of James How Junr as a neighbour & somtims bording in the house, and at
my first coming to live in those parts which was about ten years ago I
hard a bad Report of her about Samull perleys garle which caused me to
take speshall noates of her life & conuersation euer sence and I haue
asked her if she could freely forgive them that Raised such Reports of
her she tould me Yes with all her heart desiering that god would give
her a heart to be more humble vnder such a prouidences and further she
sayed she was willing to doe any good she could to them as had done
vnneighbourly by her also This I haue taken notes of that she would deny
herself to doe a neighbour a good turn and also I haue known her to be
faithfull in the word and honest in her dealings as far as ever I saw.
JOSEPH KNOWLTON aged forty tu
MARY KNOWLTON aged thurty tu
JAMES HOWE, SR. (ninety-four yrs. old)
information for Elizabeth How the wife of Jams How Junr.
Jams How senr aged about 94 sayth he liueing by her for about thirty
years hath taken notes that she hath caried it well becoming her place
as a daughter as a wife in all Relations setting side humain infurmitys
as becometh a Christian with Respect to myself as a father very
dutyfully & a wifife to my son carefull loueing obedient and kind
considering his want of eye sight tenderly leading him about by the hand
Now desiering god may guide your honours to se a differans between
predigous and Consents I Rest yours to Sarve
JAMES HOW Senr of Ipswich
dated this 28 day of June 1692
ISAAC CUMMINGS, JR.
June 28th 1692 the testimony of Isaac Comings Juner aged about 27 years
Testifieth & saeth yt James Hough came to my fathers house when he was
not at home he asked me if my father had euer a hors & I told him no he
asked me if he had Euer a maer & I told him yesh he asked me if I
thought my father would lend him his maer & I told him I did not Think
would upon wch in a short Tyme after my father & Mother Ridd their maer
to Their neighbours house ye same maer wch sd Hough would haue Borowed
wch semingly was well when my fathr & mothr came home I seeing ye same
sd maer ye nex morning could Judge noe other butt yt she had bin Rid ye
other part of yt night or othr ways horibly abused vpon wch my fathr
seeing wt a condition his maer was in sent for his brothr Thomas Andros
wch when he came he give her severall Things wch he Thought to be good
for her butt did her not any good vpon wch he said he would try one
thing more wch was a pipe & some Tobaco wch he applid to her Thinking
itt might doe her good against ye Belly ake Thinking yt might be her
diseese wch when they vsed ye pipe wth Tobaco in itt abought ye sd maer
ye pipe being Litt itt blazed so much yt itt was as much as two persons
could putt itt ought wth both of Their hands upon wch my father said we
will Trye no more his brother my uncle sd he would trye once more ye wch
he did the pipe being Litt ye fyer Blazed out of ye same sd pipe more
vehemently than before vpon wch my father answered he had Rather Loose
his maer yn his barn ye uery next night following ye sd maer following
my father in his barn from one side to ye other side fell down
imediately Dead against ye sell of ye Barn before my fathr had well
cleered him selfe from her furthr saith not.
MARY CUMMINGS, Sr.
June 27 1692 The disposition of mary commings ye wif of isaac commins
senr aged about sixty yers or thare abouts teseifieth and saith my
husband not being at home I was sent to by som parsons of ipsweg sent to
me for to have me to write what I cold say of James how iunr his wife
elisebeth conscarning her life or conversation and that I would say what
I cold say for or against her when the said hows wife sought to aiojn
with the church at ipsweg and I spoke to my son Isaac to write that we
hade vsed no brimston nor oyl nor no combustables to give to our maer
becavs thare was a report that the said hows wife had said that we had
given the maer brimston and oyl and the like and a short time after I
hade written my testemony consarning this hows wife my son Isaac his
maer was missing that he covld not find her in to or thrre days and in a
short time after my son isaacs maer came in sight not fare from the hovs
and my son isaac praid me to go ovt and look on his maer when I came to
her asked me what I thought on her her and I said if he wold have my
thoughts I covld not complain it nothing elce but that she wriden with a
hot bridil for she hade divirses brvses as if she had bin runing over
rocks and mvch wronged and where the bridil went was as if it had bin
burnt with a hot bridil then I bide Isaac take ye mare and have her vp
amongst the naghbors that peopl might see her for I hered that James how
iunr or his wife or both had said that we kept vp ovr maer that people
might not see her and isaac did show his maer to saviril and then the
said how as i hered did report that isac had riden to Lin spring and
caryed his gairl and so sorfited th maer the which was not so.
