Here is a snippet from Wikipedia, Roger Conant (c. 1592 – 1679) arrived in Plymouth Colony from London early in 1623/24 with the profession of salter. Early in his colonial life, he became associated with those opposed to the Puritan authorities in Plymouth and led the settlement to outlying areas, particularly in the Salem area, which he is credited with founding. He was the first governor of English settlers in Salem from 1626 to 1628.

My descent from Roger is through his son Lot Conant.Lot married the daughter of the Marblehead’s first minister, Rev. William Walton. Lot and Elizabeth then moved to Bridgewater, Mass. and build a homestead there at a time when there were only a dozen families building there. Their family line continues and married into the Whitman family and that line takes me to my Grandfather, Alfred Balentine’s Mother, Laura Whitman.

So my Grandfather who claimed he had no one important in his past, descended from Roger Conant, the founder of Salem and first governor…..(Grampy, check your facts first!…Hahah).

Salem has a statue of Roger at the town green. I wanted my picture taken in front of the statue. After all, he is my ancestral Grandfather. The challenge is the the statue is in the middle of the road. And there is traffic everywhere. It was hard for my friend to get a proper picture without car rooftops covering me up. Help arrived.  A tractor trailer beeped at us, stopped and signaled my friend to go ahead and step into the road. Amazingly all other cars stopped as well. (Was that you Grammy??) With all cars stopped. It was fun and we were quick. My friend stepped into the middle of the road and got a good shot of me. Anything for family history!!!

Here I am standing on the triangle of land upon which the statue rests. My friend is standing in the road to get this shot. It looks deserted here but trust me, cars are constantly streaming through.

My friend stepped further back to get a better shot of the whole statue base and me, clinging to the railing so I don’t get run over. I should have put my nice shoes on. I was wearing my running shoes for cemetery climbs, traffic dodging, etc.

Being the awesome assistant, Paul knew to get a photograph of the sign in close up. And he was quick, we didn’t make the willing traffic wait for more then a minute or two.

Here is my line to Roger Conant.

Myself > Ruth Balentine >Alfred Balentine > Laura Whitman b.1896 > Alfred W. Whitman b.1871> Alfred A. Whitman b.1848 > Charles Stockbridge Whitman b. 1784 >Elijah Whitman b. 1762  >Nicholas Whitman b.1731 > Mary Conant b.1694 > William Conant b.1666 > Lot Conant b.1624 > Roger Conant b.1592

Here is the GPS link to his statue, he stands at the green in front of the Salem Witch Museum.

Roger Conant is my Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Grandfather.

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But once in a rare while, I find it necessary to name the siblings of Grandparents. Sometimes when important key events happened, it paints a distinct and unusual picture in which our grandparent lived. They may not be the central character but they were present and a  part of the conflict and context. This is what is important about Salem, Massachusetts and the Witch trials.

We do not directly descend from any central figures, but we do descend from their siblings. Our Aunts, Uncles and Step Mothers were pivotal. Thus, we descend from the time, the place and the heart of the situation of what happened. Our grandparents were in Salem,Mass. in the thick of it. We descend from very key families; Hawthornes, Putmans, Porters, Parkers, Conants and Waltons. We descend from other area families as well that were not so prominent, so again I am drawing lines.

The Putmans and Porters were the wealthiest families in Salem. They were prominent in naming and accusing people of witchcraft. Eight members of the Putnam family were involved in the prosecution of approximately 50 witches. Our own Grandfather Capt. John Putman was a key figure in accusing people of witchcraft.

Salem was at a time when it was rich with gossip. So small a community meant that families married into each other. With so much wealth, amongst such poverty, meant guarding what you had. Inheritances were critical. Who gave what money to whom and who acquired what land could make or break your chance of survival. Also step children fought for favor of their parents in decisions of whom would inherit land and money.

We always hear about the girls who made accusations of witches but that is only one story to be told. The original conflict began with the Putmans and Porters, both of whom we descend. As fighting and lawsuits continued, accusations flooded the community. Our Grandfather Capt John Putman, his wife and children accused over 50 people in total of being witches.

The Hanging Judge, John Hathorne was the brother of our Ancestral Grandmother, Elizabeth Hathorne.

Our Ancestral Grandfather, Lt James Putman was the brother of the famous constable and juror of witches, Thomas Putman, and his daughter who stood witness against so many.The Putmans were the most prominant accuser of witches.

Our Ancestral Grandfather John Wild married Priscilla and had 9 children.  Priscilla died in 4/16/63 and with so many children to care for, John remarried that very next November to Sara Anvil. She was 36 and unmarried. She had been arrested a few times in her 20’s. She was charged with lewd behavior, suspected of having unmarried sex and on another offense, wore a brightly colored scarf. This would have prevented her from being a proper choice for a wife. She was the step mother of our Ancestral Grandfather John Wild Jr. When Sara was 65, she was hung as a witch. Our Grandfather John Wild Sr, remarried a year later to a woman, Mary Jacobs, who husband had also been hung as a witch.

Mary and Alice Parker were both hung and I am still investigating this. We descend from Parkers in this town but are very hard to tract. I will work on this.

It is stated that the Porter Family tried to rally against the Witch trials but then found 19 of their allies accused.

What is important to note is that we descend from quite a number of families that lived in the midst of the Salem Witch Trials.

Here are my lineages to the Salem Witch Trials

Susannah Allen > Ruth Balentine > Sara Kohler > Inez Allen > Mary Page >John Page Jr. > Mary Newcomb > Capt John Newcomb > Ebenezer Newcomb > Sara Wildes > John Wildes > John Wildes Sr.

Susannah Allen > Ruth Balentine > Sara Kohler > Inez Allen > Mary Page > Caroline Parker > Samuel Parker > John Parker> {relationship to Mary and Alice Parker, not confirmed}

Susannah Allen > Ruth Balentine > Sara Kohler > Inez Allen > John Vinton Allen > Abijah Allen > Sara Allen > Deborah Clark > Ann Porter*

* > Israel Porter > Israel Porter > John Porter

* > Israel Porter > Elizabeth Hathorne > William Hathorne

* > Sara Putnam >James Putnam > John Putnam

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