Towne, Rebecca

Notes:

CHR: Gt. Yarmouth par reg (FHL #1526327 item 16).
MAR: No mar rec found. Rebecca is referred to as the wife of Francis Nurse in the petition of the heirs of William Towne, late of Salem, for settlement of his estate, 17 Jan 1682/3 (THE PROBATE RECORDS OF ESSEX COUNTY, 3 vols. [Salem, MA, 1916-20], 2:358 [FHL #974.45 P2p]).
DEATH: Rebecca Nurse was executed as a witch in the Salem witchcraft delusion of 1692. Numerous accounts of her trial and execution have been published. One contempory witness to the events in Salem was Robert Calef, whose account of Rebecca's execution was publised in his MORE WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD (London, 1700). Extracts were published in George Lincoln Burr, NARRATIVES OF THE WITCHCRAFT CASES (New York, 1914), 357-60 (BYU #E187.07 O73x vol. 18).
NOTE: Also see the petition of Rebecca's son, Samuel Nurse, for restitution from the colony for unlawfully executing his mother, dated 13 Sep 1710 ("Witchcraft [Cases], Court of Assistants, 1673-1692, and Superior Court of Judicature" [transcript, n.d.], 180-81 [FHL #877465 item 2]).

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BEPS: IGI

Rebecca married Nurse, Francis about 1644. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

CHR: Gt. Yarmouth par reg (FHL #1526327 item 16).
MAR: Ibid.
DEATH: No death rec found. See the adm of estate of William Towne of Salem, 24 June 1673 (THE PROBATE RECORDS OF ESSEX COUNTY, 3 vols. [Salem, MA, 1916-20], 2:358 [FHL #974.45 P2p]).

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BEPS: IGI

William married Blessing, Joanna on 25 Apr 1620 in Great Yarmouth,Norfolk,MA. Joanna was born about 1595 in of Great Yarmouth,Norfolk,Eng; died in (pet) 17 Jan 1682/3 in Salem,Essex,MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

BIRTH: No birth/chr rec found. Joanna deposed in May 1670 she was about 70 yrs old (RECORDS AND FILES OF THE QUARTERLY COURTS OF ESSEX COUNTY, 9 vols. [Salem, MA, 1911-75], 2:249 [FHL #974.45 P2e]). The name Blessing is extremely rare in England. The late Walter Goodwin Davis made an extensive search for Joanna's ancestors. He suggests that Joanna is the sister of three other Blessing women who married: Margaret Blessing, who married Robert Buffam at Gt. Yarmouth, 23 Aug 1613; Alice Fermace or Firmage, whose will, proved at Boston, Mass., 24 Apr 1656, mentions her sister Joanna Towne; and Julian Blessing, who married Thomas Goose at Gt. Yarmouth, 31 Jul 1622 (Walter Goodwin Davis, THE ANCESTRY OF DUDLEY WILDES, 1759-1820 [Portland, ME, 1959], 119-25 [FHL #929.273 W646d]).
MAR: Gt. Yarmouth par reg (FHL #1526327 item 16).
DEATH: No death rec found. See the petition of heirs of William Towne, 17 Jan 1682/3, for settlement of estate. The document shows that their mother, Joanna Towne, was dead (THE PROBATE RECORDS OF ESSEX COUNTY, 3 vols. [Salem, MA, 1916-20], 2:358 [FHL #974.45 P2p]). Joanna was administratrix to the estate of William Towne. The estate remained unsettled until her death.

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BES: IGI

Notes:

BIRTH: Date and place of birth are approximations.
MAR #1: No mar rec found. Child of John Towne and his wife Alice was baptized at Gt. Yarmouth, 1597 (Gt. Yarmouth par reg [FHL #1526327 item 16]).
MAR #2: No mar rec found. Child of John Towne and his wife Elizabeth was baptized at Gt. Yarmouth, 1598.
NOTE: Considering the short time between the births of son Arthur and William, it seems possible that wives Alice and Elizabeth are identical. Perhaps one or the other is a clerical error. But it is also possible that Alice died soon after the birth or Arthur, and John Towne married Elizabeth shortly afterward.

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SEAL #2: IGI

John married Elizabeth about 1598. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]