Mary (Osgood) Marston (1665 - 1700)

Born 5 Jul 1665 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts

Ancestors

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Caution should be taken: This profile is sometimes confused with Mary's half sister whose last name at birth was also Mary Osgood, but who was born forty years later in 1705.'

Biography

Mary (Osgood) Marston was accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials

Mary was the eldest daughter of Capt. Christopher Osgood of Andover, Mass and his first wife, Hannah Belknap. She was born 5 July 1665 and married John Marston 2 May, 1689 ^[1]

Mary Marston was one of many in Andover to be accused of witchcraft. A complaint was filed against her in August 1692. She made a full confession and then spent 20 weeks in jail. By the time her case was brought to trial in early 1693 things had changed and she was found not guilty. She died of unknown causes on April 5, 1700. ^[2]

Children of John and Mary Marston (Marstone) listed in Andover:

1. Mary, born 17 May 1689-90
2. Hannah, born 9 Apr 1692
3. John, born 11 Sept 1693
4. John, born 22 Sept 1696 ^[3]

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.^[4]
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community, and further declares that, as all the laws under which said proceedings...have been long since abandoned and superseded by our more civilized laws, no disgrace or cause for distress attaches to the said descendants or any of them by reason of said proceedings.^[5]
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.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ A genealogy of the Descendants of John, Christopher and William Osgood; compiled by the late Ira Osgood, edited by Eben Putnam; Published 1894 by Salem Press; Digital Image, The Internet Archive
2. ↑ Witches of Massachusetts, Legends of America website
3. ↑ Andover Births; Massachusetts Vital Records Project
4. ↑ “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.
5. ↑ https://www.mass.gov/doc/resolves-of-1957-chapter-145/download
6. ↑ https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2001/Chapter122

• Birth Record: Andover Births; Massachusetts Vital Records Project
• Marriage Record: Andover Marriages; Massachusetts Vital Records Project
• Death Record: Andover Deaths; Massachusetts Vital Records Project