Rebecca Towne Nurse was the 2nd victim accused and executed for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials.
She was the wife of Francis Nurse and had several children and grandchildren. She was a well-respected citizen in Salem and was often seen as pious and above reproach.
However, at 71, she was hard of hearing, which led to some mistakes during her trial, and her accusers would often throw themselves in fits of rage that would be allowed as evidence against her (this is called spectral evidence).
Despite being acquitted, she was brought back to trial and convicted and executed. This occurred despite over 30 citizens of Massachusetts Bay testifying to her good character.
Ann Putnam later confessed to her wrongdoings towards Rebecca Nurse, among others.
Early Life and Family
Rebecca Towne Nurse was the daughter of William and Joanna Towne. She was born in England around 1621 and emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony with her parents to Salem.
She had six siblings:
- Susan (died before adulthood)
- Edmund
- Jacob
- Mary
- Sarah
- Joseph
After arriving in Massachusetts, she married Francis Nurse in 1644. Francis was a "tray maker," which meant he was a skilled artisan and esteemed by those in the community.
The couple had eight children:
- John
- Rebecca
- Samuel
- Elizabeth
- Mary
- Francis
- Sarah
- Benjamin
Her husband Francis would ironically serve as Salem's Constable (similar to Sheriff or Police).
From all accounts, Rebecca had an excellent reputation and was known as a wonderful daughter, wife, mother, and neighbor. This reputation was unchallenged in the community, which made her one of the most unlikely to be accused of witchcraft.
In 1678, they were offered the opportunity to lease to own a 300-acre farm in the rural "village' area of Salem, originally a part of a grant given to Townsend Bishop in 1636. This farm still exists and is today preserved as the Rebecca Nurse Homestead.
Rebecca and Francis frequented the Salem Village meeting house, and Francis was quite active in the community, becoming well respected in Salem Village; he was often asked to serve as a mediator to help settle matters.
The Nurses officially remained members of the Salem Towne church until their deaths despite being very active within the village community. In 1699, the Nurses' children were able to purchase the farm outright officially, and remained for multiple generations.
Salem Witch Trial Accusation
On March 23, 1692, a warrant was issued for Rebecca's arrest based upon accusations made by Edward and John Putnam.
Rebecca was 71 years old when the warrant was issued, and it sent shockwaves throughout the community. Upon being arrested, she said, "I am innocent as the child unborn, but surely, what sin hath God found out in me unrepented of, that He should lay such an affliction on me in my old age."
Many in the community were in disbelief of the accusations, and a petition was begun to testify to her great character. Even her neighbor Sarah Holton, who had accused Rebecca of acting quite unreasonably in a quarrel over some trespassing pigs, later changed her mind and spoke in Rebecca's defense. Thirty-nine of the most prominent members of the community signed a petition on Nurse's behalf.
At age 71, she was one of the oldest accused. The examining magistrates, John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, who normally regarded the guilt of the accused as self-evident, took a notably different attitude in Rebecca's case, as they also did in the case of her sister Mary Easty.
They told Rebecca openly that if she was innocent, they prayed that God would show her innocence, for "it is a sad thing to see church members accused." Hathorne was no doubt influenced by the fact that his sister Elizabeth Porter was a close friend of Rebecca and one of her staunchest defenders.
Her trial began on June 30, 1692. She was not allowed to have a lawyer, and so represented herself. Many members of the community came forward to testify on her behalf. During these testimonies, the "afflicted" young women would break out into fits and claim Rebecca was tormenting them.
Unfortunately, since this was early in the trials, spectral evidence from these fits was allowed as evidence. However, Rebecca remained steadfast during these fits and is recorded as saying, "I have got nobody to look to but God."
The jury deliberated and ruled that Rebecca Nurse was not guilty.
Due to the public outcry and renewed fits and spasms by the "afflicted," the judges reviewed her case with the jury. One particular point was emphasized, and the jury requested a second chance of deliberation.
