Rebecca Nurse (Upham map# 95)

Born in 1622 in Yarmouth, England, to William and Joanna Towne, Rebecca Towne married Francis Nurse about 1644. A covenant member of the Salem church, Rebecca attended the closer village meeting house. By early 1692, the nearly deaf and sickly matriarch of a large, gown family of eight was accused of practicing witchcraft. Though various friends, family, and neighbors petitioned and worked on her behalf, Nurse was tried in June. The jury at first brought in a "not guilty" verdict, but were instructed by the court to reconsider some points of evidence. Following her July 3 excommunication from the Salem church, she was hanged on July 19, 1692. (Richard Trask, The Devil hath Been Raised, 1997, p. 128).