witch Trials". Angelfire. 9 September 2005. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
15. ^ "A Salem witch in my family tree. Martha Allen Carrier". wordpress.com. 7 June 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
16. ^ "The Heretic's Daughter". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2019-07-13.

## Sources

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* Boyer, Paul and Stephen Nissenbaum. (1993) Salem Village Witchcraft: A Documentary Record of Local Conflict in Colonial New England. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
* Hansen, Chadwick. (1969). Witchcraft at Salem. New York, NY: George Baziller.
* Roach, Marilynne K. (2002). The Salem Witch Trials. New York: Taylor Trade Publishing.
* Upham, Charles (1980). Salem Witchcraft. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co.
* Rachel Ames

## Further reading

[edit]

* "Martha Carrier". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/77293. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

* v
* t
* e

Salem witch trials (1692–93)

* Timeline
* People
* Cultural depictions

Magistrates and
court officials|

* Jonathan Corwin
* Bartholomew Gedney
* John Hathorne
* Joseph Herrick
* George Herrick
* John Richards
* Nathanial (or Nathaniel) Saltonstall
* Samuel Sewall
* William Stoughton
* Waitstill Winthrop

Town physician|

* William Griggs

Clergy|

* Thomas Barnard
* George Burroughs (convicted of witchcraft and hanged)
* Francis Dane
* John Hale
* John Higginson
* Deodat Lawson
* Cotton Mather
* Increase Mather
* William Milbourne
* Nicholas Noyes
* Samuel Parris
* Edward Payson
* Samuel Phillips
* Samuel Willard

Politicians, writers,
and public figures|

* Thomas Danforth
* James Russell
* William Phips
* Thomas Brattle
* Robert Calef
* Thomas Maule

Accusers|

* Benjamin Abbot
* Ebenezer Babson
* William Barker Sr.
* Thomas Barnard
* James Best Jr.
* James Best Sr.
* Elizabeth Booth
* John Bly Sr. and Rebecca Bly
* Thomas Boreman
* Thomas Chandler
* Nathaniel Coit
* Mary Daniel
* John DeRich
* Joseph Draper
* John Emerson
* Ralph Farnum Sr.
* Hannah Foster
* Joseph Fowler
* Mary Fuller
* Mary Herrick
* John Howe
* Elizabeth Hubbard
* Joseph Hutchinson
* John Indian
* Nathaniel Ingersoll
* Thomas and Mary Jacobs
* Henry Kinney
* Margaret Wilkins Knight
* Mercy Lewis
* Abigail Martin Jr.
* Jeremiah Neale
* Sarah Nurse
* Betty Parris
* Edward Payson
* Samuel and Ruth Perley (or Pearly)
* Samuel Pickworth
* Thomas Preston
* Ann Putnam Jr.
* Ann Putnam Sr.
* Edward Putnam
* Hannah Putnam
* John Putnam Jr.
* John Putnam Sr.
* Jonathan (or Johnathan) Putnam
* Nathaniel Putnam
* Thomas Putnam
* Nicholas Rist
* Margaret Rule
* Susannah Sheldon
* Mercy Short
* Martha Sprague
* Timothy Swan or Swann
* Christian Trask
* Peter Tufts
* Moses Tyler
* Jonathan Walcott
* Mary Walcott
* Richard Walker
* Mary Warren
* Joseph Whipple
* Bray Wilkins
* John Wilkins
* Samuel Wilkins
* Abigail Williams
* Daniel Wycom or Wicom or Wycombe
* Frances Wycom or Wycome or Wycombe

Accused but survived|

* Arthur Abbot
* Nehemiah Abbot Jr.
* John Alden
* Abigail Barker
* Katerina Biss
* Edward Bishop
* Edward Bishop III
* Mary Black
* Anne Bradstreet
* Dudley Bradstreet
* John Bradstreet
* Mary Bridges Sr.
* Sarah Bridges
* Sarah Buckley
* John Busse (or Buss)
* Andrew Carrier
* Richard Carrier
* Sarah Carrier
* Thomas Carrier Jr.
* Bethiah Carter Jr.
* Bethiah Carter Sr.
* Rachel Clinton
* Sarah Cloyce
* Elizabeth Colson
* Mary Colson
* Francis Dane
* Phoebe Day
* Elizabeth Dicer
* Rebecca Dike
* Ann Dolliver
* Mehitable Downing
* Mary Dyer
* Daniel and Lydia Eames
* Rebecca Blake Eames
* Esther Elwell
* Martha Emerson
* Joseph Emons
* Thomas Farrar Sr.
* Abigail Faulkner Jr.
* Abigail Faulkner Sr.
* Dorothy Faulkner
* Elizabeth Fosdick
* Eunice Frye
* Dorothy Good
* Mary Green
* Sarah Noyes Hale (wife of John Hale)
* Elizabeth Hutchinson Hart
* Margaret Hawkes
* Sarah Hawkes Jr.
* Dorcas Hoar
* Deliverance Hobbs
* William Hobbs
* Elizabeth Johnson Sr.
* Stephen Johnson
* Rebecca Jacobs
* Jane Lilly (or Lillie)
* Mary Marston
* Sarah Morey
* Sarah Murrell
* Robert and Sarah Pease
* Joan Penney (or Penny)
* Sarah Phelps
* Lady Mary Phips
* Mary Post
* Susannah Post
* Margaret Prince
* Elizabeth Proctor
* Sarah Proctor
* William Proctor
* Sarah Davis Rice
* Sarah Rist
* Sarah Root
* Susanna Rootes
* Abigail Rowe
* Mary Rowe
* Elizabeth Scargen
* Ann Sears
* Abigail Somes
* Sarah Clapp Swift
* Mary Harrington Taylor
* Margaret Thacher
* Job Tookey
* Margaret Toothaker
* Mary Toothaker
* Hannah Tyler
* Mary Lovett Tyler
* Hezekiah Usher II
* Rachel Vinson
* Mary Whittredge (or Witheridge)
* Sarah Wilson Jr.
* Sarah Wilson Sr.
* Edward Wooland

Confessed and/or
accused others|

* Mary Barker
* William Barker Jr.
* William Barker Sr.
* Sarah Bibber
* Mary Bridges Jr.
* Sarah Churchwell
* Deliverance Dane
* Rebecca Eames
* Abigail Hobbs
* Margaret Jacobs
* Mary Lacey Jr.
* Mary Lacey Sr.
* Joanna Tyler
* Martha Tyler
* Mercy Wardwell
* Sarah Wardwell
* Mary Warren
* Candy
* Tituba

Executed by hanging|

* Bridget Bishop
* George Burroughs
* Martha Carrier
* Martha Corey
* Mary Eastey
* Sarah Good
* Elizabeth Howe
* George Jacobs Sr.
* Susannah Martin
* Rebecca Nurse
* Alice Parker
* Mary Ayer Parker
* John Proctor
* Ann Pudeator
* Wilmot Redd
* Margaret Scott
* Samuel Wardwell
* Sarah Wildes
* John Willard

Pressed to death|

* Giles Corey

Born in prison|

* Mercy, infant child of Sarah Good
* John Proctor III

Died in prison|

* John Durrant
* Lydia Dustin
* Ann Foster
* Mercy, infant child of Sarah Good
* Sarah Osborne
* Infant child of Elizabeth Scargen
* Roger Toothaker

Escaped or
otherwise fled|

* John Alden
* Daniel Andrew
* Mary Bradbury
* Elizabeth Cary
* Phillip and Mary English
* Edward Farrington
* Mary Green
* George Jacobs Jr.
* Ephraim Stevens

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