The DU Lounge
In reply to the discussion: Salem Witch Trials documents and other records [View all]wnylib
(21,450 posts)through my paternal grandmother.
Her father, Reverend Francis Dane, spoke out against the accusers, so the women in his family were promptly accused. Abigail was convicted, but was pregnant at the time, so she was sent to prison with her 5 year old daughter, who was also convicted and who innocently had implicated her mother.
Abigail was to be hanged after the birth of her child. Fortunately for her, Rev. Increase Mather had just returned from England and challlenged the use of spectral evidence in the trials. As the leading colonial minister, he was respected by the people.
When the wife of the colonial MA governor was accused, the governor intervened, threw out all testimonies and convictions based on spectral evidence, and released the convicted prisoners. Abigail's family successfully sued for damages and had her conviction legally overturned.