Ebenezer married Mercy HALL on 10 Jul 1739 in Harpswell, Cumberland, Maine. Mercy was born on 15 Apr 1720 in Harpswell, Cumberland, Maine; died in 1765 in Harpswell, Cumberland, Maine. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Ebenezer TOOTHAKER was born about 1740 in Harpswell, Cumberland, Maine; died in 1788 in Bowdoin, Lincoln [Sagadahoc], Maine.

Andrew married Abigail WHITE. Abigail was born in 1680 in York, York, Maine; died in 1722 in Harpswell, Cumberland, Maine. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

d/o Timothy WHITE & Abigail ROGERS

Other Events:

• Occupation: Natural healer
• Immigrant?: Y
• Witchcraft connection?: Y
• Witch Description: Accused of witchcraft during the Salem craziness, and died in prison.
• Cause of Death: Died in prison during Salem Witch Trials
• Migration: 1635, “Hopewell”

Notes:

When Roger was about a year old, he came to the New World from England in 1635 with his parents, Roger and Margaret, and settled in Plymouth. Tragically, Roger Sr. passed away a few years later. The widowed Margaret Toothaker married Ralph Hill, and the family subsequently relocated to Woburn before finally reaching Billerica by 1653, establishing themselves as some of the earliest settlers in the area. Hill was even granted a sizable tract of land.
Roger received land from his stepfather, situated "on the east side of the Concord River, below the great bridge." His dwelling stood as one of the northernmost homes in Billerica, quite distant from the town's center. On June 9, 1665, Roger married Mary Allen of Andover, and over the next 18 years, the couple welcomed eight children into the world, although three did not survive to adulthood.
Roger’s occupation is unknown, but records related to the Salem witch trials refer to him as a Doctor, and Roger was known to discuss his knowledge of natural healing arts.
During the precarious and dangerous late 17th century, Roger was arrested on May 18, just ten days before his sister-in-law, Martha Carrier. His wife Mary (Martha's sister) and nine-year-old daughter Margaret were also included in the same complaint as Martha.
Although accused and jailed, Roger never faced a trial; he passed away in Boston jail on June 16. The subsequent coroner's inquest determined that he died of natural causes.
The jails were cold, damp, and full of disease. He could have died from anything.
——
Roger & Mary had nine children born between 1666 and 1683, but he apparently had trouble supporting them. In 1682-83, he was brought before the selectmen and "spoken unto concerning many things amiss in his family." In 1684, he was living in Salem, Massachusetts, although his wife and children remained in Billerica. On December 15, 1684, the selectmen sent him a letter asking him to come for his family. Apparently he did not respond so the town aided his wife and "bound out" two of his children. This meant that the children went to live with another family for a time, as servants, to pay off debts through their labor.
Roger practiced as a doctor, although he must have been self-taught. He was living in Salem without his wife and family in 1692 during the witch scare. He was brought before the court on May 20, 1692: "The Deposition of Thomas Gage Aged aboute thirty six years This deponent saith & doth testifie that sometime this Last spring of ye year, that Doctor Toothaker was in his house in Beuerly (upon some occasion) & was discoursed about John Marstons Childe of Salem that was then sick and having unwonted fits and Likewise another Childe of Philip Whites of Beverly who was then strangely sick. I persuaded said Toothaker to goe and see said Children and said Toothaker answered he had seen them both already and his opinion was that they were under an Evill hand And farther said Toothaker said that his Daughter had killed a witch and I asked him how she did it and said Toothaker answered readily that his daughter had learned something from him..."

Roger married Mary ALLEN on 9 Jun 1665 in Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Mary (daughter of Andrew ALLEN and Faith INGALLS) was born on 29 Jul 1644 in Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts; died on 5 Aug 1695 in Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts; was buried in unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Married Name: TOOTHAKER
• Witchcraft connection?: Y
• Witch Description: Accused of witchcraft and forced to confess, but later found not guilty
• Cause of Death: Killed by Indians

Notes:

In 1669, she was assaulted by Thomas Wilkinson in her home. As soon as Roger left in the morning, Wilkinson approached Mary for sex, offering “shirt cloth for her husband” and a cheese if she would comply. Mary’s deposition says, “She againe replyed that shee would see him hang’d first, and was not he ashamed to offer such abuse to another man’s wife whenas he had a wife of his owne …” Wilkinson eventually left, not before exposing himself to Mary, but when told of the incident, Roger declined to report it, saying he’d been threatened by Wilkinson if he did so, and also wanted to avoid charges of slander. After all, Mary was the only witness.

Mary was arrested for witchcraft on May 28, 1692, with her 9-year-old daughter, Margaret, and taken to Salem jail, upon a complaint made by Joseph Houlton and Jonathan Walcott of Salem Village on May 28, 1692, for allegedly afflicting Mary Walcott and Abigail Williams.

