Witch Hunt Victim Stories: Rebecca Nurse by Sarah Jack

In this edition of Witch Hunt Victim Stories, Sarah Jack tells the story of Rebecca Nurse, a victim of the Salem Witch Trials, who was hanged on July 19, 1692. The story of Rebecca Nurse is tragic. Born Rebecca Towne in 1621, Rebecca was seventy-one years old when she was arrested, and she had been in bed a week when she was hauled away from home. She languished in chains more than three months before she was brought out for her trial. At first she was acquitted, but then she was convicted. Next, she was reprieved, but then that was revoked and a death warrant was issued. All the while, Rebecca and her family and friends told anyone who would listen that she was innocent. Refusing to confess to something she did not do, