Isaac and the Big Friendly World

I have an ancestor who was hanged during the Salem Witch Trials.

(Which I know about thanks to my super Geneologically inclined Mom.  This isn’t some stupid, “I’m related to Pocahontas” thing, honest).

…

Written By Brendan Dignan
Salem Witch Trials in History and Literature

Samuel Wardwell was born on May 16, 1643 to Thomas Wardwell and Elizabeth Hooper in Boston, Massachusetts. Samuel was the youngest of three boys. Martha, the only girl, died in 1337 during childbirth. Though little is known of the Wardwell family, they seem to have come from a modest Quaker background, and each boy was not afforded a great inheritance. Young Samuel took an interest in carpentry and was finishing a apprenticeship in Boston in 1664, at the age of twenty-one, when his life would take a different course toward the town of Salem.

In 1664, Samuel’s eldest brother, Eliakim, had moved to New Jersey and became a leader among the large numbers of Quakers who had recently moved there. At the same time, Samuel’s other brother, Benjamin, moved to Salem in search of a seaman’s job in the town’s thriving commercial shipping business (Robinson 57). Young Samuel decided to follow his brother to Salem in order to practice carpentry. At this time, Salem was rapidly growing, as old houses were being enlarged, and many new ones were being built .

Upon moving to Salem, Samuel met an unidentified woman whom he married and they had a son named Thomas. Unfortunately, his wife died in 1671 and Samuel moved to nearby Andover with his young son in search of a new life. There were several prominent men living in Andover at the time. One of these was Simon Bradstreet, a magistrate, who had gotten into a conflict with Eliakim Wardwell. Eliakim had called the magistrate’s daughter, a “dishonest woman.” There is a good chance that the bad blood between these two families would be a cause for Samuel’s indictment for witchcraft twenty years later. Another established resident of Andover was Richard Barker. Barker’s twenty-five year-old daughter, Sarah, fell in love with Samuel Wardwell, and the couple planned to marry. However, because Samuel was not a member of Andover’s leading families, the couple’s plans were quickly halted.

Since moving to Andover, Samuel often amused his neighbors by telling fortunes, a practice forbidden by the Puritan religion, because it was regarded as a magical activity. It is likely that Samuel was simply immature and practiced magic for sport. However, several members of Andover knew of his pastime, and remembered them years later in 1692. “He was fabled, for example to have the strange power of getting into people’s dreams, and regulating matters there to his own fancy (Robinson 62).” In addition, he prophesized in 1677 that a young couple in Andover would have five daughters before they had a son. Amazingly, this turned out to be true. Unfortunately forWardwell, the boy was born just a few years before the witch scare, furthering his link to the supernatural and placing him as a suspect for witchcraft.

In the years prior to the witch trials, anyone dabbling in magic or fortune telling was thought to be linked to the devil. Though the practice of fortune telling was not uncommon among New Englanders in the seventeenth century, Wardwell’s well-known practice of magic, albeit for sport, made him a prime target for witchcraft accusation in 1692.

The final reason for Wardwell’s accusation of witchcraft, was due to his neighbors’ jealousy of his sudden wealth. As can be seen in cases of other accused persons in Salem and Andover, those who gained or lost wealth were more prone to be accused than others. To everyone surprise, Sarah Hawkes, a young, beautiful, twenty-two year-old widow, with a sizable inheritance, decided to marry Samuel Wardwell on January 9, 1673. Samuel was not a member of the gentry and had no dowry to offer Sarah. Nevertheless, they married and preceded to have seven children. Their three boys wereSamuel, Jr., Eliakim, and William. Samuel and Sarah’s four girls were Mercy, Elizabeth (who died in three days), another Elizabeth, and Rebecca. Due to Sarah’s sizable inheritance and Samuel’s hard work as a carpenter, the couple lived a prosperous life with a large farm in the south of Andover, and land in Lynn. (Robinson 62-63).

As the witchcraft scare rose in 1692, the Wardwells were living comfortably on their farm. At the age of 49, Samuel was arrested on August 15, 1692 and imprisoned in Salem Town. With him, wife Sarah and daughters Sarah and Mercy were also accused of witchcraft. Though Samuel was one of the last in the Salem area to be arrested, it was not surprising that the witchcraft court tracked him down. Not only had Wardwell dabbled in magic, but he had gained sizable wealth for a common citizen. In addition, his brother’s affront to Andover’s leading citizen, Simon Bradstreet, sealed his fate, as most of his accusers came from Andover.

On September 1, 1692, Samuel confessed before magistrate John Higginson, saying that he had indeed dabbled in the supernatural by “telling of fortunes, which sometimes came to pass.” Not only did he confess this indiscretion, he also reported making a pact with the devil. Wardwell confessed that the devil promised to make him “live comfortably and be a sea captain.” In return, Wardwell promised to “honor” him, signing the devil’s “book by making a mark like a square with a black pen.” Samuel Wardwell’s claim seems absurd, yet he was probably trying his best to save his life. He knew that many people learned of his suspicious behavior as a young man, telling fortunes. Like several others who had saved their lives by confessing, he made up a grand tale, which included much more demonic activity than anyone else had attributed to him.

Soon, however, Wardwell’s conscience made him recant his confession. Now, not only was he in a dangerous position pleading innocent before the Court of Oyer and Terminer, but there was a written confession, and two complaints against him. One simply stated his use of witchcraft, another mentioned his compact with the devil. There were also seven formal accusations which said that Wardwell afflicted people and other statements which corroborated his use of witchcraft and fortune telling. Not surprisingly, the court found Wardwell guilty on September 17th. He was hanged on September 22, 1692, along with seven women.

Bibliography

Enders A. Robinson, Salem Witchcraft and Hathorne’s House of the Seven Gables, 1992.