When questioned, she would admit that her husband, Roger Toothaker, had skills in practicing countermagic against witches and confirmed that her daughter, Martha Toothaker Emerson, had killed a witch. Mary would also be accused by her seven-year-old niece, Sarah Carrier, and Elizabeth Johnson Jr.

Two months after her arrest, Mary was examined on July 30 by magistrates Bartholomew Gedney, John Hathorne, Jonathan Corwin, and John Higginson Jr. Says historian Mary Beth Norton, “Mary Toothaker clearly illustrates the connection between the ongoing Indian wars, the fear that instilled, and the witch trials. ‘This May last,’ she told the Essex magistrates, ‘she was under great Discontentedness & troubled with feare about the Indians, I used often to dream about fighting with them.’ After acknowledging that she had afflicted [Timothy] Swan and unnamed others, Goody Toothaker revealed that ‘the Devil appeared to her in the shape of a Tawny man and promised to keep her from the Indians and she should have happy dayes with her sone,’ who had been wounded in the war.” She confessed to making a mark on a piece of bark, a pact with the Devil, to protect her from the Indians.

Mary detailed two witch gatherings in Salem Village, with a cast of accused attendees, drums and trumpets, and preaching from former Salem Village minister George Burroughs. “Because Mary Toothaker confessed to being a witch on July 30, she was in jail in Salem two days later on August 1, when a small party of Indians attacked her neighborhood in Billerica. All the occupants of two households near hers were killed. Had she been home, she too would probably have died. Upon hearing the news, she undoubtedly concluded that Satan had fulfilled his promise to ‘delyver her from the Indians.’ Perhaps that was why she never retracted her confession,” says Norton.
 
Mary Toothaker’s confession had another important effect on the trials, according to author Richard Hite. “Hers was the eighth confession in less than two weeks, but it was the first one by a suspect who had already been jailed for an extended period of time. This fact is crucial: it may have been the first piece of evidence the public witnessed that one could, by confessing, at the very least postpone facing trial or perhaps avoid being tried altogether.”
 
Mary was not tried until January of 1693. It is unclear if 9-year-old Margaret remained imprisoned with her for those many months, but the child was never tried. On January 31, the quarterly court in Charlestown, MA indicted Mary for Covenanting, referencing her confession of the mark she had made on a piece of bark, which made her a “Detestable Witch.” On February 1, Mary pled Not Guilty and, shortly thereafter, the jury found her so. She was likely released from prison after payment of any outstanding jail fees.
 

 
Mary Toothaker’s sister Martha Carrier was hanged for witchcraft on August 19, 1692. Of her four accused and imprisoned children – Richard, Andrew, Thomas, and Sarah – only Richard was indicted, and none went to trial. All were released after payment of jail fees, and eventually relocated to Colchester, Connecticut with their father Thomas.
 
After their release from prison, one would have hoped that the long-suffering Mary Toothaker and her daughter Margaret would be able to live out their lives in peace. It was not to be. On August 5, 1695, Mary’s worst fears came true. A raid by natives on horseback swept through the northern part of Billerica, either killing or capturing fifteen people. Mary Toothaker was among the dead, and daughter Margaret, now 12-years-old, was taken captive and never seen again. As historian Henry Allen Hazen said, “If the remembrance and sympathy of later generations could afford any compensation for the sorrows of such a life, we might search far to find a person better entitled to them than Mary Allen Toothaker.”
—— https://salemwitchmuseum.com/locations/roger-mary-margaret-toothaker-home-site-of/

Other Events:

• Immigrant?: Y
• Baptism: Mar 1612, St Martin, W Drayton, Middlesex, England
• Migration: 1635, “Hopewell”
• Residence: 1635, Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts

Roger married Margaret FRENCH about 1634 in England. Margaret was born about 1615 in Halstead, Essex, England; died on 22 Nov 1683 in Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Immigrant?: Y
• Migration: 1635, “Hopewell”

Notes:

m2 Ralph HILL on 21 Dec 1638
Last name at birth uncertain.
——
On 4 September 1638, "John Weekes, John Allen, & widow Toothaker [were] presented for stopping the highway that goeth to Mannomett" [PCR 1:98].

Other Events:

• Immigrant?: Y
• Parents Unproven: Y
• Probate: 31 Mar 1691, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts
• Will Written: 6 Oct 1691, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts

Notes:

Parents unknown

Andrew married Faith INGALLS before 27 Aug 1648 in England. Faith was born on 14 Jul 1622 in Skirbeck, Lincolnshire, England; died on 6 Oct 1690 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts; was buried in 1690 in unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Immigrant?: Y

Notes:

d/o Edmund INGALLS & Ann TELBE?
Edmund died from an injury received by falling through a defective bridge while traveling on horseback from Lynn to Boston.