I have ancestors, on both sides of many conflicts throughout our nation's history. One such gxxx grandfather, was one "Rev. Hatevil Nutter," truly a Puritan zealot, that had Quakers whipped.
Thanks for sharing. I truly enjoy these accounts of ancestors. Here is one of mine. This lady is wife of a 9 great uncle John Osgood. His brother my 8 great grandfather Hooker Osgood was one of several that signed the petition to free her. (Sadly the link is dead that has a copy of that petition) Somehow she escaped the 1692 carnage.
Mary Clemment- daughter of Robert of Haverhill married John Osgood (1630-1693) 11-15-1653. John was the son of John Osgood, b. 7-23-1598 Wherwell Hampshire England, and Sarah Booth.
Mary was one of the unfortunes accused of witchcraft during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. As the notes by Charlotte Helen Abbot put it- "Her husband John, who was also scared but loyal, denied her admission and said that she was all right and was too frightened to know what she was saying. She recanted her confession on Oct. 16, 1692, before Increase Mather, and testified that she had been browbeaten."
"She confesses that about eleven years ago, when she was in a melancholy stste and condition, she used to walk abroad in her orchard ; upon a certain time she saw the appearance of a cat, at the end of the house, which she thought was a real cat."
"She sais further, that about two years agone, she was carried through the air, in company with deacon Frye's wife, Ebenezer Barker's wife, and Goody Tyler, to five-mile pond, where she was baptized by the devil."
*Excerpts from "the examination and confession (September 8, 1692) of Mary Osgood, wife of Capt, John Osgood, of Andover, taken before John Hawthorne and other Majesties' Justice."