Joanna Blessing

Notes:

Joanna Blessing was born about 1595 to William Blessing/Blyssyne, according to her age given in a lawsuit in 1670. She was probably born near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, but neither the record of her birth nor her baptism has been found. On April 25, 1620, Joanna married William Towne at the Church of St. Nicholas in Yarmouth. William and Joanna's first six children were also baptized at St. Nicholas.

William brought his family to New England before 1636, and they settled in Salem, where he was granted land in 1640. William and Joanna had two more children, Sarah and Joseph, born in Salem around that time. In 1651, William bought some land in the neighboring town of Topsfield. He sold his Salem land the next year and soon bought more land in Topsfield. On the occasion of his son Joseph's marriage in 1663, William deeded two thirds of his land to Joseph. William and Joanna probably lived with Joseph for the remainder of their days. William died in Topsfield on June 24, 1673, and his widow Joanna was named administrator. His estate wasn't probated until April, 1683, soon after the death of Joanna, when the estate was distributed among his children.

Three of William and Joanna's daughters were accused in the Salem Witch Trials. Two of them, Rebecca Nurse and Mary Esty, were hung. Sarah Cloyes escaped from the Ipswich jail before she could be executed.

England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
Name: Jone Blessing
Residence Place: Caistor-next-Yarmouth, Norfolk, England
Gender: Female
Christening Date: 22 Jun 1595
Christening Date (Original): 22 Jun 1595
Christening Place: Caistor-next-Yarmouth, Norfolk, England
Father's Name: John
Mother's Name: Jane

Joanna married William Towne on 25 Apr 1620 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. William was born on 15 Mar 1598 in Norwich, Norfolk, England; died on 24 Jun 1673 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts; was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Salem Witch Trials Defendant. Convicted of practicing witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. In most cases, the bodies of those hanged or pressed were cast off into a shallow ditch, not deserving of a Christian burial due to the charge of witchcraft. However, the family of Rebecca Nurse, according to legend, got to her body, removed it from the ditch in Salem and possibly buried it in secret on the family farm in Salem Village (now Danvers, Massachusetts). Where, exactly, is lost to history. Several years after her execution, it was agreed that she had been innocent of being a witch.

Rebecca married Francis Nurse on 24 Aug 1644 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts. Francis was born on 18 Jan 1618 in Bristol, Somerset, England; died on 22 Nov 1695 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jacob married Katherine Symonds on 26 Jun 1657 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts. Katherine was born on 18 Apr 1630 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts; died on 27 Nov 1714 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sarah was a victim and survivor of the Salem witchcraft hysteria of 1692. Her name may be indexed as Sarah Towne, Sarah Bridges, Sarah Clayes, Sarah Cloyce, Clayce, Cloys, etc. She is called Sarah Cloyce in Nathaniel Hawthorne's story "Young Goodman Brown."

A note about Sarah's surname. Before Sarah was tried for witchcraft, the surname was spelled as Cloyes, Cloyce, etc. After Sarah escaped a near-certain execution, she and her husband moved to Danforth's Farms, where they were known as Peter and Sarah Clayes. The Sarah Clayes house still stands in Framingham. This memorial honors the name the couple chose for themselves: Clayes.

Sarah's date of birth is sometimes given as 11 Jan 1637, but a primary source has not been identified, and the year of birth might be 1636. She was baptized at Salem on 3 Sep 1648. Her exact date of death is unknown, and her grave is not marked.

Witchcraft Allegations

"Then Sarah Cloyse asked for water, and sat down as one seized with a dying fainting fit, and several of the afflicted fell into fits, and some of them cried out, 'Oh! Her spirit is gone to prison to her sister Nurse!'"
—"The Witchcraft delusion of 1692," NEHGR v 24, p 396

Sarah Towne, wife of Peter Clayes, was wrongly accused of witchcraft at Salem in 1692, and imprisoned. She escaped execution and moved to Danforth's Farms (incorporated in 1700 as Framingham). Her sisters, Rebecca Towne Nurse and Mary Towne Estey, were wrongly convicted of witchcraft, and were hanged.

In 1692, Danforth's Farms was owned by Thomas Danforth, one of the magistrates who imprisoned Sarah and deputy governor under Simon Bradstreet. Some historians believe that Thomas Danforth invited Sarah and members of her family to settle on his land as a gesture of reparation.

The third of three indictments against Sarah Clayes (Cloyce):

Essex in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England ss// Anno RR's & Reginae Gulielmi & Mariae Angliae &c Quarto Annoq'e Domini 1692

The Jurors for our Sover' Lord and Lady the King & Queen doe present that Sarah Cloyce Wife of Peter Cloyce of Salem -- In the County of Essex Husbandman -- In & upon the Ninth Day of the Inst September -- In the yeare aforesaid and Divers other Days and times as well before as after Certaine Detestable arts called Witch-craft and Sorceries Wickedly Mallitiously and felloniously hath used practised and Exercised At and in the Towne of Salem in the County of Essex -- aforesaid in upon and against one Rebeckah Towne of Topsfeild in the County of Essex aforesaid Single Woman -- by which said Wicked Acts the said Rebeckah Towne the Day & yeare -- aforesaid and divers other Days and times both before and after was and is Tortured Aflicted Consumed Pined Wasted and Tormented, and also for sundry other acts of Witchcraft by the said Sarah Cloyce -- Comitted and done be fore and Since that time against the Peace of our Sov'rn Lord and Lady the King & Queen theire Crowne and Dignity and the forme of the Stattute In that case made and Provided.

(Reverse)
Ignoramus
*Robert Payne
foreman

(Suffolk Court Records Case No. 2677, p 8)

Sarah married Edmund Bridge on 11 Jan 1659 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts. Edmund was born in 1636; died on 24 Jun 1682. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Sarah married Peter Clayes about 1683. Peter (son of John Cloyes and Abigail Mournings) was born on 27 May 1639 in Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; died on 18 Jul 1708 in Framingham, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Catherine married Elisha Perkins on 23 Feb 1679 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts. Elisha (son of Deacon Thomas Perkins and Phebe Gould) was born in 1656 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts; died on 18 Feb 1741 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts; was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married Captain John Swain on 1 Dec 1720 in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. John was born on 5 Aug 1698 in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; died on 12 Jan 1774 in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; was buried in Old Burying Ground, Wakefield, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Hephsibah Nurse on 11 Apr 1754 in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Hephsibah was born about 1713; died on 24 Oct 1800 in Winchester, Cheshire County, New Hampshire. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Edward Flint in 1782. Edward (son of Captain Thomas Flint and Priscilla Porter) was born on 27 Apr 1748 in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; died on 16 Jan 1814 in Strong, Franklin County, Maine; was buried in Hunter Cemetery, Strong, Franklin County, Maine. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Moses Morrell. Moses (son of John Morrell and Abigail Hodgdon) was born on 11 Dec 1796 in Maine; died on 11 Nov 1890 in Lake County, Ohio; was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Painesville, Lake County, Ohio. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Elizabeth Warren on 23 Feb 1845 in Lake County, Ohio. Elizabeth was born on 23 Apr 1828 in Ohio; died on 16 Sep 1911; was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Painesville, Lake County, Ohio. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]