William Way (1652–1725) and the accused witches

William Way (1652-1725)

11 William Way

William Way. Son of Aaron Way Sr. and Joanna Sumner. Born ca 1652 at Dorchester, Mass. Baptised 13 Nov 1652.80 Married at Mass. Persis Witt, born 1655, Lynn, Essex Co., Mass., daughter of John Witt.

William Way died 1725 at Dorchester, Berkeley Co., S. C.81 Will dated 2 Aug 1715 at Dorchester, S.C.82

He joined the Salem-Village (now known as Danvers) church with his wife in 19 Nov 1689. Three years later were the famous Salem Witchcraft Trials. During the course of the accusations by Rev. Samuel Parris against several people, several of the members, including Samuel Nurse, John Tarbell (Samuel’s next door neighbor83), and Thomas Wilkins, bore witness against the accusations. They were very careful.

“Their line of action was extremely narrow. It was necessary to avoid all personalities, and every appearance of passion or excitement; to make no charge against Mr. Parris that could touch the church, as such, or reflect upon the courts, magistrates, or any others that had taken part in the prosecutions. It was necessary to avoid putting anything into writing, with their names attached, which could in any way be tortured into a libel. Parris lets fall expressions which show that he was on the watch for something of the kind to seize upon, to transfer the movement from the church to the courts. Entirely unaccustomed to public speaking, these three farmers had to meet assemlages composed of their opponents, and much wrought up against them; to make statements, and respond to interrogatories and propositions, the full and ultimate bearing of which was not always apparent; any unguarded expression might be fatal to their cause. Their safety depended upon using the right word at the right time and in the right manner, and in withholding the statement of their grievances, in adequate force of language until they were under the shelter of a council.”84

Those three began a counter-offensive against Parris according to Matthew xviii 15-17. Peter Cloyse joined them. Parris saw them only one at a time.

“He also took the ground that they could not be witnesses for each other, but that he should treat them all as only one person in the transaction. A sense of the injustice of his conduct, or some other consideration, led William Way, another of the brethren, to go with them as a witness. Nurse, Tarbell, Wilkins, Cloyse, and Way went to his house together. He said that the four first were but one person in the case; but admitted that Way was a distinct person, a brother of accredited standing, and a witness. He escaped, however, under the subterfuge that the gospel rule required ‘two or three witnesses.’ In this way, the matter stood for some time…”85

So our ancestor’s intervention did not stop the accusations, but it helped delay further action until a council could be called by the clergy of Salem and Boston. As everyone knows, people were hanged anyway, but the matter could have been even worse without the intervention of the council.

The “other consideration” may have been that Thomas Wilkins’ grandmother was Hannah Way (1615–1701), half-sister of William Way (1652–1725)’s father Aaron Way Sr. (1613–1695), so Thomas was William’s first cousin once removed. See Figure 21.4. William and his nephew Aaron Way (1674–1735) owned land just across Will’s Hill from Bray Wilkins (1611–1701), Hannah’s husband and Thomas’s grandfather. In addition, Thomas’ uncle Samuel Wilkins (1636–1688) had run afoul (rather literally, for foul language) of Rev. Parris some years ago and tried to get the Rev. removed. When Samuel died in 1688 Rev. Parris enumerated all his sins in the church obituary. So there were several family reasons for William Way to get involved in opposing Rev. Parris.

[Figure 21.4: William Way (1652–1725) and the accused witches.]
Figure 21.4: William Way (1652–1725) and the accused witches.

In addition, Thomas Wilkins’ wife was Elizabeth Towne,86 whose aunt was Rebecca Towne (–1692), the first accused of witchcraft. See Figure 21.4. Samuel Nurse was Rebecca’s husband. Her sisters Mary Towne (–1692) and Sarah Towne were also accused, and Peter Cloyse was Sarah’s husband. Thomas’s sister Margaret Wilkins (1669–1751) was married to John Willard (1687–1692), who was also accused.

None of William Way’s immediate relatives were accused. So there were several reasons why Rev. Parris could get away with lumping the close relatives of the accused together as a single person, yet he had to admit a Way as a witness in full standing. William’s brother Q!AQJr was also opposed to the belief in witches and thus to the trials, and his wife was Mary Maverick (1651–), a granddaughter Revd. Mr. John Maverick (1578–1636), one of the original pastors of the Dorchester, Mass., church. The Way family could thus be considered to represent the original religious and family traditions of the settlers better than Rev. Parris.

Nonetheless, Rebecca Towne (–1692), Mary Towne (–1692), and John Willard (1687–1692) were hanged. Sarah Towne was apparently released. Margaret Wilkins (1669–1751) later married second William Towne, Elizabeth Towne’s brother.

Three years later, in 1695, William Way (1652–1725) and many of his relatives moved to South Carolina.

This is an excerpt from the book, Quarterman Family of Liberty County, Georgia and Relatives, by Jane Quarterman Comer, David Leon Quarterman, Stephen Patrick Quarterman, John Sinclair Quarterman, Copyright © 1997 Quarterman Family History Project, LCCN 97-69321 ISBN 0-87152-510-0, Publication arrangements by: The Reprint Company, Publishers, Spartanburg, South Carolina

William Way was my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. -jsq