Davis Uriah I | Born 1707
TOWNE, Rebecca
1621 - 1692 (71 years)-
Name TOWNE, Rebecca [1] Born 21/21 Feb 1620/1621 Great Yarmouth, Norfolk County, England Gender Female Died 19 Jul 1692 Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts Person ID I6269 Uriah Davis I - Genealogy Last Modified 21 Jun 2018
Father TOWNE, William, d. 24 Jun 1673, Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts Mother BLESSING, Joanna, b. 1599, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk County, England , d. 1682, Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts (Age 83 years) Married 25 Mar 1620 Saint Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk County, England Family ID F2409 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family NURSE, Francis, b. 18/18 Jan 1617/1618, Yarmouth, Bristol County, England , d. 22 Nov 1695, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts (Age 77 years) Married Bef 1645 Probably Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts Children 1. NURSE, John, b. 1645, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts , d. 1 Dec 1719 (Age 74 years) 2. NURSE, Rebecca, b. 1647, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts , d. 1719 (Age 72 years) 3. NURSE, Sarah, b. 1648, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts , d. Yes, date unknown 4. NURSE, Samuel, b. 3/03 Feb 1648/1649, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts , d. 15 Jul 1715, Salem Village, Essex, Massachusetts (Age 66 years) 5. NURSE, Michael, b. 1651, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts , d. Yes, date unknown 6. NURSE, Elizabeth, b. 9/09 Jan 1655/1656, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts , d. 1735 (Age 78 years) 7. NURSE, Mary, b. 1657, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts , d. Yes, date unknown 8. NURSE, Francis, b. 3/03 Feb 1659/1660, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts , d. 8 Oct 1716 (Age 56 years) 9. NURSE, Benjamin, b. 26/26 Jan 1665/1666, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts , d. 1748 (Age 81 years) 10. NURSE, b. 1667, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts , d. Yes, date unknown Last Modified 24 Jun 2018 Family ID F2396 Group Sheet | Family Chart
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Notes - Accused and hanged for being a witch. After her death she was not alloweda Christian burial a nd her body was taken off the gallows and thrown intoa crevice. Such was the custom not to gi ve the accused a Christianburial. The family of Rebecca went out by boat in the middle of th e nightto retrieve her body. They buried her near the family home, however theydid not mark t he grave for over 100 years, fearing the grave might bedesecrated.
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Rebecca was in the eyes of those who knew her well the very essence ofwhat a Puritan mother s hould be. Deeply pious, she was so steeped inScripture that the country roughness of her spee ch - she had a Chaucerianfondness for triple negatives - was often shot through with a poetic alScriptural quality. It was not merely a matter of lugging in texts, but adeep, instinctiv e poetry of feeling that overflowed into her simple,pregnant speech. When Rebecca spoke it wa s as if one of the grand womenof the Old Testament were speaking Naomi or Ruth amid alien cor n (Rebeccaherself remembered her birthplace, Yarmouth, England), or the belovedRachel, or ind eed her own namesake.
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In her home life she had resembled the wise woman of Proverbs, and herchildren she had reare d with loving devotion to both their spiritual andtemporal welfare. Now in her old age they r ose up and called her blessed,not only her four sons and four daughters, but what perhaps th e supermost tribute, her three sons-in-law and four daughters-in-law.
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This is not to say that she was altogether a saint. Even the Bible women,as anyone can discov er by examining Scripture closely, had their offdays. The years had made Rebecca hard of hear ing and infirm; when she wasill and did not clearly understand what was said to her, she coul dsometimes lose her temper.
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Rebecca was one of 19 hanged as witches in the infamous Salem WitchTrials. Her trial is mos t often cited for the injustice of this tryingperiod.
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Rebecca's sisters, Mary Towne Estey and Sarah Towne Bridges Cloyce weretried for witchcraft . Mary Estey was executed and Sarah Cloyce wasfinally released from prison after suffering gr eatly.
- Accused and hanged for being a witch. After her death she was not alloweda Christian burial a nd her body was taken off the gallows and thrown intoa crevice. Such was the custom not to gi ve the accused a Christianburial. The family of Rebecca went out by boat in the middle of th e nightto retrieve her body. They buried her near the family home, however theydid not mark t he grave for over 100 years, fearing the grave might bedesecrated.
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Sources - [S186] The Devil in Massachusetts', 1989, Marion L. Starkey, p 78-84, 159-165,175-176, 189. 'Salem Possessed, The Social Origin.
- [S186] The Devil in Massachusetts', 1989, Marion L. Starkey, p 78-84, 159-165,175-176, 189. 'Salem Possessed, The Social Origin.