BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Thomas Lamson and Abigail Faulkner
Thomas Lamson (sometimes spelled "Lampson") was born January 03, 1682/83 in Ipswich, Massachusetts to John Lamson and Martha Perkins.
Abigail Faulkner was born August 12, 1683 in Andover, Massachusetts into the fairly well-to-do family of Francis Faulkner and Abigail Dane.
"Salem Trial", an 1855 painting When Abigail was eight years old, her family fell victim to the witchcraft hysteria that had descended upon Massachusetts. Abigail, her mother and her ten-year-old sister Dorothy were accused of being witches, arrested and imprisoned in Salem. At their mother's trial, the two young girls, overwhelmed by the circumstances and presented with leading questions by their examiners, confessed to being witches and indicated that they had been made so by their mother. The girls were released from prison after their uncle, Nathaniel Dane, and another man posted bail. The mother was found guilty of practicing witchcraft and sentenced to death. She escaped hanging only because she was pregnant -- she was granted a reprieve until the birth of her baby. By the time the child was born, the witchcraft furor had faded.
Thomas Lamson and Abigail Faulkner were married in Andover on April 06, 1708. They had a daughter, Abigail Lamson, ten months later in February 1708/09.
At some point, the family evidently moved to Ipswich, Massachusetts as both husband and wife died there. Abigail died December 26, 1746. Thomas would live to the age of 84, dying in July 1767.
Sources & Related Information
by T.H. Matteson