Elizabeth accused witch Kendall

"Elizabeth _______ was the wife of Samuel Holly and John Kendall. The first record of her by name is the sale of the property of Samuel Holly by son John Holly in which she is named as Elizabeth Kendall former wife of Samuel Holly in Cambridge."

"Samuel Holly appears in Cambridge by 1636, although his origins are unknown. In his will dated 1643, he left land to his unnamed wife and son. He named his wife sole executor, but only the will and inventory were entered into the record, and there is no other record of the administration of the estate. The son mentioned would be John Holly, who was born about 1618 (based on age recorded at death). If he married in his mid-twenties, and born say 1618, Elizabeth was probably born about 1598 or earlier (assuming that she was his mother)."

"There was an Elizabeth Holly who arrived in Massachusetts on the Blessing in 1635.[1] However, that Elizabeth Holly is recorded on the passenger list age 30, for an inferred birth year of 1605. That would make her too young to be the mother of John born circa 1618, based on his age at time of death. Anderson in "The Great Migration, Vol III G-H" p470 is of the belief that nothing connects the Blessing passenger with Samuel Holley of Cambridge. This is based on his belief that the first mention of Samuel is 1639 when he is listed as a landowner in the Newe Towne and Cambridge records. He seems to be unaware of the 1636 Colonial Court record which implies an earlier arrival. See Samuel's profile."

"She married first in England, Samuel Holly."

Source: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Unknown-545972

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Elizabeth's second marriage was to John Kendall and she was executed as a witch.

She was NOT Elizabeth Cogan. She did not arrive in 1635 on the Blessing. See above. Following paragraph is not correct.

Elizabeth Cogan [SIC] was born in Somerset [SIC] about 1599. She married Samuel Holly (1593-1643) in England in 1618 and came to America in about 1635 with her husband and children including her oldest son John Galen Holly (1618-1681) . Samuel Holly died in 1643 leaving his wife Elizabeth and children, the youngest of which was probably about 10 years old. In 1644, Elizabeth married John Kendall (1608-1661).

Disputed Origins

A previous version of this profile claimed, citing an online family tree, that she was the daughter of Philobert Cogan and Ann Marshall. While that couple did have a daughter Elizabeth, she m1 ____ Gibson; m2 Gov. John Endicott. See her profile for source details. Therefore, THIS Elizabeth has been disconnected from those parents.

Witchcraft accusation

From https://www.ancestry.it/boards/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=1148&p=surname...

According to David D. Hall's book, Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth Century New England, A Documentary History 1638-1693, pp. 24-25, "The only report of this case is John Hale's in A Modest Enquiry (1702). No one has yet been able to identify Elizabeth Kendall or to date her execution, which took place sometime between 1647 and 1651."

This is the text from Hale, with Hall's footnotes:

A woman is wrongfully blamed for a child's death
Another suffering in this kind was a woman of Cambridge, against whom a principal evidence was a Watertown nurse, who testified, that the said Kendall (so was the accused called) did bewitch to death a child of Goodman Genings (1) of Watertown; for the said Kendall did make much of the child, and then the child was well, but quickly changed its color and died in a few hours after. The court took this evidence among others, the said Genings not knowing of it. But after Kendall was executed (who also (2) denied her guilt to the death), Mr. Richard Brown (3) knowing and hoping better things of Kendall, asked said Genings if they suspected her to bewitch their child, they answered no. But they judged the true cause of the child's death to be thus, viz. the nurse had the night before carried out the child and kept it abroad in the cold a long time, when the red gum was come out upon it, and the cold had struck in the red gum, and this they judged the cause of the child's death. And that said Kendall did come in that day and make much of the child, apprehended no wrong to come to the child by her. After this the nurse was put into prison for adultery, and there delivered of her base child, and Mr. Brown went to her and told her, It was just with God to leave her to this wickedness, as a punishment for her murdering Goody Kendall by her false witness bearing. But the nurse died in prison, and so the matter was not farther inquired into.

• (1) Or Jennings.
• (2) John Hale's "also" refers to Mrs. Lake and Mary Johnson.
• (3) A deputy to the General Court from Watertown, Massachusetts.

Source: Hale, A Modest Enquiry, pp. 18-19.

Death and legacy

From https://everyleafhasastory.com/2017/05/02/samuel-holly-and-elizabet...

There is debate as to when she was executed. Some think as early as 1645 up to 1650. Considering that her son John sold 19 acres of land in 1645 and was then found in Stamford, CT by 1647, I would think that it is 1645. He received everything when his mom died. I have found no indication how she was executed and many sources say she was hung. It seemed to be the preferred method in America. There was a Gallows Hill in Cambridge, MA that has been renamed Avon Hill. It is thought that Elizabeth was the first person executed there. Elizabeth is listed in The Associated Daughters of Early American Witches which is a National Society. She is part of the Historical tour in Cambridge when they walk by Winthrop Park which is a border of the jailhouse where Elizabeth was held. Finally, her grandchildren, Increase Holly and Hannah Hait (Holly), signed a letter on 4 June 1692 in Stamford, CT attesting to the good character of a woman being accused of being a witch. She was subsequently released. Increase was born in 1643, so although he may not have memories of his grandma, he may have heard stories which helped form his opinion.
I do not know where Samuel or Elizabeth are buried but most likely in the Old Burying Ground, Cambridge, MA. It was established in 1635 but the oldest stone there in 1653.

References

• Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees via daughter Ann Bigger (born Kendall) by SmartCopy: Dec 3 2014, 15:53:29 UTC
• http://alicemariebeard.com/history/witch.htm cites from John Putnam Demos' book Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England, 1983, Oxford Univ. Press, (Appendix A, pp. 402-9): “1647? Elizabeth KENDALL Cambridge, MA C,I,T,V,X” [Complaint, Indictment, Trial, Verdict, Execution]
• “Historical Witches and Witchtrials in North America” Compiled by Marc Carlson. It was last edited 13 June 2011. 1651 NEng/MA Cambridge 1 Kendal, Mrs (fnu) f Executed. (Source: Drake, Frederick C. "Witchcraft in the American Colonies, 1647-62" American Quarterly 20 (1968):694-725)
• “List of people executed for witchcraft” From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Mrs. Kendall[7] c. 1650 Colonial American colonist Hanged at Cambridge, Massachusetts. 7. Jewett, Clarence F. The memorial history of Boston: including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 1630-1880. Vol 2. Ticknor and Company, 1881. pp. 138-141
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kendall-1131

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