My Ancestor, the Witch

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My paternal grandparents spent a great deal of their time and money tracing their family trees. They travelled all over the country visiting public records offices, cemeteries, and libraries, in search of family members and connections. They each wrote a book about their findings.


My grandmother presented me with a mammoth typewritten volume with all of her research notes, and a ten generation chart of my tree, with the majority of the branches filled with names. At the time I was thankful but not really interested in trying to fill in the blanks.

Several years ago, however, I got the genealogy bug, largely due to the availability of online research tools, and particularly Ancestry.com. The site contains family trees of thousands of members and, obviously, many of these trees have connections with others. I was able to add hundreds of names to the work undertaken by my grandparents, all in the comfort of my home. And I added many new branches based on my extended families of my spouse, children and other relatives.

One ancestor I was already aware of, as my grandfather identified her in his book, was Rebecca Towne, married to Francis Nurse. She was born in England in 1620, daughter of William Towne and Joanna Blessing, from where they emigrated to America. Rebecca is my 7th great aunt.



In 1692, Rebecca Nurse was hanged in Salem, Massachusetts, for the crime of witchcraft! 

From Wikipedia:

Rebecca Towne Nurse (or Nourse) (February 21, 1621 – July 19, 1692) was executed for witchcraft (killing 7 babies with her spirit) by the government of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. She was the wife of Francis Nurse, with several children and grandchildren, and a well-respected member of the community. Because there was spectral evidence against her, she was convicted and hanged as a witch on July 19, 1692. This occurred during a time when the Massachusetts colony was seized with hysteria over witchcraft and the supposed presence of Satan within the colony. Her married sisters Mary Eastey and Sarah Cloyce were also accused of witchcraft. Mary was found guilty and executed, but Sarah survived.


Rebecca Nurse is the central character in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, which was adapted in several other stage and screen productions.

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