The jury asked Rebecca to explain her remark that another accused witch, Deliverance Hobbs, was "of her company," the implication being that they had both signed a pact with the Devil.
Fatally, Rebecca, who was hard of hearing, did not hear the question: she later explained to her children that she was referring to this woman as a fellow "accused" witch.
However, the jury changed their verdict and sentenced Nurse to death on July 19, 1692.
In view of the urgent pleas of her family and the abundant evidence of her good character, including a moving letter from the foreman of Nurse's jury, the Governor of Massachusetts, Sir William Phips, granted a reprieve, only for it to later be rescinded.
Many people described Nurse as "the woman of self-dignity" due to her collected behavior on the gallows. As was the custom, after she was hanged, her body was buried in a shallow grave near the execution spot. They were considered unfit for Christian burial in a churchyard.
Aftermath and Memorial
According to oral tradition, Nurse's family secretly returned after dark and dug up her body, which they interred properly on their family homestead. Although her exact resting place has never been confirmed, her descendants erected a tall granite memorial in the family plot in 1885 at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead cemetery in Danvers (formerly Salem Village), Massachusetts. The inscription on the monument reads:
Rebecca Nurse, Yarmouth, England 1621. Salem, Mass., 1692.
O Christian Martyr who, for Truth, could die
When all about thee owned the hideous lie!
The world redeemed from Superstition's sway
Is breathing freer for thy sake today.
(From the poem "Christian Martyr" by John Greenleaf Whittier)
In 1706, her accuser, Ann Putnam, Jr., gave a public church confession upon entering the Salem Village congregation. She expressed great remorse for her role against Rebecca and her two sisters, Mary Easty and Sarah Cloyce, in particular:
I desire to be humbled before God for that sad and humbling providence that befell my father's family in the year about '92; that I, then being in my childhood, should, by such a providence of God, be made an instrument for the accusing of several persons of a grievous crime, whereby their lives were taken away from them, whom now I have just grounds and a good reason to believe they were innocent persons; and that it was a great delusion of Satan that deceived me in that sad time, whereby I justly fear I have been instrumental, with others, though ignorantly and unwittingly, to bring upon myself and this land the guilt of innocent blood; though what was said or done by me against any person I can truly and uprightly say, before God and man, I did it not out of any anger, malice, or ill-will to any person, for I had no such thing against one of them; but what I did was ignorantly, being deluded by Satan. And particularly, as I was a chief instrument of accusing Goodwife Nurse and her two sisters, I desire to lie in the dust and to be humbled for it, in that I was a cause, with others, of so sad a calamity to them and their families; for which cause I desire to lie in the dust, and earnestly beg forgiveness of God, and from all those unto whom I have given just cause of sorrow and offense, whose relations were taken away or accused."
The Nurse's family graciously accepted her apology and reconciled with her. The same would not be true for Samuel Parris, who was the village minister. They would relentlessly pursue his removal from office, which would occur in 1697.
In 1711, the children petitioned the government for a reversal of attainer and were granted compensation for Rebecca's wrongful death.
In 1712, the Salem Towne church reversed the verdict of ex-communication it had passed on her, saying:
"that it be no longer a reproach to her memory or an occasion of grief to her children."
In 1892, the community erected a second monument recognizing the 40 neighbors, led by Israel and Elizabeth (Hathorne) Porter, who took the risk of publicly supporting Nurse by signing a petition to the court on her behalf in 1692. One signer was General Israel Putnam's father.
The Nurse family remained in the home for many generations. Eventually, the Nurse family homestead was sold to Phineas Putnam, a cousin of Rebecca's great-great-grandson Benjamin, in 1784.
The Putnam family remained until about 1905. By 1909, the farm was saved by volunteers and turned into a historic house museum that includes the original house and cemetery on 27 of the original 300 acres of land.
<- Return to the List of People Involved in the Salem Witch Trials