July 19, 1692: Rebecca Nurse

In 1692, nearly two dozen people were put to death in Salem, Massachusetts, for the crime of witchcraft. One of them, Rebecca Nurse, was hanged on July 19.

Rebecca was born the daughter of William Towne and his wife Joanna Blessing Towne, in 1621. As a teenager, her parents relocated from Yarmouth, England, to the village of Salem, Massachussetts. When Rebecca was about 24, she married Frances Nurse, who made trays and other wooden household items. Frances and Rebecca had four sons and four daughters together.

The Nurse family lived on a tract of land owned by the Putnam family, and they had been involved in a number of nasty land disputes with the Putnams. In March of 1692, young Ann Putnam accused her 71-year-old neighbor Rebecca of witchcraft. Rebecca was arrested, and there was a great public outcry, given her pious character and standing in society. Several people spoke on her behalf at her trial, but Ann Putnam frequently broke into fits in the courtroom, claiming Rebecca was tormenting her. Many of the other teenage girls who were “afflicted” were reluctant to bring accusations against Rebecca.

Like many of the women and men executed that summer, Rebecca Nurse was a devout Christian. Known for her piety, Rebecca was known for being a regular and devout churchgoer. During her trial, some two dozen community members, including relatives of the accusers, wrote, “We whose nams Are heareunto subscribed being desired by goodman Nurse to declare what we knewe concerning his wives conversation for time past: we cane testyfie to all whom it may concerne that we have knowne her for: many years and Acording to our observation her: Life and conversation was Acording to her profession and we never had Any: cause or grounds to suspect her of Any such thing as she is nowe Acused of.”

So, why was Rebecca Nurse convicted and hanged, despite her role as a model Christian? It is entirely likely that the accusations against her were rooted in a series of unpleasant land disputes she and her husband, Frances, had with their landlords, the Putnam family. Young Ann Putnam accused Rebecca of tormenting her with fits, and – as was often the case – spectral evidence was considered legitimate by the court.

Interestingly, the jury in Rebecca’s trial originally returned a Not Guilty verdict, but they were asked to reconsider, since Ann and several of the other afflicted girls kept screaming and fainting in the courtroom. She was found guilty, and hanged on July 19. As Rebecca Nurse walked to the gallows, many people commented on her dignified manner, later referring to her as a “model of Christian behavior”. Following her death, she was buried in a shallow grave. Because she was convicted of witchcraft, she was seen as undeserving of a proper Christian burial. However, Rebecca’s family came along later and dug her body up, so that she could be buried at the family homestead at Danvers. In 1885, the descendants of Rebecca Nurse placed a granite memorial at her grave at what is now known as the Rebecca Nurse Homestead cemetery, located in Danvers (formerly Salem Village), Massachusetts.

Today, the Rebecca Nurse Homestead is the only place where members of the public can visit the home of one of Salem’s victims.

In 2007, over a hundred of Rebecca’s descendants visited the family homestead in Danvers. The entire group was comprised of descendants of Nurse’s parents, William and Joanna Towne. Of William and Joanna’s children, Rebecca and two of her sisters were accused of witchcraft.

Some of the visitors were descended from Rebecca herself, and others from her brothers and sisters. Because of the insular nature of colonial society, many of Rebecca’s descendants can also claim kinship with other “witch trial families”, such as the Putnams. New Englanders have long memories, and for many of the families of the accused, the Homestead is a central place where they can meet to honor those who died in the trials. Mary Towne, a great-something-granddaughter of Rebecca’s brother Jacob, probably summed things up best, when she said, “Chilling, the whole thing is chilling.”

Rebecca Nurse is featured as a major character in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, which depicts the events of the Salem witch trials.