Mary Clements

1637 - 1710  (73 years)

• Name	Mary Clements
  Birth	1637	Ansley, Warwickshire, England   [1]
  Gender	Female
  Death	27 Oct 1710	Andover, Essex, Massachusetts   [1, 2]
  Person ID	I17206	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others | Ancestor of TD
  Last Modified	8 Sep 2018

  
  

  Father	Robert Clements,   b. Bef 14 Dec 1595, Cosby, Leicestershire, England d. 29 Sep 1658, Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts (Age > 62 years)
  Mother	Lydia   d. Bef 12 Mar 1642, Ansley, Warwickshire, England
  Marriage	Bef 1615  [1]
  Family ID	F10567	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Captain John Osgood,   b. 1632, England d. 21 Aug 1693, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts (Age 61 years)
  Marriage	16 Nov 1653  [3]
  Children	+ 1. Timothy Osgood,   b. 10 Aug 1659, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts d. 16 Sep 1748, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts (Age 89 years)
  Family ID	F10565	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	19 Apr 2017

  
  

• Notes

  "Mary Clements is mentioned as 'a remarkably pious and good woman,' and yet in 1692, she was accused of witchcraft. It is perhaps indicative of the height to which the witchcraft delusion rose that so prominent a woman could be found among the accused. […] The legal examination of the Andover victims lasted for several weeks; that of Mary (Clements) Osgood taking place on 8 Sept. 1692. With but one exception, the frenzied and agonized women, Mrs. Osgood among them, confessed that they had been 'dipt' by Satan. About the only way to escape conviction and execution was to confess guilt and beg for mercy, so it is not surprising that Captain Osgood urged his wife to confess, in the hope of saving her life. However, in the end, the awfulness of a confession that one had given body and soul to Satan, outweighed in Mrs. Osgood’s mind the desire for life and she recanted. […] She was discharged the January following with others of the accused." [Ancestors and Descendants of Robert Clements, citation details below.]

  
  

• Sources

  [S2198] Ancestors and Descendants of Robert Clements of Leicestershire and Warwickshire, England, First Settler of Haverhill, Massachusetts by Percival Wood Clement, ed. Mary Lovering Holman and Caroline Clement Brown. Philadelphia: Patterson & White, 1927. [S2197] Vital Records of Andover, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849. Topsfield, Massachusetts: Topsfield Historical Society, 1912. [S2200] C. M. Endicott, "The Osgood Family in New England." The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 13:117, April 1859.