one of the initial accusers in the Salem witch trials, which led to the arrest and imprisonment of more than 150 innocent people suspected of witchcraft. Abigail and her cousin Betty Parris were the first two accusers in the Salem Witch trials of 1692 and 1693. Williams was twelve years old at the time, and she was living with her uncle Samuel Parris in Salem after Native Americans murdered her parents during a raid. 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.
