Just in time for Halloween … it’s the Mary Staples story!
In 1651, Goody Knapp of Stratford was accused of witchcraft. She quickly implicated another witch: Mary Staples.
That was Big News. She was the wife of Thomas Staples, who along with Roger Ludlow (later spelled “Ludlowe”) had helped found the community of Fairfield.
Thomas Staples sued Ludlow in New Haven court, for defamation. He won, and in 1654 was awarded 10 pounds in damages.
A tile depicting Mary Staples — donated by Linda Fraxer, and created by Marian Grebow — is part of the Westport Library’s River of Names.
In an era when women were burned or drowned as witches, Mary Staples survived.
In 1884 — more than 2 centuries later, and 49 years after Westport became a separate town from Fairfield — a family descendant named-Horace Staples founded his town’s Staples High School.
And today, 138 years after that, one of Fairfield’s 2 high schools — Fairfield Ludlowe — is named for Thomas and Mary Staples’ nemesis, Roger Ludlow.
After nearly 4 centuries, the rivalry lives on.
There’s a gap in this story. Staples and Ludlow founded Fairfield, then staples sued ludlow for something Goody Knapp did. Why was ludlow sued – what is his connection to goody Knapp, or how did he defame staples?
Alex– here is your answer, which I know from reading about my direct ancestor, Daniel Frost, and his sister Lydia Frost Gray, who both lived here on Beachside in Westport at the time. (They were both part of the original five families known as the Bankside Farmers who, in 1648, received permission to– in essence –found a separate town from Fairfield by founding a separate parish, which was known as “West Parish”, later becoming Westport.
Roger Ludlow(e), who was the Deputy Governor of Connecticut, had been fighting on and off for several years with his neighbor Mary Staples (wife of Thomas Staples). In 1651 Ludlow won a suit against Mary Staples for slander but this did not put and end to their dispute.
During the trial and imprisonment of Goodwife Knapp, Roger Ludlow and his supporters tried to get her to affirm that Mary Staples was a witch but Goodie Knapp refused. Just before the execution, Ludlow claimed that Goodwife Knapp came down the ladder and whispered in his ear that Mary Staples was, indeed, a witch.
So it is unlikely that Goodwife Knapp really did defame Mary Staples, and she certainly did not do so “quickly”, as this 06880 post indicates.
Ludlow told this story to his friends, Rev. John Davenport and his wife, and it soon spread to the entire village of Fairfield. When Thomas Staples heard that Ludlow was making these accusations against his wife he filed a defamation suit against Roger Ludlow. It went to trial in 1654 and the Thomas Staples won the defamation case. Ludlow left Fairfield Cry and the colonies altogether, and returned to England.
BTW: The reason that Thomas filed the suit instead of the actual victim, Mary, is because married women were considered property and could not bring lawsuits in their own name under a common law precept called ‘coverture.’
It is really not accurate, as stated in the article above, that Goodie Knapp “quickly” implicated Mary. Indeed, she refused to do so. No one else heard the alleged whisper from Goodwife Knapp to Ludlow(e), which is one of several reasons Ludlow(e) lost the case.
BTW: after her husband died, Mary Staples was again accused of witchcraft, almost 4 decades later in 1692, this time alongside her daughter and granddaughter. All three were acquitted.
Great info. Thank you, Kristan!
Weren’t there 7 Bankside Farmers? They had “long lots” that reached out from the sound. Thus the name Long Lots Road came into being.
Jack– No, there were only five original Bankside Farmer families: Frost, Gray, Andrews, Green and Newton. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankside_Farmers
All five families lived on Beachside Ave.
Then Lydia Frost Gray’s grown children ventured west in the direction of the Saugatuk River and were the first deed holders on the land now known as the Longshore Club in Westport. Gray’s Creek (which runs along the Longshore Club’s exit road) was named after them. Their Gray family graveyard is still right there on the Longshore’s exit driveway, across from Gray Creek.
It is incorrect that the long lots ran from the Sound to Long Lots Rd. Instead, the long lots ran in the other direction from Long Lots Road in Westport to Cross Highway in Redding. https://cslib.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p128501coll0/id/1054/
If you are interested in a book about Westport history, I would recommend Woody Klein’s book, “Westport.” It discusses Long Lots and the Bankside Farmers. https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/westport-connecticut-the-story-of-a-new-england-towns-rise-to-prominence_woody-klein/854384/#edition=6260598
Are the tiles back?
No. This is from the online collection.
That’s a shame
Worse than a shame it was a breach of a promise to all those that bought, made, and put together the beautiful historic wall of unique Westport centric tiles.
Chip — the wall is a lot nicer than some of the stuff they have there now.
Fascinating story of local ancestors of famed people. Women’s powers then, in healing and birthing frightened men then. Centuries old hysteria is still “too much with us” today.