Mary Ayer was one of the victims of the Salem witch trials in colonial Massachusetts. She was accused of practicing witchcraft and was executed in 1692. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. The trials took place between February 1692 and May 1693, and resulted in the executions of twenty people, including Mary Ayer. Mary Ayer was born in England and immigrated to Massachusetts with her husband and family. She was known for being a pious woman and a respected member of the community.
Mary Ayer Parker
From June through September of 1692, nineteen men and women, all having been convicted of witchcraft, were carted to Gallows Hill, a barren slope near Salem Village, Massachusetts, for hanging. Another man of over eighty years was pressed to death under heavy stones for refusing to submit to a trial on witchcraft charges. Hundreds of others faced accusations of witchcraft. Dozens languished in jail for months without trials.
The Accusation
Mary Ayer, daughter to John and Hannah Ayer, married Nathanial Parker. She was 55 years old and a widow in 1692. Mary was accused of witchcraft, but refused to confess during the witchcraft trials saying, “I know nothing of it, there is another woman of the same name in Andover.”
She was referring to her sister-in-law, Mary Parker, the aged and senile widow of Joseph Parker, who had a documented history of mental instability. Essex County Court records from the period show that both Joseph’s wife and his son Thomas were perceived to be mentally ill. And at the time, insanity was sometimes associated with other deviant behavior, including witchcraft.
In fact, there were not one but three other Mary Parkers in Andover. The reputation of “Mary Parker” was further tarnished by the lengthy criminal history of a fourth Mary Parker from Salem Town. Throughout the 1670s, that Mary appeared in Essex County Court a number of times for fornication offenses, child support charges, and extended indenture for having a child out of wedlock. She was a scandalous figure and undoubtedly contributed greatly to negative associations with the name Mary Parker.
A disreputable name could have been enough to kill the wrong woman, in a society where the literate were the minority, and the spoken word was the most damaging. Gossip, passed from household to household and from town to town was the most prevalent source of information. The damaged reputation of one woman could be confused with another as tales of “Goody so-and-so” filtered through the community.
William Barker Jr., who testified against Mary Ayer Parker, may have been confused as well. In his own confession, William accused a Goody Parker , but he didn’t specify which Goody Parker he meant. There was a good possibility that Barker heard gossip about one Goody Parker or the other, and the magistrates of the court issued a warrant for the arrest of Mary Ayer Parker without making sure they had the right woman.
The Trial
Generally, the process of the trials consisted of citizens making complaints against individuals who were then brought before magistrates for preliminary hearings. When the magistrates felt that there was sufficient evidence for a trial, the accused was jailed pending a hearing before a grand jury. And if those juries handed up a “true bill” (signifying evidence of misbehavior), a formal trial by jury could follow.
The formal trial followed 17th-century English precedents, in which the accused were not represented by lawyers but could question accusers and witnesses. Most, however, were not emotionally or intellectually equipped to defend themselves against a hanging court and hysterical witnesses – more than forty persons confessed to being witches. The historical irony is that only those who did not confess to being witches were actually tried and convicted.
Mary Ayer Parker was convicted on little evidence, and even that seems tainted and misconstrued. The Salem trials did her no justice, and her treatment was indicative of the chaos and ineffectualness that had overtaken the Salem trials by the fall of 1692.
In less than one month, she was arrested, examined, found guilty, and executed. Historians have paid little attention to her case, one in which it is nevertheless possible to discern where confusion and conspiracy could have arisen, leading to her untimely death.
Image: Mary Parker Memorial
The Execution
On September 17, 1692, Mary Ayer Parker was tried and condemned to death. On September 22, 1692, she and Martha Corey, Margaret Scott, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Wilmott Redd, and Samuel Wardwell were hanged on Gallows Hill.
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The Witchcraft Trial of Mary Parker
Mary Ayer Parker was a widow from Andover who was accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials.
Mary Ayer was born around 1637, most likely in England, to John and Hannah Ayer and later moved with her family to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The family moved around the colony a number of times but eventually settled in Haverhill, Mass in 1647.
Around 1652, at the age of 15, Mary married the widower Nathan Parker, a local 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)
Mary and Nathan’s son, James, was killed in battle at Black Point on June 29, 1677 during King Philip’s War and their other son, Robert, died in 1688 at the age of 23. Their daughter Hannah married John Tyler in 1682 and their daughter Elizabeth married John Farnum in 1684.
