Ann Foster was one of the accused during the Salem Witch Trials. She did not survive the execution due to dying in prison.
After the Salem Witch Trials were discredited, her son Abraham petitioned to exonerate his mother posthumously and reimburse the family for the expenses associated with her incarceration and burial.
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Life and Trial
Ann Foster married Andrew Foster, and the couple had five children.
- Andrew Foster
- Abraham Foster
- Sarah Foster
- Hannah Foster
- Mary Foster
In 1689, her daughter Hannah was killed by her husband, Hugh Stone, who at the time was in a drunken rage. Hugh would be hanged shortly after for the murder.
At the time of the trials, Andrew Foster had passed away, and Ann was an elderly widow living in Andover.
After Martha Carrier (she was the first in Andover) was accused of witchcraft, a witch hunt ensued. This began due to the illness of Joseph Ballard's wife, Elizabeth Ballard. Elizabeth had been suffering the entire summer of sickness, so Joseph recruited Ann Putnam Jr and Mary Walcott from Salem to visit his wife. He hoped that the girls would be able to tell him if his wife was suffering from witchcraft or something else.
The girls quickly targeted Ann Foster, her daughter Mary Lacy, and her granddaughter Mary Lacy Jr. and accused them of practicing witchcraft. In reaction to this knowledge, Joseph Ballard filed a complaint against the woman in hopes of aiding his wife's recovery.
According to the Salem Witch Museum, this is what happened next:
Ann Foster was interrogated by the magistrates four times over a week, starting on July 15. Perhaps her age and fragility made her especially vulnerable. She confessed to witchcraft immediately, only the sixth person to do so. The devil came to her in the form of a bird on three occasions, she said. She could afflict people by merely looking at them. She had been made a witch six years earlier by Martha Carrier (already in jail), had ridden to a witch meeting in Salem Village on a stick with Carrier, and had seen Reverend George Burroughs in attendance at the meeting (he was also already jailed). The most astounding claim was that there were 305 witches operating in the area. It was their mission, Ann Foster said, to create the devil’s kingdom in Essex County.
By July 21, Ann’s daughter, 40-year-old Mary Lacy, and granddaughter, 18-year-old Mary Lacy Jr., were also arrested for witchcraft. Mary Sr. had moved to the North End of Andover when she married Lawrence Lacy in 1673, but it was common for relatives of accused witches to fall under suspicion. Both Lacys confessed to witchcraft and implicated Ann Foster and each other. Ann, for her part, did not accuse her family members.
It is believed that Ann Foster most likely confessed to being a witch to protect her daughter and granddaughter.
Elizabeth Ballard died on July 27. The condemnation of Ann did not help the Ballard family.
Ann was sentenced to die by hanging on September 17. Two days after her sentence was given, Giles Corey perished by being pressed to death.
Five days later, the last mass execution occurred when eight people were hanged for craft. Their names were as follows:
- Martha Corey (September 22, 1692; wife of Giles Corey)
- Mary Easty (September 22, 1692)
- Mary Parker (September 22, 1692)
- Alice Parker (September 22, 1692)
- Ann Pudeator (September 22, 1692)
- Wilmot Redd (September 22, 1692)
- Margaret Scott (September 22, 1692)
- Samuel Wardwell Sr. (September 22, 1692)
In response to the third mass hanging, Governor William Phips dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminer and replaced them with a new court that would handle the Salem Witch Trials at the beginning of 1693.
Ann Foster never saw her day in court, and after spending five months in jail, she died.
