Ann Foster a Confessed Witch
Andover Woman Caught Up in 1692 Salem Witch Hysteria
Oct 16, 2009 Rosemary E. Bachelor
Judges hearing witchcraft cases at Salem in 1692 tended to be more lenient with those who confessed. It suited a central religious theme of the Puritans: Repent, be punished and therefore be saved. In retrospect, however, it appears that the real heroes and heroines were those who insisted they were innocent. They told the truth, no matter what the cost.
Ann Foster, Witch
Ann’s story begins in Andover, where she lived. It starts with a sick woman, Elizabeth (Phelps) Ballard, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (Adams) Phelps. Elizabeth had a fever and after ordinary care proved ineffectual, it was decided that she was bewitched. This was an era in which everything bad, or negative, was traced to the devil and everything good, or positive, was attributed to God. There was little in-between ground. Witches were thought to be helpers of the devil.
Elizabeth’s family didn’t know of any witches in Andover so her husband, John Ballard, quite innocently saddled up his horse and rode to nearby Salem to get some of the witchcraft victims there, many of them children, to come to Andover and say who was bewitching Elizabeth. These other alledged victims of witchcraft were thought to have the power to name witches if they were in the victim’s presence.
Fifty Andover Residents Accused of Witchcraft
Ann Putnam and another Salem resident came. They succeeded in having fifty Andover residents jailed, several of whom were later hanged. When Ann, a feeble elderly woman, was examined, she confessed to being a witch.
Ann Foster was taken to Salem to be jailed and died there Dec. 3, 1692. Her son Abraham had to pay 2 pounds, 10 shillings to get his mother’s body released from the prison. Her sons later spoke of her piety and good character.
How Ann Foster Confessed to Being a Witch
A genealogy of the Foster and Phelps families, quoting Bailey’s History of Andover, reports that Ann Foster said she rode on a stick with Martha Carrier to Salem Village, that the stick broke and she saved herself by hanging on to Martha’s neck. Martha Carrier was hanged as a witch Aug. 19, 1692.
Ann Foster has been characterized as an aged widow without friends or influence to help her. She was probably weak in mind and body and at the trial was ready to confess to almost anything, believing everything that was suggested by those testifying against her. She must have believed her mind was failing her and thought she should therefore pay attention to what others said about her. Considering that she was married about 1634, she probably was close to 80 years old.
(See related story giving lineages for a husband that descends from Ann Foster and his wife, a descendant of Elizabeth Phelps Ballard, the woman Ann supposedly bewitched.)
SOURCES: Bailey, Sarah A., Historical Sketches of Andover, Massachusetts (Boston: 1880); material received in 1992 from Carol (Robinson) Austin of Garden Grove, CA.
Scene from a Salem Witchcraft Trial
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