Per F-A-G contributor, evilC #47843212 via email Feb 24, 2018 at 6:39 PM:
'Timothy was named as a victim, afflicted by Mary Perkins Bradbury during the Salem Witch Trials.'
- 21 Jul 2023-MonesMoe #47872985: Headstone carving attributed to John Hartshorn, originally of Haverhill area, later Connecticut. Timothy Swan b. March 12th, 1662/3 in a part of Haverhill that is now Methuen. Parents were Robert Swan and Elizabeth Acie. The Swan's lived in Haverhill, close enough to North Andover Meetinghouse they joined that Parish. As a preface to the witchcraft accusation and confessions surrounding Timothy, It is necessary to bring up briefly the case of Elizabeth Emerson. In 1686 a 20 year old Elizabeth Emerson had given birth out of wedlock to a daughter she named Dorothy, and her father Michael accused their neighbor Timothy Swan of being the father. Timothy's father, Robert Swan, vehemently denied that Timothy was the father because he "… had charged him not to go into that wicked house and his son had obeyed and furthermore his son could not abide the jade." He further threatened to "carry the case to Boston" if Timothy was formally accused. Michael did not pursue the charges and little Dorothy remained fatherless. Dorothy would later name Samuel Ladd as the father of Dorothy.
Ladd was a married, well-to-do landowner and leader of the local militia who had previously been caught sneaking into the bedroom of a young woman at night, and when her parents caught him, he leaped out of the house, this later concluded with Ladd being fined for a misdemeanor. Elizabeth would later be tried, convicted and eventually hanged for the 1691 infanticide of twins born of another illicit tryst with Samuel Ladd. See N.E. Historical society link below. In 1692 Timothy Swan, then 29, was at the center of Andover's afflicted accusers. Suffering from an unknown illness at the time, Swan was said to have been afflicted by as many as 16 people from the area. Several people confessing to witchcraft agreed that they did, indeed, afflict Swan. Some say this may have been brought about by animosity toward him in the Elizabeth Emerson case as many of those who confessed were part of Elizabeth's family circle. Among those who confessed to inflicting Timothy was Mary Toothaker, a relative of Elizabeth Emerson. She commented that she "did often think of him & her hands would be clinched together, And that she would grip the dishclout or any[thing] else and so think of the persone; And by this & afflicting of [others] since she came down she is convinced she is a witch."
Another confessed witch, Ann Foster, said her manner of hurting (Timothy and others) was to make images of the persons with rags ("poppets" they are called in the records), and stick pins in these, or "tye knots in the rags, or burn them in the fire". The persons whom these images were supposed to represent would suffer whenever she pinched or burned, or pricked the "poppet". There are many more confessions, if you wish, it's best to read them at the Witch Trials Transcription Project at the University of Virginia. The confessions of the Carriers are fantastic. https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/tag/swan_timothy.html
N.E. Historical society; "Puritan Child Killers: Hannah Duston and her sister"
https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/colonial-child.../
"They Die in Youth and Their Life is Among the Unclean" The Life and Death of Elizabeth Emerson
By Peg Goggin Kearney May 6, 1994 University of Southern Maine
https://web.archive.org/.../wprokasy.myweb.../Emerson2.htm
- Brian Mercer, 21 Jul 2023, Early New England Gravestones, and the Men Who Made Them, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=313824764327884&set=a.191242386586123
'Timothy was named as a victim, afflicted by Mary Perkins Bradbury during the Salem Witch Trials.'
- 21 Jul 2023-MonesMoe #47872985: Headstone carving attributed to John Hartshorn, originally of Haverhill area, later Connecticut. Timothy Swan b. March 12th, 1662/3 in a part of Haverhill that is now Methuen. Parents were Robert Swan and Elizabeth Acie. The Swan's lived in Haverhill, close enough to North Andover Meetinghouse they joined that Parish. As a preface to the witchcraft accusation and confessions surrounding Timothy, It is necessary to bring up briefly the case of Elizabeth Emerson. In 1686 a 20 year old Elizabeth Emerson had given birth out of wedlock to a daughter she named Dorothy, and her father Michael accused their neighbor Timothy Swan of being the father. Timothy's father, Robert Swan, vehemently denied that Timothy was the father because he "… had charged him not to go into that wicked house and his son had obeyed and furthermore his son could not abide the jade." He further threatened to "carry the case to Boston" if Timothy was formally accused. Michael did not pursue the charges and little Dorothy remained fatherless. Dorothy would later name Samuel Ladd as the father of Dorothy.
