| Notes |
- Francis Nurse moved from England to Salem Village, now Danvers,Massachusetts, which was later known as Danvers, Mass, as early as 1640.
Francis Nurse was a settler before 1639 and a proprietor of the town ofSalem in 1647. He lived for forty years near Sperry's on River Street,between the main village of Salem and the ferry to Beverly.
He was a wood worker, called a tray maker, a skilled workman and arespectable man of more than ordinary ability and strength of character.He was called frequently as an arbitrator in cases of dispute over landboundaries, served on local committees to lay out grants and highways andon juries.
He bought the Bishop farm at Salem village, April 29, 1678 and settledthere. It contained some 300 acres and his children all built their homesand lived on it. The family was prosperous and it is believed that theirvery prosperity was the cause of the malicious charge of witchcraftagainst the wife and mother, Rebecca Nurse. The story of Rebecca Nurse isso well known that I feel I must make it a part of this attempt todocument our ancestors' lives.
She was arrested on the charge of witchcraft and protested her innocence.With steadfast dignity and unwavering patience she bore the ordeal of hertrial, where crazy fanatics even threw their muffs and shoes at her, hadfits and exhibitions of that sort in court. Thirty-nine of her friends,among the highest and most respectable in town, signed a statementtestifying to her blameless character and faithfulness to the church.These names have been inscribed on a tablet on the memorial recentlyerected over her grave at Danvers. The jury found her not guilty, but thecourt reversed the verdict and condemned her to death. She was hanged onJuly 19, 1692 and buried in the little cemetery at Danvers. Her twosisters, Mary Esty and Sarah Clyce suffered the same fate a month later.
Rebecca was survived by 8 children. They all worked desperately until theactual hanging to try and save their mother's life but to no avail. Theysuffered greatly at the sight of her terrifying trip through the town andup Gallow's Hill in a cart with several other of the hapless victims. Shewas 71 years old and very ill and barely able to stand as the noose wasslipped around her neck, and as she was put to death amid the pleas andcries of her husband and children.
Their son Samuel was an attorney. He worked tirelessly on the case andafter her death tried to clear his mother's good name but died before hewas able to vindicate her. (SOURCE: About Town Publication Vol. VIII No.4 December 1988).
The Nurse homestead still stands in Danvers and is preserved by theRebecca Nurse Association.
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1618 - 1695 (77 years)