On June 25, 1685, Nathan Parker died and left his estate, which amounted to 225 acres and 463 pounds and 4 shillings, to Mary and their children. The court awarded Mary one-third of the house and lands and equal shares to the children except for John who, as the eldest, received a double share.
She was known for being a pious woman and a respected member of the community. However, during the witch trials, she was accused of witchcraft by a group of young girls who claimed to have been bewitched by her. The accusations against Mary Ayer were based on spectral evidence, which was widely accepted as valid at the time.
Mary Parker & the Salem Witch Trials:
Very few records and documents about Mary Parker’s case exist and it is not clear why. The other records could have been lost or may never have existed at all.
What we do know is that Mary Parker was considered a respectable member of the community and had no previous brushes with the law nor quarrels with neighbors. It is not clear why she was targeted in 1692. Parker did have a distant relative who was accused of witchcraft in 1662, the wife of her distant cousin William Ayers, but historians don’t believe this had any influence on her own accusation.
Mary Parker, Memorial Marker, Salem Witch Trials Memorial, Salem MassAfter 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:
“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).
Barker Jr went on to say that “he knows Goody Parker to be a witch” and afterward confessed “that there were of his company Goody Parker, Goody Johnson, Samuel Wardwell & his wife and two daughters” (SWP No. 10.2).
As a result, on September 2, Mary Parker was arrested and examined by Judge Bartholomew Gedney, Judge John Hathorne and John Higginsons.
When Parker’s name was announced in the courtroom, the afflicted girls immediately fell into fits and only stopped after the touch test was administered, a test in which a suspected witch touches an afflicted person and if their fits stopped, it was believed to be proof that they were a witch.
During the examination, Mary Parker denied all the charges and tried to explain that she was possibly being confused with another woman in town who had the same name, but the afflicted girls insisted she was the 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, Mary Parker was taken back to jail.
On September 16, Mary Parker was indicted on three charges of witchcraft, one for afflicting Sarah Phelps, one for afflicting Hannah Bigsby and one for afflicting Martha Sprague.
Spectral evidence involved claims that the accused person's spirit or spectral form appeared to the afflicted girls, causing them to have fits and other symptoms. This type of evidence was highly subjective and unreliable, but it was nonetheless used to convict many people during the witch trials. Mary Ayer denied the charges against her, but her protests were dismissed. She was brought before the court and ultimately found guilty of witchcraft. On September 22, 1692, she was hanged in Salem along with seven other individuals who had been condemned as witches. In modern times, the Salem witch trials are seen as a dark chapter in American history. The trials were fueled by superstition, hysteria, and religious fervor, and led to the wrongful execution of innocent people. Mary Ayer's case, like many others, highlights the dangers of mass hysteria and the importance of fair and unbiased judicial processes. Today, there are memorials and commemorations dedicated to the victims of the Salem witch trials, including Mary Ayer. These serve as a reminder of the importance of justice, tolerance, and the protection of the rights of all individuals, especially in times of fear and uncertainty..
Reviews for "The Fate of Mary Ayer's Accusers: Justice or Injustice?"
- JohnDoe123 - 1 star - This book was a complete disappointment. The storyline was disjointed and confusing, making it difficult to follow along. The characters were one-dimensional and lacked depth, which made it hard to care about their fates. The author also failed to provide enough historical context, leaving the reader with more questions than answers. Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone interested in the Salem witch trials.
- Bookworm1234 - 2 stars - I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations. The writing was dry and lacked emotion, making it hard to become invested in the story. The pacing was also off, with certain parts dragging on while others were rushed. Additionally, the author seemed to rely too heavily on stereotypes and clichés, which made the characters feel like caricatures rather than real people. Overall, I found this book to be mediocre at best.
- JaneSmith22 - 2 stars - I was excited to read a book about the Salem witch trials, but this one left me disappointed. The writing style was choppy and awkward, making it difficult to immerse myself in the story. The dialogue felt forced and unrealistic, with characters spouting off long-winded monologues that didn't add anything to the plot. The author also seemed more focused on shock value than on historical accuracy, which was a major turn-off for me. Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a well-written and historically accurate account of the Salem witch trials.