Person:Frances Unknown (156)

Francis Hutchins was arrested on the 19th August 1692 as a result of a witchcraft complaint filed by Timothy Swan, Ann Putnam, Jr., and Mary Walcott. She was imprisoned until the 21st December 1692 when she was released on bond. No trial records were found. Samuel Hutchins and John Kingsbury posted the bond.

Warrant for Arrest of Frances Hutchins and Ruth Wilford

"Essex/ To the Constable of Haverhill
Complaint being made to me this day, by Timothy Swan of Andover: & Mary Wallcott & Anna Putnam of Salem Village, Against Mrs: frances Hutchins & Ruth Willford, of Haverhill that the s'd frances Hutchins & Ruth Willford, hath sorely afflicted them, the s'd Timothy Swan Mary Walcott & Anna Putnam in their bodies, by witchcraft Severall times Contrary to the Peace of o'r: Sovereigne Lord & Lady King William & Queen Mary, of England &c: & to their Majests Law in that Case provided: & s'd Timothy Swan having according to Law, given sufficient bond, to Prosecute s'd Complaint, before Their Majests: justices of Peace att Salem the 19th: or 20th Instant. These therefore require you in their Majests. names to Apprehend & sease the bodies of the afores'd frances Hutchins & Ruth Willford, upon sight hereof, & them safely Convey to [to] Salem afores'd, to their Majests: justices of the Peace there, to be examined & proceeded with according to law: for which this shall be yo'r warrant: Given under my hand & seal this eighteenth day of August Anno Domini 1692: In the 4th year of their Majests. Reigne. &c

Dudley Bradstreet
Justice of Peace

(Reverse) according to this warrant I have seesed and brought don mrs frances huchins: but sought with Diligenc for Ruth Wilford and she cannot be found August 19: 1692
by Me Wilum Strlin Constbl for haverihill"

Estate

"The last will and testament of Francis Hutchins of Haverhill in perfect memory and understanding but sensable of my drawing nigh the day of my death:

Do in the first place bequeath my soul to God and my body to decent burial and after my just debts being paid to will my estate as followeth and in the - -

First place I do will to my son William Hutchins one common right having his portion sufficient already this being in full.

2ndly I do will to my two daughters Elizabeth and Love my wearing apparel both lining and woolen.

3dly I do will to my daughter in law Johannah Hutchins my mortar and pestal.

4thly I do will to my son Benjamin the great brass kettle and one common right.

5thly I do will to my son Samuel the table board and the frame and great cubbard.

6thly I do will to my son joseph, his children viz: John, Francis, Mary, Samuel, Joseph twelve acres of land adjoining to the land which I have given to their mother at the west end of my land adjoining to the land of Samuel Hutchins.

7thly I do will to my son Joseph Hutchins deceased his children one common right.

8thly I do will to my daughters Elizabeth and Love and to my two sons Samuel and Benjamin all the rest of my estate of what nature and kind soever to be equally divided amongst them all that is to say the said four.

9thly If any of my above children shall lay any claim to any of my husband's lands or other estate of my husbands or mine by verture of any former promise not given under hand in writing shall forfeit their right unto what is bequeathed and willed unto him or them except five shillings which I do will to any such person and no more provided he or they shall endeavor to make out any such claim by law.

To this will I do constitute and appoint my son samuel Hutchins and my son in law Samuel Sherburn executors - the words common right was interlined as to my son Benjamin, before assinging and hearunto I have set my hand this fourth day in March in the year of our Lord, one thousand six hundred and ninety-four.

Francis Hutchins
Robert Ford
Josiah Gage
Before Honorable Bartholemew Gedney, Exquire, May 16, 1694.

Robert Ford and Josiah Gage made oath that they were present and saw Mrs. Francis Hutchins sign this Instrument and heard her declare it to be her last will and testament and that she was then of a disposing mind to my best deserning.
Stephan Sewall (Registrar)"

Surname of Frances

It has been suggested that the wife of John Hutchins was Frances Alcock because "Francis Alcock, vizg" (likely 'virgin') was listed just after John on the passenger list of the Bevis and disappeared from records after May 1638.

However, (quote): "Only one certain conclusion can be drawn. If Francis Alcocke was, indeed the wife of John Hutchins, she was not the mother of William and Elizabeth Hutchins. Their approximate years of birth negate that possibility. Conversely, if Francis, the wife of John Hutchins, was the mother of all his children, she was not Francis Alcocke. The evidence to conclude that she was not Francis Alcocke centers on her statement on the inventory of her deceased husband, referring to William Hutchins as "my son." It is supported by her own will, whose language embraces both Willliam and Elizabeth as her son and daughter." [Source: The Essex Genealogist, Janet Ireland Delorey, "A Second Look at the Identity of Frances, Wife of John Hutchins of Newbury and Haverhill, Massachusetts," 2001, 21:46-8]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} John Hutchins, in Jacobus, Donald Lines, and Edgar Francis Waterman. The Granberry Family and Allied Families: including the ancestry of Helen (Woodward) Granberry. (Hartford, Conn.: E.F. Waterman, 1945)
   261.

   Frances _____, born in England, ____, died at Haverhill, Mass., 5 Apr, 1694.

2. ↑ Ayer Genealogy - Salem Witchcraft Trials
   Accessed 21 Mar 2013.
3. ↑ 332-33, in De Forest, Louis Effingham; Anne Lawrence Marton De Forest; Edward Small Moore; and Paul Moore. Moore and Allied Families: The Ancestry of William Henry Moore. (New York: De Forest Pub., 1938).
4. ↑ Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Haverhill, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. (Topsfield, Mass.: Topsfield Historical Society, 1910)
   2:425.

   Hutchins, Frances, w. John, [died] Apr. 5, 1694.