Mary Comins owned this her testimony to be truth before the Juryes for
Inques this 29th of June 1692.
MARY CUMMINGS, SR.
Jvn 27 1692 I mary comins ageed abovt sixty yers thar abovts the wife of
isaac comins syner I being at my neighbour Samuel parlys hovs samuel
parlys davgter hannah being in a straing condition asked me if J did see
goodee how in the hovs going rovnd vpon the wall as gvrl dricted her
finger along rovnd in won place and another of the hovs J teled her no J
looked as dilegently as i cold and i covld see nothing of her the gvrls
mother then did chek her and told her she was alwas foll of such kind of
notions and bid her hold her toong then she told her mother she wovld
believe it one day and som thing mor which shold hay bin mantioned as
the garl poynted to show me whare goode how was she asked me if I did
not se her go ovt at that crak which she poynted at.
Mary Comins owned this har testimony one her oath to be the truth before
the Juriars of Inquest this 29 of June 92. Jurat in Curia.
MARY CUMMINGS
Jvn 27 1692 The disposition of Mary commins aged abuvt sixty yers or
there abovts ho testefieth and saieth that above too yeres agou J went
to viset my neighbovr sherins wife and she told me that James how ivnr
had bin thare to give her a siset and he did sharply talk to her asking
her what hopes she hade of her salvation her answer was to him that she
did bild her hopes upon that sver rock Jesvs christ this the said serius
vife did tell me and she told me also that she had never talked of the
said how or his wife bvt she was wors for it afterwords and she said
also when she lay sick of the same sickness whereof she dyed that the
said how would come som time into the roome to see but she covld not
tell how to bare to see him nor that he shovld be in the hovs Mary
Comins ownid that this har testemony on har oath before the Juryars for
Inques this 29 of June 1692 Jurat in Curia
FRANCIS LANE
Francis Lane aged 27 yeares testifyeth & saith that about seauen yeares
agoe James How the husband of Elizabeth How of Ipswich farmes hired sd
Lane to get him a parcell of posts & railes & sd Lane hired John Pearly
the son of samuel Pearly of Ipswich to help him in getting of them And
after they had got said Posts & rails the said Lane went to the said
James How that he might goe with him & take delivery of said Posts &
rails & Elizabeth How the wife of sd James how told said Lane that she
did not beleive that sd Posts & rails would doe because that said John
Pearly helped him & she said that if he had got them alone & had not got
John Pearly to help him she beleived that they would haue done but
seeing that said Pearly had helped about them she beleiued that they
would not doe so sd James How went with said Lane for to take deliuery
of sd Posts & rails & the said James How toke severed of the said rails
as they lay in heaps up by the end & they broke of so many of them broke
that said Lane was forced to get thirty or forty more & when said how
came home he told his wife thereof & she said to him that she had told
him before that they would not doe because said Pearly helped about them
which rails said Lane testifyeth that in his aprehention were sound
railes ffrancis Lane declared to ye Jury of inques to ye truth of ye
above written evidence upon oath June 30 1692 Jurat in Curia
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration: IPSWICH FARMS]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOHN HOWE
The testimony of John How aged about 50 yers saith that on that day that
my brother James his wife was Caried to Salem farmes upon examination
she was at my house and would a have had me to go with her to Salem
farmes I tould hur that if she had ben sent for upon allmost any a Count
but witchcraft I would a have gone with hur bvt one that a Count I would
not for ten pounds but said I If you are a witch tell me how long you
have ben a witch and what mischeue you have done and then J will go with
you for said J to hur you have ben acusied by Samuel pearlys Child and
suspacted by Daken Cumins for witchcraft; she semed to be aingry with
me, stell asked me to come on the morrow I told hur I did not know but I
might com to morrow but my ocashons caled me to go to Ipswich one the
morrow and came whome a bout suns set and standing nere my door talking
with one of my Naibours I had a sow with six small pigs in the yard the
sow was as well so fare as I knew as euer one a suding she leaped up
about three or fouer foot hie and turned about and gave one squeake and
fell downe daed I told my naibour that was with me I thought my sow was
bewitched for said I I think she is dead he lafed at me but It proved
true for she fell downe daed he bed me cut of hur eare the which I did
and my hand I had my knife in was so numb and full of paine that night
and sauerall days after that I could not doe any work and is not wholy
wall now and I sospected no other person but my sd sister Elizabeth How
Capt. John How declared ye above written evidence to be the truth before
ye Jury of inquest.