Ladd was a married, well-to-do landowner and leader of the local militia who had previously been caught sneaking into the bedroom of a young woman at night, and when her parents caught him, he leaped out of the house, this later concluded with Ladd being fined for a misdemeanor. Elizabeth would later be tried, convicted and eventually hanged for the 1691 infanticide of twins born of another illicit tryst with Samuel Ladd. See N.E. Historical society link below. In 1692 Timothy Swan, then 29, was at the center of Andover's afflicted accusers. Suffering from an unknown illness at the time, Swan was said to have been afflicted by as many as 16 people from the area. Several people confessing to witchcraft agreed that they did, indeed, afflict Swan. Some say this may have been brought about by animosity toward him in the Elizabeth Emerson case as many of those who confessed were part of Elizabeth's family circle. Among those who confessed to inflicting Timothy was Mary Toothaker, a relative of Elizabeth Emerson. She commented that she "did often think of him & her hands would be clinched together, And that she would grip the dishclout or any[thing] else and so think of the persone; And by this & afflicting of [others] since she came down she is convinced she is a witch."
Another confessed witch, Ann Foster, said her manner of hurting (Timothy and others) was to make images of the persons with rags ("poppets" they are called in the records), and stick pins in these, or "tye knots in the rags, or burn them in the fire". The persons whom these images were supposed to represent would suffer whenever she pinched or burned, or pricked the "poppet". There are many more confessions, if you wish, it's best to read them at the Witch Trials Transcription Project at the University of Virginia. The confessions of the Carriers are fantastic. https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/tag/swan_timothy.html
N.E. Historical society; "Puritan Child Killers: Hannah Duston and her sister"
https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/colonial-child.../
"They Die in Youth and Their Life is Among the Unclean" The Life and Death of Elizabeth Emerson
By Peg Goggin Kearney May 6, 1994 University of Southern Maine
https://web.archive.org/.../wprokasy.myweb.../Emerson2.htm
- Brian Mercer, 21 Jul 2023, Early New England Gravestones, and the Men Who Made Them, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=313824764327884&set=a.191242386586123
Per F-A-G contributor, evilC #47843212 via email Feb 24, 2018 at 6:39 PM:
'Timothy was named as a victim, afflicted by Mary Perkins Bradbury during the Salem Witch Trials.'
- 21 Jul 2023-MonesMoe #47872985: Headstone carving attributed to John Hartshorn, originally of Haverhill area, later Connecticut. Timothy Swan b. March 12th, 1662/3 in a part of Haverhill that is now Methuen. Parents were Robert Swan and Elizabeth Acie. The Swan's lived in Haverhill, close enough to North Andover Meetinghouse they joined that Parish. As a preface to the witchcraft accusation and confessions surrounding Timothy, It is necessary to bring up briefly the case of Elizabeth Emerson. In 1686 a 20 year old Elizabeth Emerson had given birth out of wedlock to a daughter she named Dorothy, and her father Michael accused their neighbor Timothy Swan of being the father. Timothy's father, Robert Swan, vehemently denied that Timothy was the father because he "… had charged him not to go into that wicked house and his son had obeyed and furthermore his son could not abide the jade." He further threatened to "carry the case to Boston" if Timothy was formally accused. Michael did not pursue the charges and little Dorothy remained fatherless. Dorothy would later name Samuel Ladd as the father of Dorothy.
Ladd was a married, well-to-do landowner and leader of the local militia who had previously been caught sneaking into the bedroom of a young woman at night, and when her parents caught him, he leaped out of the house, this later concluded with Ladd being fined for a misdemeanor. Elizabeth would later be tried, convicted and eventually hanged for the 1691 infanticide of twins born of another illicit tryst with Samuel Ladd. See N.E. Historical society link below. In 1692 Timothy Swan, then 29, was at the center of Andover's afflicted accusers. Suffering from an unknown illness at the time, Swan was said to have been afflicted by as many as 16 people from the area. Several people confessing to witchcraft agreed that they did, indeed, afflict Swan. Some say this may have been brought about by animosity toward him in the Elizabeth Emerson case as many of those who confessed were part of Elizabeth's family circle. Among those who confessed to inflicting Timothy was Mary Toothaker, a relative of Elizabeth Emerson. She commented that she "did often think of him & her hands would be clinched together, And that she would grip the dishclout or any[thing] else and so think of the persone; And by this & afflicting of [others] since she came down she is convinced she is a witch."
