The Ackley Family Tree
Mary Ackley & Archie Carpenter
Mary Ackley, daughter of Orin George Ackley and Wilhelmina Hencer, married Arch Carpenter.
Orin George Ackley & Wilhelmina Hencer
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Henry DeWitt Ackley & Sarah Ann Hotchkiss
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Henry Ackley & Lydia Tillotson
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Ephraim Ackley & Hannah Jewitt
Nathaniel Ackley & Mary W. Williams
James Ackley & Elizabeth Comedy
Adapted from the Book, "The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut (1647-1697)," by John M. Taylor
Sarah Spencer, Colchester, 1724, Damages, 1 Shilling
In 1724, Elizabeth Comedy Ackley accused Sarah Spencer of witchcraft by "riding and pinching." Even a certificate of a minister as to her virtue and being an upstanding Christian could not free Sarah from a reputation as a witch. Elizabeth's husband James Ackley threatened Sarah. In reponse, Sarah sued the Ackleys for 500 pounds, a fortune in those days, for defamation of character. She received 5 pounds and costs. The Ackleys appealed. The jury awarded Sarah damages of only 1 shilling, and also declared that the Ackleys were not insane and were creditable witnesses. The fact that the magistrates questioned the sanity of the Ackleys was a clear demonstration that the mental condition of witchcraft accusers was taken into account of in the later and saner times; i.e., after the Salem Witch Trials.
Sarah Spencer, Colchester, 1724, Damages, 1 Shilling
In 1724, Elizabeth Comedy Ackley accused Sarah Spencer of witchcraft by "riding and pinching." Even a certificate of a minister as to her virtue and being an upstanding Christian could not free Sarah from a reputation as a witch. Elizabeth's husband James Ackley threatened Sarah. In reponse, Sarah sued the Ackleys for 500 pounds, a fortune in those days, for defamation of character. She received 5 pounds and costs. The Ackleys appealed. The jury awarded Sarah damages of only 1 shilling, and also declared that the Ackleys were not insane and were creditable witnesses. The fact that the magistrates questioned the sanity of the Ackleys was a clear demonstration that the mental condition of witchcraft accusers was taken into account of in the later and saner times; i.e., after the Salem Witch Trials.
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