Salem Witch Trials

It's been almost a year since I last posted.  Hopefully I can do better this coming summer when I won't be working as many hours.


I was researching some of our ancestors today and discovered that my 4th great grandmother, Violate Stockwell, who was married to William Burgess, Sr. is a descendant of Rebecca Towne Nurse.
Rebecca was one of the key figures in the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690's.  Her story is one of great interest.  She was hanged when she was 71 years old even though she was found innocent by a jury and again by the Governor. 


Check our her story on Wikipedia.  Just google her by name.  She was born in England in 1621 and came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony where she married Francis Nurse.  They raised 8 children and were a prominent family in the community.  Her accusers were neighbors of theirs with whom they had a long standing property dispute. 


She is one of the central characters in Arthur Miller's book, the Crucible.  She is also portrayed by Shirley MacLaine in a 2002 CBS mini-series, Salem Witch Trials.  There were only 20 people hanged during this tumultuous period of history.  I had no idea they had hanged someone of such advanced age.  Her body was buried in a shallow grave near the gallows with some body parts actually not completely covered.  Her family came in the night and dug up the body and buried her on their family farm.  There is a memorial still standing to mark her grave. 


Check it out, it is an interesting read and fun to see how we are related to historical figures.