Another confessed witch, Ann Foster, said her manner of hurting (Timothy and others) was to make images of the persons with rags ("poppets" they are called in the records), and stick pins in these, or "tye knots in the rags, or burn them in the fire". The persons whom these images were supposed to represent would suffer whenever she pinched or burned, or pricked the "poppet". There are many more confessions, if you wish, it's best to read them at the Witch Trials Transcription Project at the University of Virginia. The confessions of the Carriers are fantastic. https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/tag/swan_timothy.html
N.E. Historical society; "Puritan Child Killers: Hannah Duston and her sister"
https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/colonial-child.../
"They Die in Youth and Their Life is Among the Unclean" The Life and Death of Elizabeth Emerson
By Peg Goggin Kearney May 6, 1994 University of Southern Maine
https://web.archive.org/.../wprokasy.myweb.../Emerson2.htm
- Brian Mercer, 21 Jul 2023, Early New England Gravestones, and the Men Who Made Them, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=313824764327884&set=a.191242386586123
'Timothy was named as a victim, afflicted by Mary Perkins Bradbury during the Salem Witch Trials.'
- 21 Jul 2023-MonesMoe #47872985: Headstone carving attributed to John Hartshorn, originally of Haverhill area, later Connecticut. Timothy Swan b. March 12th, 1662/3 in a part of Haverhill that is now Methuen. Parents were Robert Swan and Elizabeth Acie. The Swan's lived in Haverhill, close enough to North Andover Meetinghouse they joined that Parish. As a preface to the witchcraft accusation and confessions surrounding Timothy, It is necessary to bring up briefly the case of Elizabeth Emerson. In 1686 a 20 year old Elizabeth Emerson had given birth out of wedlock to a daughter she named Dorothy, and her father Michael accused their neighbor Timothy Swan of being the father. Timothy's father, Robert Swan, vehemently denied that Timothy was the father because he "… had charged him not to go into that wicked house and his son had obeyed and furthermore his son could not abide the jade." He further threatened to "carry the case to Boston" if Timothy was formally accused. Michael did not pursue the charges and little Dorothy remained fatherless. Dorothy would later name Samuel Ladd as the father of Dorothy.
Ladd was a married, well-to-do landowner and leader of the local militia who had previously been caught sneaking into the bedroom of a young woman at night, and when her parents caught him, he leaped out of the house, this later concluded with Ladd being fined for a misdemeanor. Elizabeth would later be tried, convicted and eventually hanged for the 1691 infanticide of twins born of another illicit tryst with Samuel Ladd. See N.E. Historical society link below. In 1692 Timothy Swan, then 29, was at the center of Andover's afflicted accusers. Suffering from an unknown illness at the time, Swan was said to have been afflicted by as many as 16 people from the area. Several people confessing to witchcraft agreed that they did, indeed, afflict Swan. Some say this may have been brought about by animosity toward him in the Elizabeth Emerson case as many of those who confessed were part of Elizabeth's family circle. Among those who confessed to inflicting Timothy was Mary Toothaker, a relative of Elizabeth Emerson. She commented that she "did often think of him & her hands would be clinched together, And that she would grip the dishclout or any[thing] else and so think of the persone; And by this & afflicting of [others] since she came down she is convinced she is a witch."
Another confessed witch, Ann Foster, said her manner of hurting (Timothy and others) was to make images of the persons with rags ("poppets" they are called in the records), and stick pins in these, or "tye knots in the rags, or burn them in the fire". The persons whom these images were supposed to represent would suffer whenever she pinched or burned, or pricked the "poppet". There are many more confessions, if you wish, it's best to read them at the Witch Trials Transcription Project at the University of Virginia. The confessions of the Carriers are fantastic. https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/tag/swan_timothy.html
N.E. Historical society; "Puritan Child Killers: Hannah Duston and her sister"
https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/colonial-child.../
"They Die in Youth and Their Life is Among the Unclean" The Life and Death of Elizabeth Emerson
By Peg Goggin Kearney May 6, 1994 University of Southern Maine
https://web.archive.org/.../wprokasy.myweb.../Emerson2.htm
- Brian Mercer, 21 Jul 2023, Early New England Gravestones, and the Men Who Made Them, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=313824764327884&set=a.191242386586123
Inscription
TIMOTHY SWAN
DIED FEBRUARY
YE 2 1692 IN
YE 30 YEAR OF
HIS AGE
Gravesite Details
Sources - gravestone inscription & Vital Records of Haverhill, MA & Andover, MA to the end of the year 1849