upon his oath in Court
June 30th 1692
JACOB FOSTER
The deposion of Jacob Foster aged about 29 yeares the deponant saith
that some years agoe good wife How the wife of James how was about to
Joyne with the church of Ipswich my father was an instrumentall means of
her being denyed admision quickly after my mare turned out to grass on
the tusday and on thursday I went to seek my mare to go to lecture I
sought my mare and could not find her I sought all friday and found her
not on Saturday I sought till noon & I found my mare standing leaning
with her butock against a tree I hit her with a small whip she gave a
heaue from a tree and fell back to the tree again then I took of her
fetters and struck her again she did the same again then I set my
shoulder to her side and thrust her of from the tree and moved her feet
then she went home and leapt into the pausture and my mare lookt as if
she had been miserably beaten and abused
Jacob ffoster declared ye evidence to be ye truth before ye Jury of
inquest on oath June 30 92
JOSEPH SAFFORD
The deposition of Joseph Safford aged about 60 he testefyeth and saith
that my wife was much afraid of Elizabeth how the wife of James how upon
the Reports that were of her about Samuell perlleys child but upon a tim
after thes Reports James how and his wife coming to my house nether
myselfe nor my wife were at home and good wife how asked my children
wher ther mother was and they said at the next nayboaers hovs she
desired them to Coll ther mother which they did when my wife cam whom my
wife told me that she was much startled to se goode how but she took her
by the hand and said goode Safford I beleue that you are not ignorant of
the grete scandall that I Ly under upon the euill Report that is Raised
upon me about Samuell perlleys child and other things Joseph Safford
saith that after this his wife was taken beyond Rason and all parswasion
to tek the part of this woman after this the wife of this James how
propounded herselfe to com into the church of Ipswich wher upon sum
objection a Rose by sum unsatisfied bretheren wher upon ther was a
meeting apinted by our elders of the church to consider of things
brought in against her my wife was more than ordenery ernest to goe to
lectur the church meeting being on that day notwithstanding the many
arguments I used to perswed her to the Contrery yet I obtained a promis
of her that she would not goe to the church meeting but meeting with som
of the naybourhood they perswaded her to go with them to the church
meeting at elder pains and told her that shee need say nothing ther, but
good wife how then being Rether Rendred guilty than cleered my wife took
her by the hand. after meeting and told her though she wer condemned
before men she was Justefyed before god. the next Sabath after this my
son that caried my wife to Lectur was taken aftar a strange manar the
Saturday after that my wife was taken after a Rauing frenzy manar
expressing in a Raging manar that goode how must com into the church and
that shee was a precious saint and though shee wer condemned befor men
shee was justefyed befor god and continued in this fram for the space of
thre or four hours after that my wife fell into a kind of trance for the
space of two or thre minits shee then coming to herselfe opened her eye
and said ha J was mistaken, no answer was med by the standars by, and
again shee said ha J was mistaken Majar appleton’s wife standing by said
wherein art mistaken I was mistaken said she for J thought goode how had
bene a precious saint of god but now I see she is a witch fer shee hath
bewitched me and my child and we shall neuer be well till ther is
testemony for her that she may be taken into the church after after this
there was A meeting of the eldars at my hous and thay desired that goode
how might be at the meeting insign wallis went with myselfe to invite
goode how to this meeting she coming in discours at that time she said
