Abigail Williams

Abigail Williams
Abigail Williams
Born	c. 1681
Died	1692 or after (aged 11 or older)
Known for	First accuser in the Salem witch trials
Relatives	Samuel Parris (uncle); Elizabeth "Betty" Parris (cousin);

Abigail Williams (born c. 1681, date of death unknown)^[2] was an 11- or 12-year-old girl who, along with nine-year-old Betty Parris, was among the first of the children to falsely accuse their neighbors of witchcraft in 1692; these accusations eventually led to the Salem witch trials.

^ "What Happened to Abigail Williams?". Salem Witch Museum. January 16, 2012. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
^ Rosenthal et al. Records of the Salem Witch-hunt(2014) p.963. The contemporary narrative attributed to Deodat Lawson identifies her as Parris "kins-woman" and "about 12 years" old. (GL Burr, Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases (1914), p. 153. Mary Beth Norton writes, "Despite enormous efforts by many people... it has proved impossible to identify Abigail Williams or her precise relationship to Samuel Parris." (In the Devil's Snare (2002) p.333 fn 11.)

[SWM-1] "What Happened to Abigail Williams?". Salem Witch Museum. January 16, 2012. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2021.

[2] Rosenthal et al. Records of the Salem Witch-hunt(2014) p.963. The contemporary narrative attributed to Deodat Lawson identifies her as Parris "kins-woman" and "about 12 years" old. (GL Burr, Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases (1914), p. 153. Mary Beth Norton writes, "Despite enormous efforts by many people... it has proved impossible to identify Abigail Williams or her precise relationship to Samuel Parris." (In the Devil's Snare (2002) p.333 fn 11.)

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