Martha ALLEN

Abt 1650 - 1692  (~ 42 years)

• Name	Martha ALLEN
  Born	Abt 1650	Andover, Essex, Massachusetts
  Gender	Female
  Witchcraft connection?	Y
  Witch Description	Hanged as a witch
  Cause of Death	Hanged as a witch
  Died	19 Aug 1692	Salem, Essex, Massachusetts
  Person ID	I47287	Main
  Last Modified	17 Dec 2023

  
  

  Father	Andrew ALLEN,   b. 21 Mar 1613, England ,   d. 24 Oct 1690, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts  (Age 77 years)
  Mother	Faith INGALLS,   b. 14 Jul 1622, Skirbeck, Lincolnshire, England ,   d. 6 Oct 1690, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts  (Age 68 years)
  Married	Bef 27 Aug 1648	England
  Family ID	F10976	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Thomas CARRIER,   b. 1627, Wales ,   d. 16 May 1735  (Age 108 years)
  Last Modified	18 Oct 2023
  Family ID	F32717	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - Abt 1650 - Andover, Essex, Massachusetts Died - 19 Aug 1692 - Salem, Essex, Massachusetts  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Notes

  Some believe that she was accused of witchcraft in Salem in 1692 because she was a niece of the Rev. Francis Dane of Andover. (Over one third of the Salem accused were related to him or his wife in some way.) Martha's trial was fully transcribed at the direction of Cotton Mather, who believed this case to represent the strongest case for the use of spectral evidence. The evidence he found persuasive was the testimony of Martha's 16-year old-son, Richard, and her 12-year-old daughter, Sarah, that she made them become witches to "haunt" others at her direction. However, John Proctor (who was hung the same day as Martha) wrote the governor that he witnessed these children's torture in the jail where he was also imprisoned: they were reportedly tied neck to ankles (with a rope down their backs) and left that way until said what their interrogators wanted to hear.