two or thre times shee was sory to se my wife at the church meeting at
eldar pains after this shee said she was aflicted by the aparishtion of
goode how a few dayes aftar she was taken shee said the caus of her
changing her opinion consarning goode how was becaus shee apeared to her
throg a creuis of the clambouerds which she knew no good person could do
and at thre seuerall times after was aflicted by the aperishtion of
goode how and goode olleuer and furder this deponit saith that Rising
erlly in the morning and kindling a fir in the other Room in wife
shrieked out I presently Ran into the room wher my wife was and as soon
as euer I opened the dore my said ther be the euill one take them
whereupon I Replyed wher are they I will take them if I can shee said
you will not tek them and then sprang out of the bed herselffe and went
to the window and said thar they went out thar wer both biger than she
and they went out ther but she could not then J Replyed who be they she
said goode how and goode olleuer goode olleuer said J you never saw the
woman in your Life no said she I never saw her in my Life but so she is
Represented to me goode olleuer of Sallam the millar
Joseph Safford declared to ye Jury of inquest that ye evidence above
written & on the other side of this paper is ye truth upon oath
June 30 1692
Jurat in Curia
THOMAS ANDREWS
July 1st 1692
The testimony of Thomas Andrews of Boxford aged about 50 yars this
deponant Testifieth & saith yt Jsiah Comings senior of Topsfield sent
for me to help help a mare yt was not well & when I came thare ye mare
was in such a condition yt I could not tell wt she ailed for J neuer
sawe yt like her lips ware exceedingly swelled yt ye Jnsides of Them
Turned outward & Look Black & blue & gelled, her Tung was in ye same
Condition J told ye said Comings I could not tell wt to doe for her J
perceiued she had not ye Botts wch J did att first think she had but J
said she might haue some great heat in her Body & I would applie a pipe
of Tobaco to her & yt that was concented & I lit a pipe of Tobaco & putt
itt under her fundiment & there came a Blew flame out of ye Bowle & Run
along ye stem of sd pipe & took hold of ye haer of sd Maer & Burnt itt &
we tryed itt 2 or 3 times together & itt did ye same itt semed to Burn
blew butt Run Like fyer yt is sett on the grass to Burn itt in ye spring
Tyme & we struck itt outt wth our hands & ye sd Comings sd yt he would
trye no more for sd he J had rather loose my mare yn my barn & J this
deponant doe testifi yt to ye Best of my understanding was ye same mare
yt James Hough Junior Belonging to Jpswich farmes husband to Elizabeth
Hough would have borowed of ye sd Comings
THO. ANDREWS
REMOVAL OF ATTAINDER
AND REIMBURSEMENT
“Ipswich ye 9 of September, 1710
“Whereas ye honored General Court has appointed a committee to consider
what damage persons have sustained in their names and estates in the
year 1692 by their sufferings in that as was called witch craft, ye
odium whereof was as if they are one of ye worst of mankind, we Mary How
and Abigail How: ye only survivers in this family also do groundedly
believe that our honored mother Elizabeth How suffered as innocent of
the crime charged with as any person in the world, and as to the damage
done to our estate we can not give a particular account but this we know
that our honored father went twice a week ye whole time of her
imprisonment to carry her maintenance which was provided with much
difficulty and one of us went with him because he could not go alone for
want of sight also one journey to Boston for a replevey and for
maintenance 5_s._ money left with her the first coming down 20_s._ the
second time and 40_s._ so that sometimes more some less yt never under
5_s._ per week which we know for charge for her and necessary charge for
ourselves and horses cannot be less than £20 money yet notwithstanding
so that ye name may be repaired we are content if your honors shall
allow £12.
Yours to serve
MARY HOW & ABIGAIL HOW.”
