Mary (Dastin) Brown (1650 - aft. 1703)

Born 8 Nov 1650 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Wife of Adam Colson — married 7 Sep 1668 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Wife of Cornelius Brown Sr. — married 28 Sep 1698 in Reading, Middlesex, MA

Descendants

Biography

Mary (Dastin) Brown was accused of witchcraft in witch trials

Mary Dastin was born on 8 Nov 1650 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, the daughter of Josiah Dastin.^[1]

On 7 Sep 1668, she is shown married to "Adam Colston" at Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony.^[2]

On 26 Sep 1698, she is shown married to "Cornal[i]us Brown, Sr." in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony.^[3]

She was living after the death of her 2nd husband, Cornelius Brown Sr., on 23 Jun 1703^[4]

Children of Mary Dastin and Adam Colson

1. Josiah Collson, b. 6 Mar 1673, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony
2. Elizabeth Colson, b. 9 Oct 1676, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony
3. Liddiah Collson, b. 31 Mar 1680, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony
4. David Collson, b. 26 Apr 1682, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony ^[5]

Salem Witchcraft Trials

In 1692, her family was caught up in the Salem Witch trials with four family members accused. She, along with her mother, Lydia Dustin, and her sister, Sarah Dastin, was arrested and imprisoned in Cambridge Jail. She was imprisoned in Cambridge Jail during the period 5 Sep 1692 to 23 Mar 1693. Her 16 year old niece, Elizabeth Colson though apparently fleeing initially was later also imprisoned in Cambridge Jail. Her sister and her niece were also later released, but her mother, although found not guilty, tragically died in jail. ^[6][7]

Massachusetts Remediation

• Convictions Reversed, The General Court of Massachusetts Bay, An act, the several convictions, judgments, and attainders be, and hereby are, reversed, and declared to be null and void.^[8]
• 17 Dec 1711, Compensation to Survivors, Governor Dudley, GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY, approved compensation to such persons as are living, and to those that legally represent them that are dead
• 28 Aug 1957, No Disgrace to Descendants, General Court of Massachusetts, ...such proceedings, were and are shocking, and the result of a wave of popular hysterical fear of the Devil in the community, and further declares that, as all the laws under which said proceedings...have been long since abandoned and superseded by our more civilized laws, no disgrace or cause for distress attaches to the said descendants or any of them by reason of said proceedings.^[9]
• 1 Oct 2001, Additional Victims Included, Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives in General Court, AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE WITCHCRAFT TRIAL OF 1692, chapter 145 is hereby further amended by adding Bridget Bishop, Susannah Martin, Alice Parker, Margaret Scott and Wilmot Redd.^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ Vital records of Reading, Massachusetts, to the year 1850; Reading Births; Page 66
2. ↑ Vital records of Reading, Massachusetts, to the year 1850; Reading Marriages; Page 319
3. ↑ Vital records of Reading, Massachusetts, to the year 1850; Reading Marriages; Page 309
4. ↑ Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized images provided by FamilySearch.org) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB536/i/14460/2972-co1/38189426
5. ↑ Vital records of Reading, Massachusetts, to the year 1850; Reading Births; Page 54
6. ↑ “SWP No. 171: Officials' Expense Accounts for 1692 (Submitted 1692 - 1694).” SWP No. 171: Officials' Expense Accounts for 1692 (Submitted 1692 - 1694) - New Salem - Pelican. Accessed July 9, 2020. http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n171.html.
7. ↑ New England, Salem Witches and Others Tried for Witchcraft, 1647-1697 Online at: Ancestry.com
8. ↑ “Salem Witchcraft : with an Account of Salem Village, and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects : Upham, Charles Wentworth, 1802-1875, Author : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, January 1, 1970. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17845/17845-h/salem2-htm.html#Page_ii.480.
9. ↑ "Resolves of 1957, Chapter 145." Mass.gov. Accessed June 02, 2020. https://www.mass.gov/doc/resolves-of-1957-chapter-145/.
10. ↑ “Chapter 122.” Session Law - Acts of 2001 Chapter 122. Accessed February 29, 2020. https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2001/Chapter122.

Acknowledgments

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