Abigail Williams

Abigail Williams (July 12, 1680 – c. October 1697) was one of the initial accusers in the Salem witch trials. The trials led to the arrest and imprisonment of more than 150 innocent people suspected of witchcraft.^[2]
Abigail Williams and her cousin Betty Parris were the first two accusers in the Salem Witch trials of 1692 and 1693. Tituba, a slave at the time, was one of the first to be accused of witchcraft. Williams was twelve years old at the time, and she was living with her uncle, local minister Rev. Samuel Parris, in Salem after Native Americans killed her parents during a raid. Her parents' names were Joseph and Abigail Rogers. Abigail Rogers later became Abigail Parris Williams. According to eyewitness Rev. Deodat Lawson, she and Betty began to have fits in which they ran around rooms flailing their arms, ducking under chairs, and trying to climb up the chimney. It is claimed that her body contorted into apparently impossible positions.^{[citation needed]}
This alarmed many of the villagers of Salem. Samuel Parris decided to call in a doctor to determine whether or not these afflictions were medical. Dr. William Griggs had difficulty understanding the actions of the two young girls. He believed that it was not a medical issue and suggested that it must be witchcraft. Tituba was then asked to bake a witch cake—rye mixed with the afflicted girls' urine—and feed the mixture to a dog. The theory was that the dog would exhibit similar symptoms if Abigail and Betty were bewitched, and it would prove that witchcraft was indeed being practiced.^[3]
Further accusations were soon made because of Abigail and Betty's claims to be possessed, resulting in 20 deaths. Three women were arrested for suspicion of witchcraft on February 29, 1692: Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba herself.^[4] They were all found guilty, but the only one to confess was Tituba. Sarah Good was hanged and Sarah Osborne died in prison. Tituba was released from jail a year later, when Rev. Samuel Parris paid her fees for release.^[5] Abigail and Betty's accusations rapidly spread throughout Salem and nearby villages (especially Andover), leading to the imprisonment of many people and the deaths of 19 during 1692–93.^[6] After 1692 Abigail Williams disappears from written records, making it impossible for historians to know about her life after the trials. Some say she ran off after the trials, becoming a prostitute, but there is no way to truly know.^[7]