Moonlit River Gallery Presents
A Goddess Among Us
Martha Allen Carrier
Created by Martha Karnes
Spirit drawing by Martha Karnes
Martha Allen Carrier
Born 1643 Murdered 19 August 1692
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Martha was born to Andrew and Faith (Ingalls) Allen in l643. They were a well-to-do family in Andover, Mass. She had three sisters and two brothers. Her mother was from England. On 7 May 1674, she married Thomas Carrier. According to available documents she "married beneath her". Her husband was only three years younger than her mother.
Martha's problems began when her family caught smallpox. Although she never got the disease, her family was blamed for the "spread of such distemper through the town". She was no woman of the period either. Her husband paid the highest taxes in town, indicating he was very rich. The only reason Thomas was so well off was because of his wife. Her dowry included lands as well as cattle and some of the family silver. She participated very much in the out of doors dealings of her husband. She owned that land as much as he did. However, that was very much against church beliefs of the time.
In order to protect her assets, Martha's sharp tongue was well known. She wasn't well liked because of this.
In the early months of 1692, the first stirrings of the Salem Witch Trials began. As time went on, it became more and more dangerous to be a resident of Salem and the outlying towns. People were accusing others before they were accused. If you weren't well-liked (and sometimes even if you were) you were a good candidate for accusations. It seemed the accusations against Martha contained every sharp word she had ever spoken.
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For information on her trial please visit these links: |
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Personally, I believe she may have claimed the Mother Goddess. She was not a woman who deferred to her husband in all things. Thomas, being from Wales, probably felt more comfortable with the old ways himself. Martha was buried in unhallowed ground. Some how, I think she would have preferred it that way.