He Descends from Witches and She from Accuser
Genealogy of Husband and Wife Meets at 1692 Salem Witch Trials
Oct 17, 2009
When Cedric Edward Mero Tuohy and Vida Ann Dobbs were married in 1949 at Snohomish, WA, they unknowingly brought to their union an unusual Salem heritage, he being descended from women accused as witches in 1692 and she being descended from a trial witness.
Husband’s Descent from Salem Women Charged As Witches
Cedric was born at Snohomish in 1925. His father’s family was from Victoria, BC, Canada, and his much-married paternal grandmother was the daughter of a Maine-born adventurer who died in an 1875 shipwreck off Cape Flattery, WA. They were descendants of Joshua Moody (1808-1894) whose life spanned a continent: he was born at Salisbury, MA, and died in Victoria, BC.
Cedric is descended not only twice over from convicted witch Susannah (North) Martin, but also has double lines of descent from accused witch Mary (Perkins) Bradbury. Cedric’s descent from Susannah is via her daughter Jane, who married Samuel Hadley, and from her daughter Abigail, who married James Hadlock. Susannah was executed July 19, 1692.
Cedric’s descent from Mary (Perkins) Bradbury is through both daughter Mary, who wed John Stanyan, and daughter Jane, who wed Henry True. Mary (Perkins) Bradbury was accused and jailed, but with the help of high-placed friends managed to escape.
Wife’s Ancestor Testified Against Witches
Ann’s ancestor, Bray Wilkins, and his family were involved in the witchcraft hysteria in complex, multiple ways. They were related to several other families involved. They also tended to marry their own cousins. Bray Wilkins testified against accused witch John Willard, who was the husband of his granddaughter, Margaret (Wilkins) Willard. Ann descends from both Bray and Margaret. She also descends from Bray’s daughter Lydia and his two sons, Henry and Benjamin, all of whom testified against their niece’s husband, John Willard.
Two years after the witch trials, Thomas Nichols, son of John and Lydia (Wilkins) Nichols, married Joanna Towne. Her family included accused and convicted witches. These tangled lines get even more complicated. Henry Wilkins had a son Henry who married his first cousin, Sarah Wilkins (daughter of Benjamin), and their daughter, Sarah, wed her second cousin, Isaac Nichols.
The pivotal family member seems to be Bray’s son, Thomas Wilkins, through whom Ann also descends. He signed the anti-Samuel Parris petition and was one of four “dissenting brethren” within the church. (Rev. Samuel Parris was the village minister and it was in his house that the witch hysteria began.) It was John Willard, the husband of Margaret, daughter of this Thomas Wilkins, that the family ganged up against. Their testimony resulted in Willard being hung as a witch. Two years later, almost to the day, Margaret married as her second husband William Towne, a nephew of accused witches Rebecca Nurse, Mary Estey and Sarah Bridges Cloyce.
Tangled Family Lineages
Cedric Tuohy’s lines are easy to chart, but the genealogical tangles of his wife Ann’s ancestors is more problematic. A chart showing his lines on the top half and hers on the bottom half accompanies this article. The finale of this genealogical saga is that Ann has two ancestors who descend from the Towne family in which two sisters of the immigrant were hanged as witches and a third one was accused, but not convicted.
Sources:
Lineage charts from Cedric and Ann (Dobbs) Tuohy, who were living in Snohomish, WA, in 1992; “What Did My Ancestors Do to Your Ancestors: Husband Descends from Witches and Wife from Witness,” The Second Boat, Vol. 13, No. 4 (October, 1992).
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