Rebecca TOWNE

1621 - 1692  (71 years)

• Name	Rebecca TOWNE
  Birth	13 Feb 1621	Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England
  Christening	21 Oct 1621	Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom
  Gender	Female
  FamilySearch ID	9421-W84
  Death	19 Jul 1692	Salem, Essex, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America
  	Cause: Execution by hanging
  Burial	22 Jul 1692	Danvers, Essex, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America
  Notes	Rebecca (Towne) Nurse to her accusers: "You do not know my heart. The Lord knows I have not hurt them: I am an innocent person." "I am innocent as the child unborn, but surely, what sin hath God found out in me unrepented of, that He should lay such an affliction on me in my old age." (Salem Witch Trials of 1692) Rebecca (Towne) Nurse was an older citizen of Salem, Massachusetts, known for her virtue and piety, at the time of the tragedy which took her life. During the Witch Hysteria of 1692, Rebecca was taken from her bed by friends, (she had been very ill), and was taken to trial for possible witchcraft. Those who witnessed her arrest, say she was bewildered and shocked by the charges. She was eventually found guilty (falsely accused) and executed by hanging on 19 July 1692, at the age of 71. The original verdict was one of innocence to the charges, but upon a frenzied uproar by her young accusers, the jury was sent back out for deliberation, wherein they came back with a guilty verdict. Rebecca's last words at her trial were: "I can say before my Eternal Father I am innocent, and God will clear my innocency." (Rebecca Nurse, March 24, 1692, from the Reverend Parris' account of the examination at Salem Village Meeting House.) Her husband and many of her neighbors and friends signed a petition for her release, witnessing to her moral character and decency. This petition was ignored. She also had trouble hearing, and could not always understand or answer the questioning correctly - which many believe attributed to the final guilty verdict. Before her execution, Rebecca and others were excommunicated from the Church in Salem - an act which must have greatly distressed her faithful soul. Nevertheless, from her own words, we know that she knew of her innocence and of her standing before her God. Historians believe that Rebecca may have been targeted because her husband was a prominent citizen in Topsfield, involved in the ongoing dispute over land boundaries along the border of Salem Village on Putnam family land. Her husband Francis was also an outspoken leader of a committee that believed the Reverend Parris should be removed as minister. The Putnams were the leader faction supporting Reverend Parris. Their young daughter Annie Putnam was Rebecca's main accuser. In addition, Rebecca was a local midwife and one of her clients had had several miscarriages. She accused Rebecca of causing them. Family history/lore, states that after her execution, Rebecca and Francis' youngest son Benjamin retrieved her discarded body by nightfall, so that she could receive a secret Christian burial on their homestead. A monument to this dear woman and grandmother stands at the Nurse homestead in Danvers, Massachusetts, in the family cemetery.
  Person ID	I3714	Main
  Last Modified	13 May 2020

  
  

  Father	William TOWNE,   b. 18 Mar 1599, Heydour, Lincolnshire, England d. 24 Jun 1673, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America (Age 74 years)
  Mother	Joan BLESSING,   b. Bef 22 Jun 1595, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England d. 10 Apr 1683, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America (Age > 87 years)
  Marriage	25 Apr 1620	St. Nicholas Church, Braceby, Lincolnshire, England
  Family ID	F844	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart