Ann Foster (c. 1617 – December 3, 1692) was an Andover widow accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials.
[citation needed] In 1692, when a woman named Elizabeth Ballard came down with a fever that baffled doctors, witchcraft was suspected, and a search for the responsible witch began.
A close reading of the trial transcripts[3] reveals Ann resisted confessing to the crimes she was accused of, despite being "put to the question" (i.e. tortured) multiple times over a period of days.
Ann's subsequent confession was an apparent attempt to shield her daughter.
Convicted, Ann died in the Salem jail on December 3, 1692, aged around 75, after 21 weeks of imprisonment before the trials were discredited and ended.