* * * * *
“This petition was presented to said Court by Capt. John How and Abraham
How uncles of said Mary and Abigail for relief in the premises and pray
that the petition may be allowed the same.”
* * * * *
The petition was referred to the committee referred to therein.
* * * * *
“The committee met at Salem, 13th, Sept. 1710, and the 14th reported
allowing the Misses How the £12 asked for.”
THOS. NOYES }
JOHN BURRILL} _Committee_
NAH. JEWETT }
“23 Oct., 1711. Read and accepted in House of Representatives, and sent
up for concurrence.
JOHN BURRILL, _Speaker_.
“In Council, 28 Oct., 1711.
“Read and concurred.
JOHN ADDINGTON, _Sec’y_.”
_State Archives_, _Room_ 434, _Vol._ 135: 131, 169.
HOME OF MRS. HOWE
LOCATED. THE CONCLUSION
[Illustration: Map of the homestead]
This map delineates a part of the homestead of Mrs. Eliza Howe Perley,
now in her ninety-third year (May 15) whose residence is at “6.” The
ascent of the estate is: Mrs. Perley’s father, Aaron Howe; his second
cousin, Joseph Howe; Joseph’s father, Abraham Howe; his father, Abraham
Howe, Jr.; his cousins, Abigail and Mary Howe; their father, James Howe,
Jr.; his father, James Howe, Sr.,—a continuous Howe ownership of two
hundred sixty years.
The house pictured on the opposite page stood at “2,” and was built,
probably, in 1711, since Abraham Howe, Jr., bought the land in February
of that year, “to set a house upon.”
James Howe, Jr., owned “a small house in the orchard,” “3,” and a third
of other “housing,” which may have included “the old house,” that stood
in 1711, “near” “5” south of “2,” “the southwest corner of the orchard.”
While searching the records of deeds, the writer noted a course in a
description: “Thence to the gate opposite James Howe, Junior’s.” The
locality was well known to him, and that knowledge located the gate. He
had often seen a gate there, between 1840 and 1850. It swung at the
entrance of the avenue leading to the residence of James Howe, Senior,
marked “gate” on the map. That fact was tangible; Mrs. Howe’s home was
at “2” on the map or near it.
Thus far and no farther, till one day looking over the ground back of
the present residence of Mrs. Eliza Howe Perley, “6” on the map, the
writer noticed a peculiar hollow in the otherwise level surface, and to
his question, What made it? she replied, “I don’t know; I have always
heard it called Mary’s hole.” He immediately exclaimed, “Mary Howe,
daughter of the witch.”
His conclusion: There the surviving daughters, Mary and Abigail, lived,
secluded and alone, beneath the shadow of the cruel attainder. After the
death of Mary, their home became Mary’s cellar; and when all appearance
of a cellar was gone, it became “Mary’s hole.” To-day there is not the
slightest vestige of “Mary’s hole”; the old home, known only to the
saddest pages of New England history, is arable ground.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
THE AARON HOWE HOUSE, LINEBROOK PARISH
Built in 1711, the birthplace of Rev. Nathaniel Howe (1764-1837), of
Hopkinton, Mass., and of Rev. Benjamin Howe (1807-1883) of that
parish; taken down about 1853.
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration: DESCENDANTS OF JAMES HOWE
│JAMES
│ELIZA^{TH}
JAMES .....│MARY
│DEBORAH │MARTHA
│JOHN ......│SARAH
│ABIGAIL │JAMES
MARY
│SARAH │MARK
│MARK │MARY
│JOHN ......│SARAH HOWE ARMS
│ANN │JOHN
│SAMUEL │ZERUIAH
JOHN ......│JOSEPH │JOSEPH
│MARY
│ELIZA^{TH}
│LYDIA
│BENJ^N
│HANNAH
│ABIGAIL
│ISAAC
│JOSEPH
REBECCA
│LOVE │MARY
│ │JOSEPH
│ │SARAH
│INCREASE ..│SUSAN
│ │ELIZA^{TH} │ABRAH^M ...│ABRAH^M P.
