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.

Francis married Rebecca TOWNE on 24 Aug 1644 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts. Rebecca (daughter of William TOWNE and Joanna BLESSING) was born on 21 Feb 1621 in St Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, Norfolkshire, England; died on 19 Jul 1692 in Salem Village, Essex, Massachusetts; was buried in Executed For Witchcraft After Salem Witch Trials. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married John TARBELL on 25 Oct 1678 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts. John (son of Thomas TARBELL and Mary GROTON) was born about 1654 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts; died on 25 Mar 1715 in Salem Village, Essex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married William RUSSELL on 25 Oct 1678 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts. William was born on 28 Apr 1655 in Cambridge, Suffolk, Massachusetts; died on 17 May 1744 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Sarah married Benjamin HUTCHINSON, Jr. on 7 Feb 1716 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts. Benjamin (son of Benjamin HUTCHINSON and Jane PHILLIPS) was born on 27 Jan 1694 in Salem Village, Essex, Massachusetts; died on 13 Mar 1780 in Bedford, Middlesex, Massachusetts; was buried in Old Burial Ground, Spring Road, Bedford, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Large land-owner in Milford, New Hampshire, and recorded deeds show thathe owned several lots in Wilton. He built a saw and grist-mill, thesecond mill in Wilton, where the Messrs. Whiting's grist-mill now stands. We find the first mention of the mill in the town records for April 27,1768; see page 69 [of Wilton History]. Nathan gave to his son, Samuel,the west part of lots numbered 12 and 13, first range in Wilton, and tohis son, Ebenezer, the east part of same lots, both deeds dated March 9,1788. (History of the Town of Wilton, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire,by Abiel Abbot Livermore and Sewell Putnam, Lowell, Massachusetts, Marden& Rowell, Printers, 1888, p. 416.)

In 1744, Benjamin Hopkins sold to Nathan Hutchinson of Billerica,Massachusetts, a section of the 'Charlestown school farm' of the width offifty rods. This farm is now owned by Edwin D. Searles. Mr. Hutchinsonestablished himself upon his farm in 1748, being, at the time, thirty-oneyears old, and a descendant of Richard Hurchinson who came to America in1634. Richard was the ancestor of most of his name who have lived intown...From the day of his settlement here, until the day of his deceasein 1795, Nathan Hutchinson was one of the most active and useful citizensof the town. Upon a map of New Hampshire published in 1784, his name,and that of John Shepherd, appear in connection with the locality inwhich they resided, indicating, perhaps, their prominence in publicestimation. His posterity have been and are numberous and influential intown affairs. (The History of Milford, by George A. Ramsdell, Concord,N. H.: The Rumford Press, 1901, pp. 31-2.)

SETTLEMENT AT SOUHEGAN WEST:
Two settlers were known to have reached Souhegan West, later calledAmherst, by 1735 (Walton and Lampson... see notes re Joseph (3). Forseveral years the meetings of the Society continued to be held in SalemVillage, as shown by the minutes of the Proprieters Records. It is notknown when the other grantees went to take up their land, but by 1743 or4 enough of them had moved that in the Proprieters Record we find thefollowing: 'At a meeting Feb 10, 1743-4 at James Phillips, Salem Village,voted that the meeting for ensuing year shall be at the meeting house atSouhegan West No. 3 on 30th of January next at 10 o'clock before noon.'

There is a very unique fact about this Meeting House. The first meetinghouse was built by the proprieters of Souhegan West. The frame wasprobably raised May 16, 1739 and the building completed in 1753. In 1757the town voted to build a new place of worship upon the training field.It remained the property of the town until 1832 when because ofdenominational strife it was sold at auction and purchased by theCongregational Society. The town reserved its right to its use for townpurposes and also reserved to the town the front of the church, thesteeple and bell. It 1836 it was moved to the present site and the townbuilt the basement.

Eleven men with their brave wives (among the list given are Nathan andAbner Hutchinson) were all settled before the year 1755 and were in thefront ranks of the founders of Milford, were indeed about the onlyinhabitants. The territory of Souhegan West included what is now Amherst,Milford and Mount Vernon. It was all incorporated under the name ofAmherst in 1760. At that time the territory had 800 people and less than100 houses. Milford was separated and incorporated in 1798. Mount Vernonwas incorporated in 1804.

EARLY HUTCHINSON SETTLERS:
The first Hutchinson who is recorded as being in Amherst is Nathan. Hisname appears on the tax list in 1753. However, the Hutchinson genealogyspeaks of his son Benjamin being born in Amherst in 1744. His descendentsto the sixth generation live in a house that was built in 1743 byBenjamin, the father of Nathan, but as the evidence in the Genealogypoints to a belief that Benjamin never came to Amherst, it is probablethat Nathan built it.

Nathan married Rachel STEARNS on 16 Apr 1741 in Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Rachel (daughter of Samuel STEARNS, Jr. and Rachel CROSBEY) was born on 6 Jun 1720 in Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts; died on 25 Jul 1795 in Milford, Hillsborough, Massachusetts; was buried in Jul 1795 in Elm St Cemetery, Milford, Hillsborough, New Hampshire. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]