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Rebecca Nurse Homestead, Danvers, MA
9/13/2008
The 4th took part in a reenactment at the historic Rebecca Nurse Homestead, known for infamous events of Salem Village and Danvers where 3 girls fell into fits and doctors claimed witchcraft was at hand. The property is also a good representation of New England life during the colonial period.
In 1692, constables of Danvers - then known as Salem Village - arrested Rebecca Nurse in her bed chamber and took her away from her beloved homestead. In June, Nurse's trial took place with 40 of her neighbors signing a petition commending her exemplary character. Nurse was at first found innocent by the jury, but they reversed their decision when the afflicted girls began to go into terrifying torments, and after the presiding justice asked them to reconsider some of the testimony. Although her children continued to fight to save her life, Rebecca was finally hanged on July 19, 1692. After the execution, Rebecca's children secretly removed their mother's body to her homestead and thereburied it in an unmarked grave.
In 1885 the Nurse family erected a memorial to Rebecca in the family graveyard. The monument included a poetic sentiment written by famed poet John Greenleaf Whittier. Later, another marker dedicated to the 40 neighbors was erected close by.
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