A Guide to the Primary Sources of the Salem Witch Trials
People Accused of Witchcraft in 1692
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For each person accused during the Salem witchcraft trials, you can access a large number (not all!) of the primary sources on-line, detailing what happened to them, as available in the original legal records and contemporary accounts. This is not an absolute definitive list, but it will get you started. The columns on the right will give you an idea of what kinds evidence exists in the case of each person as found in Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt.
Help using these primary sources
If you are trying to understand what happened to a specific person, please download this helpful guide concerning what sort of information you can find in the primary sources in each of these categories.

Accused: Abigail Faulkner Sr., of AndoverReturn
No. 507: Examinations of Abigail Faulkner Sr.   √              
No. 530: Examination of Elizabeth Johnson Sr., Copy       √          
No. 657: Summary of the Examinations of Dorothy Faulkner, Abigail Faulkner Jr., Martha Tyler, Johanna Tyler, Sarah Wilson Jr., & Joseph Draper v. Abigail Faulkner Sr.       √          
No. 664: Indictment of Abigail Faulkner Sr., for Afflicting Sarah Phelps         √        
No. 665: Indictment of Abigail Faulkner Sr. for Afflicting Martha Sprague         √        
No. 666: Depositions of Rose Foster & Martha Sprague v. Abigail Faulkner Sr., Copy, and Verdict and Sentence of Abigail Faulkner Sr., Copy       √   √ √    
No. 667: Deposition of Rose Foster v. Abigail Faulkner Sr.       √          
No. 668: Deposition of Sarah Phelps v. Abigail Faulkner Sr.       √          
No. 669: Deposition of Ann Putnam Jr., v. Abigail Faulkner Sr.       √          
No. 670: Deposition of Martha Sprague v. Abigail Faulkner Sr.       √          
No. 671: Deposition of Mary Walcott v. Abigail Faulkner Sr.       √          
No. 672: Deposition of Mary Warren v. Abigail Faulkner Sr.       √          
No. 711: Petition of Abigail Faulkner Sr. for a Pardon           √ √    
No. 875: Petition of Abigail Faulkner Sr.                 √
No. 876: Petition of Francis Faulkner et al. to Clear the Records of Rebecca Nurse, Mary Esty, Abigail Faulkner Sr., Mary Parker, John Procter, Elizabeth Procter, Elizabeth How, Samuel Wardwell, & Sarah Wardwell                 √
No. 877: An Act for the Reversing the Attainder of Abigail Faulkner Sr., et al.                 √
No. 879: Order of the General Court Concerning a Bill of Attainder of Abigail Faulkner Sr., et al.                 √
No. 880: Memorandum for Bill to Acquit Abigail Faulkner Sr., et al.                 √
No. 904: Petition of Abigail Faulkner Sr. for Restitution                 √
No. 929: Recommendation and Authorization for Compensation Claims and Amounts Allowed                 √
No. 930: Summary of the Amounts Requested by the Victims & Their Relatives                 √
No. 931: An Act to Reverse the Attainders of George Burroughs et al. for Witchcraft           √ √   √
No. 933: Request for Copy of Act for Restitution                 √
No. 934: Order for Payment of Damages by Governor Joseph Dudley                 √
No. 959: Receipts for Sums Paid in Restitution                 √
What kind of primary source evidence does a check in each column indicate?
  • Complaint or Arrest - Either a formal complaint or an arrest warrant against this person exists.
  • Examination - An account of an examination (interrogation) or confession before local magistrates or in prison exists.
  • Imprisonment - A mittimus to move this person to/from jail, a recognizance or bond to release the person from jail, a reference in a jailer's bill, or a request for compensation for time spent in jail exists.
  • Evidence Entered - At least one deposition, statement, testimony or petition from any proceeding (preliminary hearing, grand jury or trial) for or against this person exists.
  • Grand Jury or Indictment - A deposition, statement or testimony sworn before the grand jury of inquest, a physical examination of the body of this person, or an indictment brought before a grand jury exists.
  • Jury Trial - An entry in a court record book or a contemporary account of the trial exists.
  • Conviction - A death warrant indicating that the person was convicted, a notation about the case in a record book of the conviction, a statement that the person was convicted in either a request for reversal of attainder or for compensation from the Crown exists.
  • Execution - The return of an officer on a death warrant, a statement that the person was executed in a request for reversal of attainder or for compensation from the Crown, or an entry in Samuel Sewall's diary exists.
  • Restitution - Accounts submitted for restitution, orders for payment to survivors, acts for reversal of attainder or for payments of restitution, proclamations clearing the accused

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