Samuel Wardwell1

b. 16 May 1643, d. 22 September 1692
Samuel Wardwell|b. 16 May 1643\nd. 22 Sep 1692|p9850.htm|Thomas Wardwell|b. 31 Jan 1603/4\nd. 10 Dec 1646|p9843.htm|Elizabeth (—?—)|||John Wardale||p9842.htm||||||||||

1st cousin 8 times removed of Ruth Minerva Fairfield.
1st cousin 10 times removed of Laura Jane Munson.
Family Background:
Fairfield and Allied Families
     Samuel Wardwell was born 16: 3 mo: 1643 (16 May 1643) in Boston.2,1,3 He was the son of Thomas Wardwell and Elizabeth (—?—).1 He married widow Sarah Hooper Hawkes on 9 January 1672/73 in Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts.4 He was hanged on 22 September 1692 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, at age 49.
     
     Samuel Wardwell was convicted of witchcraft, and on 22 September 1692 he and seven women convicted of the same crime were led from Salem jail to the gallows. Of these, Samuel Wardwell had confessed and was safe; but, from shame and penitence, he retracted his confession and was hanged, not for witchcraft, but for denying witchcraft. Wardwell choked on smoke from the hangman's pipe during his execution, and the girls, ever present, claimed it was the devil preventing him from finally confessing. When it was over, Noyes, the minister of Salem, pointed to the bodies swinging on the gallows and exclaimed, "There hang eight firebrands of hell."5 Samuel's wife and daughter Mercy were also accused of witchcraft. Sarah was condemned, but not executed, and her sentence was revoked in 1703. Mercy was acquitted. The case files are available on line.

Children of Samuel Wardwell and Sarah Hooper Hawkes

Citations

  1. [S876] Charles Henry Pope, The Pioneers of Maine and New Hampshire 1623-1660, A Descriptive List, Drawn from Records of the Colonies, Towns, Churches, Courts and other Contemporary Sources (Boston: n.pub., 1908; reprint Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1997), 222.
  2. [S185] William S. Appleton, ed., Boston Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, 1630-1699, Boston Births, 1700-1800, 2 volumes in 1 (Boston: The Registry Department of the City of Boston, 1883 and 1894; reprint Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1978), 15.
  3. [S761] The New England Historical and Genealogical Register; (Online database: NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001), (Orig. Pub. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 148 vols., 1847-1994) 9: 166.
  4. [S156] Topsfield Historical Society, comp., Vital Records of Andover, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 (Salem: Newcomb & Gauss, 1912), 2: 339. Hereinafter cited as Andover VR.
  5. [S900] George Bancroft, History of the United States of America, from the Discovery of the Continent, 6 vols. (New York: Appleton and Company, 1896), 2: 63-65.
  6. [S156] Andover VR (published), 1: 372.
  7. [S156] Andover VR (published), 1: 373.
  8. [S156] Andover VR (published), 1: 375.
  9. [S156] Andover VR (published), 1: 376.