Samuel Dibble

Born Baptized: March 24, 1643, in Windsor, Connecticut. He married January 21, 1668, in Windsor, Connecticut. He died June 5, 1709.

A Father's Dark Warning

Samuel Dibble was baptized March 24, 1643, in Windsor, Connecticut, son of Thomas Dibble, and married Abigail Graves, receiving land in Stamford from his father-in-law William Graves in 1667. Samuel became entangled in one of colonial New England's stranger episodes that same year: after Abigail gave birth and began having convulsions, Samuel gave a deposition describing how her father William had visited before the birth and seemingly cursed her, warning she would die if her labor did not go well — testimony that helped fuel the accusation of witchcraft later brought against William. Abigail did die, and Samuel separately pursued William through the courts over an unpaid dowry, a dispute that left the two men estranged. Samuel was admitted to half-way communion with the Windsor church in 1670 and died June 5, 1709.