Understanding Deliverance Dane

Understanding Deliverance Dane Deliverance Dane Facts Known for:  accused witch in the 1692  Salem witch trials  Occupation:  homemakerAge at time of Salem witch trials:  40 years oldDates:  January 15, 1652 – June 15, 1735Also known as Deliverance Hazeldine Dane; Dane was also spelled Dean or Deane, Hazeltine sometimes spelled Haseltine or Haseltine Family, Background: Mother: Ann or Anna – probably Wood or Langley (1620 – 1684) Father: Robert Hazeltine (1609 – 1674) Siblings: Anna Kimball (1640 – 1688), Mercy Kimball (1642 – 1708), David Hazeltine (1644 – 1717), Mary Hazeltine (1646 – 1647), Abraham Hazeltine (1648 – 1711), Elizabeth Hazeltine (1652 – 1654), Robert Hazeltine (1657 – 1729), Gershom Hazeltine (1660 – 1711) Husband: Nathaniel Dane (1645 – 1725), son of Rev. Francis Dane and brother of two accused witches, Abigail Faulker Sr. and Elizabeth Johnson Sr. Husband’s siblings: Hannah Dane (1636 – 1642), Albert Dane (1636 – 1642), Mary Clark Dane Chandler (1638 – 1679, 7 children, 5 alive in 1692), Elizabeth Dane Johnson (1641 – 1722), Francis Dane (1642 – before 1656), Albert Dane (1645 - ?), Hannah Dane Goodhue (1648 – 1712), Phebe Dane Robinson (1650 – 1726), Abigail Dane Faulkner (1652 – 1730) Children: Nathaniel Dane, 1674 - 1674Francis Dane, 1678 – 1679Hannah Dane Osgood, 1679 – 1734, married to Samuel Osgood, son of John Osgood (1691 – 1693); Mary Osgood was Hannah’s mother-in-law, married to John OsgoodDaniel Dane, 1684 - 1754Mary Allen(?), 1686 - 1772Hannah Osgood, 1686 - 1734Deliverance Foster, 1693 - 1754Abigail Carleton, born 1698 – 1775 Deliverance Dane Before the Salem Witch Trials Married in 1672 to Nathaniel Dane, son of Andover’s local Puritan minister, Deliverance Dane had married into a powerful family.   Her father was from Devon, England, and her mother had been born in Rowley, Massachusetts Province.   Deliverance was the third-eldest of their nine children. By 1692, Deliverance and Nathaniel Dane already had five children, with another conceived in mid-year before the witchcraft accusations seriously hit the family. Deliverance’s father-in-law had some years before opposed a witchcraft trial.   He was critical of the Salem Village proceedings, as well. Andover was located generally to the northwest of Salem Village. Because she was probably caught up in the accusations because of her family connections, this article highlights those close family members accused as well, to illustrate the timeline better. Deliverance Dane and the Salem Witch Trials Although Elizabeth Johnson had been mentioned in a January deposition by Mercy Lewis, nothing had come of that. (Whether that was Nathaniel’s sister Elizabeth Dane Johnson or his niece, Elizabeth Johnson Jr., is not clear.) But by August, Elizabeth Johnson Jr. had been accused and was examined  on August 10. She confessed, implicating others.   On August 11, another of Nathaniel’s sisters, Abigail Faulkner, Sr., was arrested and accused.   On August 25, Mary Bridges Jr. of Andover was examined, accused of afflicting Martha Sprague and Rose Foster.   On the 29th of that month, Elizabeth Johnson Jr.’s siblings, Abigail (11) and Stephen (14) were arrested, as was Elizabeth Johnson Sr. and her daughter Abigail Johnson (11). Both of Deliverance’s sisters-in-law, Abigail Faulkner Sr. and Elizabeth Johnson Sr., were examined on August 30. They confessed, Elizabeth at least implicating others, including her sister and her son. On August 31, Rebecca Eames  was examined for the second time, and her confession included accusations against Abigail Faulkner.   Stephen Johnson then confessed on September 1, saying he had afflicted Martha Sprague, Mary Lacy, and Rose Foster. Deliverance Dane Accused Around   September 8: Deliverance Dane, according to a petition issued after the end of the trials, was first accused when two of the afflicted girls were called to Andover to determine the cause of sickness of both Joseph Ballard and his wife. Others were blindfolded, their hands laid on the â€Å"afflicted persons,† and when the afflicted persons fell into fits, the group was seized and taken to Salem. The group included Mary Osgood, Martha Tyler, Deliverance Dane, Abigail Barker, Sarah Wilson and Hannah Tyler. Some were, the later petition said, persuaded to confess what they were suggested to confess.   Afterward, over their shock at arrest, they renounced their confessions.   They were reminded that Samuel Wardwell had confessed and then renounced his confession and was therefore condemned and executed; the petition states that they were frightened that they would be next to meet that fate. Deliverance Dane confessed under examining. She said that she had been working with Mrs. Osgood. She implicated her father-in-law, Rev. Francis Dane, but he was never arrested.   Most of the records of her arrest and examinations have been lost. On September 16, Abigail Faulkner Jr. (9) was accused and arrested and examined along with her sister Dorothy (12).   According to the record, they implicated their mother, stating that â€Å"thire mother apared and mayd them witches and also marth [a] Tyler Johanah Tyler: and Sarih Willson and Joseph draper all acknowlidge that they ware lead into that dradfull sin of witchcrift by hir meanse.† Abigail Faulkner Sr. was among those tried and convicted by the court on September 17, condemned to be executed.   