Which Andover woman was the daughter-in-law of the outspoken minister Francis Dane?

Deliverance Dane was the Andover woman who was the daughter-in-law of the outspoken minister Francis Dane.

Deliverance was born Deliverance Hazeltine and married Nathaniel Dane, the son of Reverend Francis Dane. The family lived in Andover, Massachusetts, which became a major center of accusations after Salem Village accusers arrived there in July 1692.

Francis Dane publicly opposed the witch trials and warned Massachusetts authorities that the proceedings relied on dangerous and unreliable accusations. His opposition did not protect his household. His daughters Abigail Faulkner and Elizabeth Johnson were accused, and his daughter-in-law Deliverance was also arrested.

Deliverance spent 13 weeks in prison. During questioning, she reportedly confessed and was said to have implicated the apparition of her own father-in-law, although much of the surviving record is incomplete. She escaped execution, and the family’s experience illustrates how the trials reached deeply into households connected to critics of the prosecutions.

The main mix-up is with Abigail Hobbs, Mary Lacey, and Ann Foster, who were also associated with the trials but were not Francis Dane’s daughter-in-law.