Biography

Abigail Williams

Written by Melissa M. Yost, 2002

Salem Witch Trials in History and Literature

An Undergraduate Course, University of Virginia

Spring Semester 2002

Abigail Williams, aged 11 or 12 in 1692, played a major role in the Salem Witch trials as one of the prominent accusers. She lived with her uncle, the Rev. Samuel Parris, Salem Village's minister. Although it was ordinary practice for young girls to live with relatives to learn about housewifery, we know very little about Abigail, including where she was born and who her parents were.

The traditional story about the beginning of the Salem Witch trials tells of a "circle of young girls" practicing voodoo and fortune telling under the direction of Samuel Parris' Indian slave, Tituba. It is commonly suggested that the girls were interested in fortune telling because they wanted to know the occupation of their future husbands. Even though this version is perpetrated in historical works and literature, there is no record of any sort of group fortune telling in Parris's household or linkage between Tituba, voodoo, and the girls. Reverend Hale, a local minister, revealed in his 1702 work, Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft, that he knew one of the afflicted girls had experimented with fortune-telling in order to find out her future husband's profession, but Reverend Hale fails to name the girl in question.

Mary Beth Norton's work, In the Devil's Snare extinguished the myth surrounding the beginning of the Salem Witch trials. According to historical fact, both Abigail and her 9-year-old cousin Betty began showing signs of illness in mid-January 1692. When their behavior turned erratic, Samuel Parris called neighboring Reverend John Hale of Beverly to observe the two girls and their afflictions. Reverend Hale writes that the girls, "were bitten and pinched by invisible agents; their arms, necks and backs turned this way and that way and returned back again so as it was impossible for them to do of themselves and beyond the power of any Epileptic Fits or natural Disease to effects." Parris and other local ministers turned to prayer and fasting in hopes that Abigail and Betty would return to health. When the girls' strange behavior continued, Parris summoned Dr. William Griggs to examine them. Dr. Griggs determined that the girls were under the influence of an "Evil Hand."

With talk of witchcraft spreading in the Village, the girls were questioned about who was afflicting them. On February 29th 1692, a formal complaint was issued against Tituba, Sarah Osborne, and Sarah Good for afflicting Betty, Abigail, and other local girls such as Ann Putnam, Jr. who had began to suffer fits. Abigail Williams along with the other afflicted girls appeared at the trial hearings. In the presence of Good, Tituba, and Osborne Abigail suffered fits and outbursts. Abigail testified she "saw the apparition of said Sarah Good at her examination pinch Elizabeth Hubbard and set her into fits and also Elizabeth Parris and Ann Putnam, Jr."

Abigail's accusations continued and included complaints against Martha Cory, George Burroughs, Bridget Bishop, Elizabeth and John Proctor, Mary Easty, John Willard, Mary Witheridge, and Rebecca Nurse. Overall Abigail Williams made 41 legal complaints and gave formal testimony in seven cases. Bernard Rosenthal estimates she was involved in at least 17 capital cases. It is important to remember, however, that without the legal complaints of the adults the testimony of minors would have never been heard in court, as unmarried women and minors had no legal standing.

During Elizabeth Proctor's examination, Abigail revealed she witnessed Elizabeth's specter along with 40 other witches partake in a sacrament of blood drinking outside of the Parris house. She even named Sarah Cloyce and Sarah Good as the deacons presiding over the ceremony. Abigail went on to accuse Elizabeth's husband John Proctor whose specter sat on her chest at night and pinched her. She also accused Martha Cory's specter of tempting her to put her hand on the Devil's book. In addition, Rebecca Nurse's apparition tried to choke, pinch, and tempt Abigail into the fire. Abigail also accused Nurse of attending the Devil's sacrament.

It is not clear why Abigail suffered fits and went on to accuse many respectable people. Historians Norton and Roach speculate that it involved the attention she received. Young girls in Puritan society did not receive much consideration and perhaps Abigail, displaced from her immediate family, craved this unusual attention and authority over adults. It appears that some of her contemporaries were skeptical of Abigail's behavior. Joseph Hutchinson of Salem Village attempted to discredit Abigail's accusations and implicitly accused her of witchcraft. He testified that Abigail told him that she could now talk to the devil as well as she could converse with him.

Even though Abigail played a major role as an accuser at the beginning of the trials, especially in March, April, and May, she gave her last testimony on June 3rd 1692. There is no historical documentation suggesting why Abigail virtually disappeared from the court hearings. In addition, there are no records indicating what happened to Abigail after the events of 1692. It is suggested that she never married and died a single woman, but without any evidence we will never be quite certain.

Bibliography

Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil's Snare, 2002.

Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum. Salem Possessed, 1974.

Marilynne K Roach,."That Child, Betty Parris," Essex Institute Historical Collections Vol. 124, No. 1 1988: 1-27. Bernard Rosenthal, Salem Story, 1993.