BRADSTREET, Dudley

Other Events and Attributes:

• Differentiator: Son of Governor Simon Bradstreet, Dudley was a respected citizen of Andover, but that didn't stop the accusations of witchcraft against both he and his wife
• Residence: 1674, Massachusetts, USA
• Public Service: 1692, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA; Justice of the Peace during the Salem Witch Hysteria
• Witch Trials Connection: 1692, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA; Dudley was a respected citizen of Andover, but that didn't stop the accusations of witchcraft against both he and his wife

Notes:

Sources: http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ma-witches-b.html
Historical Sketches of Andover, Massachusetts by Sarah Loring Bailey, published by Houghton Mifflin in 1880

Colonel Dudley Bradstreet was serving as the Justice of Peace in Andover during the witch hysteria. Though he didn't believe the witchcraft delusion, his duties required him to issue almost 50 arrest warrants before he finally refused to issue any more. Afterwards, both Dudley and his wife, Ann were also accused. They temporarily fled the area, evading arrest.

Dudley's father, Simon would serve as the Colonial Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1670 to 1686. After Simon's wife Anne died, he moved back to Salem and Dudley moved into his father's residence in Andover, as well as taking over his father's leadership role in the town. Dudley was an attorney, a colonel in the militia, schoolteacher, and served as a selectman and town clerk in Andover. He would also serve as a Deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts and later, was a member of the Governor's Council. Though he opposed the entire witchcraft delusion, he found himself in the unenviable position of Justice of the Peace in Andover during the hysteria. In the eight weeks from July 15, 1692 until the "touch test" on September 7th, Bradstreet granted out arrest warrants against, and committed, some 30 Andover persons to prisons for supposed witchcrafts. On September 7th, after the ludicrous "touch test," he dutifully wrote out an additional 18 warrants. However, after he had issued those warrants, he refused to grant any more. Not long afterwards, both he and his wife Ann Wood (widow of Theodore Price), were themselves, accused of witchcraft, with the "afflicted" claiming that they had killed at least nine people. In response, Colonel Bradstreet and his wife fled the area. However, he later returned to Andover and his name appears first on the petition written in late December. The petition, presented to the Superior Court of Judicature at Salem at its opening session on January 3, 1693. It was signed not only by Colonel Bradstreet, but also the Reverend Francis Dane, Reverend Thomas Barnard, 38 other men, and 12 women. The petition was on behalf of Mary Clement Osgood, Eunice Potter Frye, Deliverance Haseltine Dane, Sarah Lord Wilson and Abigail Wheeler Barker, who were all church members who had been arrested together at the Andover touch test. He died in Andover, Massachusetts in 1706.

Dudley married WOOD, Anne on 12 Nov 1673 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA. Anne was born in 1647 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA; died in 1707 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Reverend (pastor of the church in Groton before returning to England)