Her sentence was suspended, however, until she could complete her pregnancy. But by the end of September, the trials had almost completely run their course.   There would be no more executions.   Now, some of those in jail and not convicted could be released – if their costs were paid for the time they’d been in jail, and a bond to ensure that they’d return if the trials resumed. Deliverance Dane After the Trials: What Happened to Deliverance Dane? We don’t know when she was released – records related to Deliverance Dane are quite spotty.   There is no indication of her release date nor the conditions under which she was released, though she may not have been indicted. Deliverance’s husband Nathaniel Dane and a neighbor, John Osgood, paid 500 pounds on October 6 to gain the release of Dorothy Faulkner and Abigail Faulkner Jr. Three other adults paid 500 pounds that day to release Stephen Johnson and Abigail Johnson along with Sarah Carrier.   On October 15, Mary Bridges Jr. was able to gain release when John Osgood and Mary’s father John Bridges paid a 500-pound bond. In December, Abigail Faulkner, Sr., petitioned the governor for clemency. Her husband’s illness had worsened, and she pleaded her case that she needed to care for the children. He arranged for her release from prison. On January 2, the Rev. Francis Dane wrote to fellow ministers that, knowing the people of Andover where he served as a senior minister, I believe many innocent persons have been accused and imprisoned. He denounced the use of spectral evidence. A similar missive signed by 41 men and 12 women of Andover was sent to the Salem court. In January, Elizabeth Johnson Jr. was among those found not guilty in a Superior Court trial of those who had been indicted in September. Another undated petition to the Salem Court of Assize, probably from January, is on record from more than 50 Andover â€Å"neighbors† on behalf of Mary Osgood, Eunice Fry, Deliverance Dane, Sarah Wilson Sr. and Abigail Barker, stating faith in their integrity and piety, and making clear that they were innocent. The petition protested the way that many had been persuaded to confess under pressure what they were charged with and stated that no neighbors had any reason to suspect that the charges might be true. John Osgood and John Bridges got Mary Bridges Sr. released on January 12 with a 100-pound bond. In 1693, Deliverance Dane appears again in the record.   On February 20 Deliverance Dane gave birth to a baby girl also named (appropriately) Deliverance – the mother was to go on to have one more child about five years later.   And also in 1693, there is on file a petition by Nathaniel Dane, asking the sheriff, clerk and jail keeper for an accounting of the â€Å"prison fees and money and provision necessarily Expended† for his wife, Deliverance Dane, and his manservant (not named). In 1700, Deliverance’s niece Abigail Faulkner Jr. asked the Massachusetts General Court to reverse her conviction. In 1703, residents of Andover, Salem Village, and Topsfield petitioned on behalf of Rebecca Nurse, Mary Esty, Abigail Faulkner, Mary Parker, John and Elizabeth Proctor, Elizabeth Howe and Samuel and Sarah Wardwell – all but Abigail Faulkner, Elizabeth Proctor, and Sarah Wardwell had been executed – asking the court to exonerate them for the sake of their relatives and descendants.   Francis and Abigail Faulkner, Nathaniel Dane (Deliverance’s husband) and Francis Dane (presumably her father-in-law) were among those signing the petition. Another petition was filed that year on behalf of Deliverance Dane, Martha Osgood, Martha Tyler, Abigail Barker, Sarah Wilson and Hannah Tyler, who had been arrested together. May 1709: Francis Faulkner joined with Philip English and others to submit yet another petition on behalf of themselves and their relatives, to the Governor and the General Assembly of Massachusetts Bay Province, asking for reconsideration and remuneration. In 1711, the  legislature of the Province of Massachusetts Bay  restored all rights to many of those who had been accused in the 1692 witch trials. Included were George Burroughs, John Proctor, George Jacob, John Willard, Giles and  Martha Corey,  Rebecca Nurse,  Sarah Good, Elizabeth How,  Mary Easty, Sarah Wilds, Abigail Hobbs, Samuel Wardell, Mary Parker,  Martha Carrier, Abigail Faulkner, Anne Foster, Rebecca Eames, Mary Post, Mary Lacey, Mary Bradbury and Dorcas Hoar. Deliverance Dane lived until 1735. Motives Deliverance Dane may have been caught up in the accusations because of her close association with both witchcraft skeptic Rev. Francis Dane, and her sister-in-law, Abigail Faulkner Sr., who controlled more wealth and property than women usually did because of her husband’s large inheritance and illness that prevented him from managing it. Deliverance Dane in  The Crucible Deliverance Dane and the rest of the Andover Dane extended family are not characters in Arthur Miller’s play about the Salem witch trials, The Crucible. Deliverance Dane in  Salem, 2014 series Abigail and the rest of the Andover Dane extended family are not characters in the Salem TV series. Deliverance Dane in Other Fiction In a 2009 novel by Katherine Howe, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, Deliverance Dane is depicted as an actual witch.