│ │JOSEPH │
│ │JOHN │ │W^M A.
│SAMSON │ │EDWARD E.
│ │MERCY │ │ADELINE
│ │JEMIMA │ABEL ......│MARGARET
│ │HEPHZIBAH │ABRAH^M ...│ELEANOR │LEVERETT S.
ABRAH^M ...│ABRAH^M ...│SARAH │JOHN │ABEL S.
│ │RUTH │LUCY │WILLARD P.
│ │ABRA^M ....│NATHAN^L │JOHN
│ │ELIZA^{TH} │ELIZA^{TH} │MEHIT^{ALE}
│ABIJAH │JOSEPH ....│ELIZA^{TH}
│ │MARK │MOSES
│ │DANIEL │SAMUEL │PRISCILLA
│ISRAEL ....│ │SAMUEL
│ │HANNAH │JOSHUA │CECIL P.
│ │PRISCILLA │BENJ^N ....│HOMER
│ │LUCY MARY
│ │AMOS
│ │HANNAH
│ │LOVE
│ │MOSES
│ │LUCY
│MARK ......│MARY
SARAH │AARON
│MARK │CATHERINE
│ABIJAH │JANE
│MARK ......│ELIPHALET
│
│ │NATHAN^L │LEONARD
│NATHAN^L ..│AARON .....│ELIZA │CALVIN E
│PHILEMON │HANNAH │CELESTIA E.
│HEPHZIBAH │MARK ......│NATHAN^L ..│MARY I.
│
│EMERSON ...│CELIA A.
│HANNAH
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DESCENDANTS OF JAMES HOWE
IPSWICH HOWES—JAMES BRANCH
ARMA VIRUMQUE CANO
James Howe, Jr., was son of James, Sen., of Ipswich, County Essex,
Mass., and grandson of Robert, “who lived in Hatfield, Broad-Oak, county
Essex, England, where Sir Francis Barrington lived in Woodrow-Green;
James, son of said Robert, lived in a place called Hackerill, or
Bockerill, in Bishop-Stortford—in the happy and gracious reign of King
James I.”
The mention of Sir Francis’s name in this connection suggests some
particular attachment, of which Mr. Howe had, no doubt, informed his
children, and which he wished them to remember and cherish. Sir
Francis’s family name went into England with the Conqueror, 1066, as Du
Barentin. The old feudal burg and barony which cradled the name, near
Rouen, is now Barentin. The Conqueror gave Baron Odo Du Barentin a grant
of land in county Essex and the descendant office of ranger or keeper of
the forest of Hatfield. Early in the seventeenth century the name was
anglicized Barrington.
The special mention of Sir Francis’s name, noted above, could hardly
indicate a family relation; it may have been a correlation, as ranger
and subranger, or assistant, a lucrative station of Sir Francis’s gift.
The charge, a wolf’s head, which has characterized the Howe arms for
centuries, suggests forests and an encounter.
THE COAT OF ARMS
JAMES, JR., AND ELIZABETH
[Illustration: BY THE NAME OF HOW]
Of the arms “_Gules_ (red) a chevron _argent_ (silver) between three
cros-cros-lets _or_ (gold) three wolves’ heads of the same,” said to
have “adorned the walls of the ‘Wayside Inn’ or Howe Tavern, in Sudbury,
for over a hundred and fifty years,” “Ye wolfs are ye fams. Arms, ye
cross, for gt accts don by ye 1st El.,” who lived around A.D. 1500, or
the time of Henry VII or VIII.
The seat of the family bearing the above arms was in county Warwick; the
seat of Robert Howe and the place of the original Howe arms: “_Argent_
(silver) a chevron between three wolves’ heads couped _sable_ (black)”
was in county Essex.
[Illustration: Coat of Arms]
If the query is now suggested, why did not our James Howe claim a coat
of arms if he were entitled to one, this answer is persuasive if not
conclusive; so early created and so long unused, it was forgotten; or
maybe, in New England practical home life its value was considered zero,
or negative.