Mary (Foster) Lacy (1652 - 1707)

Born 9 Jul 1652 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Wife of Laurence Lacy — married 5 Aug 1673 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 18 Jun 1707 at age 54 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Mary (Foster) Lacy was accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials

This profile is part of the Forster Name Study.

Mary Foster was born on 9 July 1652 in Andover, Massachusetts Bay, ^[1] the daughter of Andrew and Anne (Alcock) Foster. ^[2]

She married Laurence Lacy on 5 August 1673 in Andover, Massachusetts Bay.^[3][2]

Mary died 18 June 1707 in Andover, Massachusetts Bay. (under name Mary LaHauce)^[4][2]

Salem Witchcraft Trials

She was accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Hysteria in 1692. ^[2]

Mary's mother, Ann (Alcock) Foster was accused of witchcraft, arrested and taken to Salem prison in 1692. She was questioned and tortured over a period of days, yet resisted confessing. However, once her daughter, Mary (Foster) Lacy, and Mary's daughter, Mary (Lacy) Kemp, were accused, her resolve began to break. Mary, under questioning, accused her mother, likely to save herself and her daughter. Subsequently, Ann confessed, apparently to shield her daughter and granddaughter. ^[5]

Children

The births of her children were recorded in Andover, Massachusetts Bay. ^[6]

1. Mary Lacy, b. 25 May 1674
2. Dorothy Lacy, b. 6 Aug 1677
3. Laurence Lacy, b. 8 May 1683
4. Sarah Lacy, b. 1 Oct 1686

Massachusetts Remediation

1. 17 October 1710, 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.^[7]
2. 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
3. 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community, and further declares that, as all the laws under which said proceedings...have been long since abandoned and superseded by our more civilized laws, no disgrace or cause for distress attaches to the said descendants or any of them by reason of said proceedings.^[8]
4. 31 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.^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZKS-JXJ : 10 December 2019), Mary Foster, 1652.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} “Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire : a Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation : Stearns, Ezra S : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive. New York : Lewis Publishing Co., January 1, 1970. https://archive.org/details/genealogicalfami04stea/page/1666.
3. ↑ Vital records of Andover, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, Volume II; Andover Marriages; Page 133
4. ↑ Vital records of Andover, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, Volume II; Andover Deaths; Page 489
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Foster
6. ↑ Vital records of Andover, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, Volume I; Andover Births; Page 243
7. ↑ “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. https://archive.org/details/salemwitchcraftw02upha_0/page/480/mode/1up?q=Foster.
8. ↑ https://www.mass.gov/doc/resolves-of-1957-chapter-145/download
9. ↑ https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2001/Chapter122

See also:

• Find A Grave: Memorial #143997225