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Mary Ayer Parker was a widow from Andover who was accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials.
MaryAyer was born around 1637, most likely in England, to John and HannahAyer and later moved with her family to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.The family moved around the colony a number of times but eventuallysettled in Haverhill, Mass in 1647.
Jury Trial - An entry in a court record book or a contemporary account of the trial exists. Conviction - A death warrant indicating that the person was convicted, a notation about the case in a record book of the conviction, a statement that the person was convicted in either a request for reversal of attainder or for compensation from the. The Story of the Salem Witch Trials is a history of that event. It provides a much needed synthesis of the most recent scholarship on the subject, places the trials into the context of the Great European Witch-Hunt, and relates the events of 1692 to witch-hunting throughout seventeenth century New England. Mar 31, 2019 After the Salem Witch Trials spread to Andover in July of 1692, almost all of her daughter Hannah’s female in-laws, the Tyler family, were accused of witchcraft. On September 1, 1692, Mary Parker herself was accused when 15-year-old William Barker Jr named her in his confession, according to court records.
The Crucible is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller.It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693.
Around1652, at the age of 15, Mary married the widower Nathan Parker, alocal scribe, and the couple went on to have nine children together:
John Parker born 1653
James Parker born 1655
Mary born 1660 (or 1657)
Hannah born 1659
Elizabeth born 1663
Robert Parker born 1665
Sarah born 1670
Peter Parker born 1676
Joseph (birth date unknown)
Maryand Nathan’s son, James, was killed in battle at Black Point on June29, 1677 during King Philip’s War and their other son, Robert,died in 1688 at the age of 23. Their daughter Hannah married JohnTyler in 1682 and their daughter Elizabeth married John Farnum in1684.
OnJune 25, 1685, Nathan Parker died and left his estate, which amountedto 225 acres and 463 pounds and 4 shillings,to Mary and their children. The court awarded Mary one-third of thehouse and lands and equal shares to the children except for John who,as the eldest, received a double share.
Mary Parker & the Salem Witch Trials:
Veryfew records and documents about Mary Parker’s case exist and it isnot clear why. The other records could have been lost or may neverhave existed at all.
Whatwe do know is that Mary Parker was considered a respectable member ofthe community and had no previous brushes with the law nor quarrelswith neighbors. It is not clear why she was targeted in 1692. Parkerdid have a distant relative who was accused of witchcraft in 1662,the wife of her distant cousin William Ayers, but historians don’tbelieve this had any influence on her own accusation.
Afterthe Salem Witch Trials spread to Andover in July of 1692, almost allof her daughter Hannah’s female in-laws, the Tyler family, wereaccused of witchcraft.
OnSeptember 1, 1692, Mary Parker herself was accused when 15-year-oldWilliam Barker Jr named her in his confession, according to courtrecords:
“He saith further that Goody Parker went with him last night to afflict Martha Sprague & that he afflicts by pinching his hands together he saith he now is sorry & hates the Devil but yet struck down the afflicted with his eyes – and Martha Sprague being recovered out of a fit said that Barker’s apparition & Goody Parker rod upon a pole & was baptized at 5 mile pond” (SWP No. 10.2).
BarkerJr went on to say that “he knows Goody Parker to be awitch” and afterward confessed “that there were of his companyGoody Parker, Goody Johnson, Samuel Wardwell & his wife and twodaughters” (SWPNo. 10.2).
As a result, on September 2, Mary Parker was arrested and examined by Judge Bartholomew Gedney, Judge John Hathorne and John Higginsons.
WhenParker’s name was announced in the courtroom, the afflicted girlsimmediately fell into fits and only stopped after the touch test wasadministered, a test in which a suspected witch touches an afflictedperson and if their fits stopped, it was believed to be proof thatthey were a witch.
Duringthe examination, Mary Parker denied all the charges and tried toexplain that she was possibly being confused with another woman intown who had the same name, but the afflicted girls insisted she wasthe guilty one, according to the court records:
“Q. how long have ye been in the snare of the devil.
Ansr. I know nothing of it There is another woman of the same name in Andover
But Martha Sprague affirmed that that this is the very woman that afflicted her the said Mary Parker looking upon Sprague struck her down, and recovered her again out of her fit, Mary Lacey being in a fit, cried out upon Mary Parker, & said Parker recovered her out of her fit” (SWP No. 98.1).
Mary Warren fell into a violent fit during the examination but it stopped when Mary Parker touched her, according to the court records:
“Mary Warren in a violent fit was brought near having a pin run through her hand and blood running out of her mouth she was recovered from her fit by said Mary Parker. The said Mary Warren said that this Mary Parker afflicted & tormented her, And further that she saw the said Parker at an examination up at Salem Village sitting upon one of the beams of the house” (SWP No. 98.1).
After the examination was over, MaryParker was taken back to jail.
On September 16, Mary Parker wasindicted on three charges of witchcraft, one for afflicting SarahPhelps, one for afflicting Hannah Bigsby and one for afflictingMartha Sprague.
The Trial of Mary Parker:
On September 16, Mary Parker’s trialbegan at the former courthouse on what is now Washington Street inSalem.
According to the court records, onlytwo people testified against Parker in her trial: Mercy Wardwell andWilliam Barker Jr.
Barker Jr testified that Parker was awitch like him and that the two of them had afflicted Martha Spraguethe night before.
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Mercy Wardwell also testified thatParker was a witch like herself and that Parker afflicted TimothySwan while in her company.
OnSeptember 17, 1692, Parker was found guilty and was sentenced todeath.
The Execution of Mary Parker:
On September 22, 1692, Mary Parker was taken by cart to the execution site at Proctor’s Ledge in Salem along with Martha Corey, Margaret Scott, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Wilmot Redd, and Samuel Wardwell.
