Nurse, Rebecca

The daughter of William and Joanna Towne (née Blessing), Nurse was born in Great Yarmouth, England in 1621. Her family settled in Salem Village, which is now known as Danvers, Massachusetts, in 1640. She had one older sister, Susan (baptized 26 Oct 1625 – died 29 Jul 1630) and two younger sisters, Mary Easty (baptized 24 Aug 1634) and Sarah Cloyce ), Edmund (baptized Jun 1628), Jacob (baptized 11 Mar 1631/32) and Joseph (born abt 1639). What made her accusation and hanging most unusual is that Rebecca had "acquired a reputation for exemplary piety that was virtually unchallenged in the community," making her one of the "unlikely" persons to be accused of witchcraft.

Inscription on the monument erected to her memory in 1885:

Rebecca Nurse, Yarmouth, England 1621. Salem, Mass., 1692

"Oh, Christian martyr, who for truth could die, when all about thee owned the hideous lie, the world redeemed by superstition's sway is breathing freer for thy sake today." John Greenleaf Whittier

See Also

Chronicles of Danvers (Old Salem Village) Massachusetts 1632-1932 Harriet Tapley, p. 27-8