Abigail Somes, Accused Witch

Not the same as Abigail Bennet

Somes, Abigail (___) 1655- Gloucester, MA. 1692, Imprisoned and cleared of charges of witchcraft.

See https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n122.html (document attaches)

The primary reason is that an Abigail Somes of Salem, late of Gloucester, singlewoman, was indicted as a witch and imprisoned in 1692 (check this record from Suffolk County Court Records ).

This individual apparently died unmarried in 1733 (?).  Babson assumes this person to be the daughter of Timothy Somes of Gloucester (History of Gloucester, p 211).  , but I am not so sure.  Abigail, daughter of Morris would have been about 37 years old and unmarried, a prime profile of an accused witch and I have seen no record of another Abigail in Gloucester or Salem who fits as well.

Notes

John Somes made his will on Nov. 30, 1687 and then went to sea. He gives 5 lbs each to loving sisters, Abigail & Mary Hammonds ...

Origins and disambiguation

In Morris Somes's will executed in 1683, Morris Somes being the alleged father of the Abigail who married Anthony Bennett, Morris mentions his children including daughters' married surnames, EXCEPT he refers to his daughter Abigail with her birth surname Somes, not Bennett. This datum suggests that the Abigail, who married Anthony Bennett, was not the daughter of Morris and Elizabeth (Kendall) Somes. More specifically in his will (1683), Morris mentions, in the order by which they appear, his son Timothy, his daughter Mary Hammans, his daughter Sarah Witham, his son John, his daughter Lydia Williams, his daughter Abigail Somes, his daughter Hannah Allen, his daughter Patience Topliff, and his son Nathaniel and various grandchildren. He also mentions his wife and describes her care. By Morris's nomenclature of his children, Abigail was not married in 1683, when Morris's will was executed, a year by which the Abigail, who married Anthony Bennett, would have been married and had at least two children.

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Abigail Soames witchcraft indictment, 13 May 1692
Copy of original indictment and a transcription with credit.

Essex County Court Archives- Witchcraft Vol 2 page 50. Indictment for Abigail Soames brother of John on a count of witchcraft.

References

• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:a42678&i... (dead link)
• Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). < AmericanAncestors > Name Abigail SOMES Birth 1655 Location Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts, United States Original Text Abigail, d. Morise and Elizabeth, May 6, 1655. Town Info Gloucester Volume Name Gloucester - V1 Page 665
• Soames Abigail witchcraft indictment https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/82172165?cid=mem_copy Copy of original indictment and a transcription with credit.