Francis Nurse

Notes:

On account of the witchcraft delusion in Salem, [Francis] and his wife became historical characters. The name of Rebecca Nurse (or Nourse) is perhaps the best known of all of its unfortunate victims.

Variations of Last Name: Norris Nourse Nurse

Francis Nourse was an early settler in Salem and was a proprietor of the town 1647. He lived for forty years near Sperry's, on North River Street, between the main village and the ferry to Beverly. He was a woodworker, called a tray-maker. In those days, wooden trays and dishes were the rule; there was little pewter, less silver and china, and the plates, trays and trenchers of wood were the ordinary dishes.

He was a skilled workman, and a respectable man of great stability and strength of character. He was called frequently as umpire and arbitrator in cases of dispute over land boundaries. He served on local committees to lay out grants and highways, and on juries. He bought the Bishop farm of some three hundred acres at Salem village, April 29, 1678, and settled there. His sons all built their homes and lived on it and were men of influence in town and church; were prosperous, and it is believed that their success in acquiring a large estate, paying for it and prospering, was the cause of the charges against wife and mother, Rebecca Nourse.

The story of her trial is well known. She was arrested and protested her innocence on the charge of witchcraft. With steadfast dignity and unwavering patience, she bore the ordeal of her trial. Thirty-nine of her friends among the highest and most respectable in the town, signed a statement testifying to her blameless character and faithfulness to the church. These names have been inscribed on a tablet on the memorial recently erected over her grave in Danvers.

They jury found her not guilty, but the court reversed the verdict and condemned her to death. She was hanged on Witch Hill and buried in the little cemetery at Danvers.

Francis married Rebecca Towne on 24 Aug 1644 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts. Rebecca (daughter of William Towne and Joanna Blessing) was christened on 21 Feb 1621 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; died on 19 Jul 1692 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts; was buried in Salem Witch Trials Memorial, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]