My Ties to The Salem Witch Trials

On this day in history, the infamous Salem Witch Trials began.  And just a couple of years ago, I discovered how closely my family is tied to these tragic events.

[Note: the remainder of this blog post is taken from from an excerpt of our personal family history blog - which I wrote on 4 Nov 2013.]

For those of us who may have forgotten the details, the trials were a series of so-called hearings, jailings, prosecutions and hangings of dozens of individuals who were accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts in 1692 and 1693.  It began with a couple of adolescent girls, who were caught using the white of an egg and a mirror to conjure a primitive ‘crystal ball’ to determine the occupations of their future husbands.  When they were caught, they blamed everything on a slave from Barbados who the girls claimed practiced voodoo magic. The slave only confessed after she was brutally beaten, and then it was only after 19 hangings, 1 crushing, several deaths from wasting in prison, and dozens of jailed Salem residents, that the mass hysteria ended.

A drawing of Rebecca Nurse

One of the most poignant mini-stories in this much larger story of American history involved the Towne sisters, Rebecca, Mary and Sarah.   Rebecca was the eldest and was 71 years of age when she was ‘tried’.

Rebecca was by far the least likely to be accused of witchcraft, as she was described as, “this venerable lady, whose conversation and bearing were so truly saint-like, was an invalid of extremely delicate condition and appearance, the mother of a large family, embracing sons, daughters, grandchildren, and one or more great-grand children. She was a woman of piety, and simplicity of heart.”

Despite the fact that 39 prominent members of Salem signed a petition to have her freed, and the fact that the jury originally found her innocent and then redacted their verdict, Rebecca was sentenced to death and hanged the very same day: 19th of July, 1692.

Her sister, Mary, was hanged on the 22nd of September 1692, along with seven others. Her parting words to her family were said to be, “as serious, religious, distinct, and affectionate as could be expressed, drawing tears from the eyes of almost all present.”  From the gallows, she prayed aloud for the end of the hunt and the sparing of her dear little sister, Sarah – who had been imprisoned.

All of the charges against Sarah were dismissed by a grand jury on the 3rd of January, 1693.  Her family had to pay her prison fees before she could be released.  Sarah fought the rest of her days to clear the names of her beloved sisters; however, it’s incredible to me that all of the accused/hunted/jailed/killed in the hysteria were not fully cleared of ANY wrongdoing until Halloween 2001, when Massachusetts governor Jane Swift signed the resolution.

These brave, pious women are a huge part of the Salem story – and are even the subject of a film starring Vanessa Redgrave (see here.) Their father is a direct great-grandfather of mine. These three incredible figures in American History  are my 9th great grand aunts.

- Cate.

[Note: This statue of the 3 sisters is located at the Salem Wax Museum of Witches & Seafarers]