As the cart carrying the prisonersbegan to climb the small hill to the ledge, it suddenly became stuck.As the law mentried to get the wheels to move, the afflicted girls began to cry outthat they saw the Devil holding the cart back (Calef 218.)Eventually, the oxen pulled the cart free and they arrived atProctor’s Ledge.
Accordingto Upham, Mary Parker and the others continued to declare theirinnocence when it came turn for their execution:
“Nothing has reached us particularly relating to the manner of death of Alice or Mary Parker, Ann Pudeator, Margaret Scott, or Wilmot Reed. They all asserted their innocence; and their deportment gave no ground for any unfavorable comment by their prosecutors, who were on the watch to turn every act, word, or look of the sufferers to their disparagement” (Upham 325).
After all the prisoners were executed and their bodies were still hanging, Reverend Nicholas Noyes, who had officiated as clergyman at the hangings that day, remarked “what a sad thing it is to see eight firebrands of hell hanging there” (Calef 221). These were the last executions of the Salem Witch Trials.
Afterthe executions were over, the victims were cut down and temporarilyplaced in a nearby rocky crevice. It is not known what happened totheir bodies after that.
The Parker Family After the Salem Witch Trials:
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OnNovember 7, 1692, Mary’s sons, John and Joseph Parker filed acomplaint with the court that Sheriff George Corwin sent an officerto seize their mother’s estate but when the officer was told she leftno estate he instead seized their estates, confiscating their cattle,corn and hay. He then told them to make an arrangement with Corwin toprevent it from being sold.
Whenthe men spoke to Corwin, he demanded a bribe if they wanted theirgoods returned to them, according to the petition they filed:
“We not knowing what advantage the law might give him against us, and fearing we should sustain greater damage by the loss of our estate, went to the sheriff accordingly, who told us he might take away all that was seized. if he pleased, but was willing to do us a kindness by giving us an opportunity to redeem it. He at first demanded ten pounds of us, but at length was willing to take six pounds, which he has obliged us by bill to pay him within a month. Now if our mother had left any estate, we know not of any law in force in this province, by which it should be forfeited upon her condemnation; much less can we understand that there is any Justice or reason, for the sheriff to seize upon our estate” (SWP No. 98.6).
Thereis no record of how the court responded to this petition but itappears that the brothers did not get their goods back because theitems were later listed in the family’s request for restitution in1710.
On September 13, 1710, John and Joseph Parker filed a petition with a committee that had been sent to Salem to make restitution to the victims of the trials.
Theirpetition asked that their mother’s name be cleared and requestedrepayment of the cost of their mother and sister’s imprisonment aswell as repayment for the goods that Corwin seized, according to thecourt records:
“The account of our charges and of the loss and damage we have sustained in our estate is as followeth. The money paid the sheriff in lieu of cattle and corn which he had seized 2:15:0. To the keeper & to the clerk of the court 2:15:0. Our charges and expenses other ways for our mother we compute to be besides our time which we desire nothing for 4:16:0. We had a sister that suffered imprisonment upon the same account whose charges are included in this account. Notwithstanding our loss and damage: hath been so great. If we may be allowed eight pounds we shall be satisfied” (SWP No. 173.92).
On October 17, 1711, the Massachusetts legislature passed a bill restoring some of the names of the Salem Witch Trials victims, including Mary Parker.
OnDecember 17, 1711, the Massachusetts legislature awarded the Parkerfamily 8 pounds in restitution.
InDecember of 1711, John and Joseph Parker signed a letter, along with33 other victims and relatives, asking that Stephen Sewall acquire acopy of the 1711 act and collect their restitution on their behalfsince traveling to Boston would be very difficult for them.
OnJanuary 7, 1711, John Parker filed an order requesting the court toallow his brother Joseph to collect the restitution for them.
On the 300th anniversary of the Salem Witch Trials, in 1992, the Salem Witch Trials Memorial was built in Salem, Mass and a marker was established for Mary Parker.
After the site of the Salem Witch Trials executions was identified in 2016, the Proctor’s Ledge Memorial was built in 2017 and a marker was established for Mary Parker.
Thelocation of Mary Parker’s grave has never been found.
Mary Parker Historical Sites:
SalemWitch Trials Memorial:
Address: Liberty Street, Salem Mass
Proctor’s Ledge Memorial:
Address: 7 Pope Street, Salem, Mass
Site of the Salem Witch Trials Executions:
Address: Proctor’sLedge, wooded area between Proctor Street and Pope Street, Salem,Mass
Former Site of the Salem Courthouse:
Address: Washington Street (about 100 feet south of Lynde Street), opposite the Masonic Temple, Salem, Mass. Memorial plaque located on Masonic Temple.
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Sources:
Kelly, Jacqueline. “Story of Mary Ayer Parker: Gossip and Confusion in 1692.” Revised for presentation at the Berkshire Conference. June 2005, salem.lib.virginia.edu/people/?group.num=&mbio.num=mb42
Upham, Charles W. Salem Witchcraft: With An Account of Salem Village and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects. Vol. II, Boston: Wiggin and Lunt, 1867.
Calef, Robert. More Wonders of the Invisible World. Salem: Cushing and Appleton, 1823.
“SWP: No. 173: Reversal of Attainder and Restitution 1710-1750).” Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project, University of Virginia, salem.lib.virginia.edu/n173.html
“SWP: No. 10: William Barker, Jr.” Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project, University of Virginia, salem.lib.virginia.edu/n10.html
“SWP No. 098: Mary Parker, Executed, September 22, 1692.” Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project, University of Virginia, salem.lib.virginia.edu/n98.html