Rebecca Nurse (Towne) - Rebecca Nurse

Hi Kenneth,
Rebecca is my 8th great. Are you a member, or even aware, of the TFA? That's the Towne Family Assoc. There is also a Towne Cousins facebook group.
Your cousin,
Londa

Hello there. I live in Western Canada and was so shocked to see my roots so deep in the US - I would like to check out this Facebook page as well - is it a closed or private page?

Londa, hello, thank you for the info on the TFA FB page. I will check it out.

Candy, it is a closed group. I'm in Oregon. The TFA has regional and national family reunions. In 2017 the national reunion was in England. They visited the church where Rebecca was baptised, as well as some of her other siblings, and where their parents were wed.

Michael and I have exchanged emails recently and I also informed him of TFA as well as the Facebook page for Descendants of Salem Witches, while I'm not descended from Rebecca I am descended from her brother

Stepen Wayne Howard, which brother of Rebecca are you descended ftom?

That would be her brother Joseph Towne 1639-1712 he wasn't born in England like his sister Rebecca and his wife was Phoebe Perkins

Joseph was also my 9th Great grandfather, I've wondered how and why he wasn't subjected to the same harsh treatment as his sisters were, the accused involved were mostly family and sisters to one another, now that its fairly common knowledge that they were being singled out due to the fact that there had been a long ongoing dispute involving land claims and boundary lines at that time in history women weren't supposed to be land holders from what I've read

Stephen,
Yes, from what I read, the Nurse and Putnam families had been having a long property dispute. So I think Rebecca's accusation was motivated by revenge. Some of the others that were accused seemed to be what the Village Community considered, "no gooders", and had been problem makers and some thieves. Other women were accused by their husbands which I believe stemmed from marital problems and bitterness.

Was it one of Rebecca's sons or brothers that recovered her body which I think the execution mob had buried down by a river? They would not let her be buried in the Cemetery with a Christian burial. So her family went at night and moved her body to an unmarked grave in the cemetery. I may not be accurate on this account

Stephen,
Yes, from what I read, the Nurse and Putnam families had been having a long property dispute. So I think Rebecca's accusation was motivated by revenge. Some of the others that were accused seemed to be what the Village Community considered, "no gooders", and had been problem makers and some thieves. Other women were accused by their husbands which I believe stemmed from marital problems and bitterness.

Was it one of Rebecca's sons or brothers that recovered her body which I think the execution mob had buried down by a river? They would not let her be buried in the Cemetery with a Christian burial. So her family went at night and moved her body to an unmarked grave in the cemetery. I may not be accurate on this account

I think it ironic, that 2 or 3 generations later, Rebecca's descendants married into the Putnam family.

Tradition holds that Rebecca's lifeless body was tossed into a rocky cravas and left because her conviction and execution marked her as unfit for a decent Christian burial so later that evening family members (it's believed her brother and son) retrieved her corpse and buried it in a secret location on her property known only to God,as for the marriage between Putnam and the different Towne lines well I live in KY. and it is commonly known that the Hatfields and McCoys have married for decades(its an American thing just like the Civil War)

Thanks, for the info, and yes, people can forgive and not hold a grudge.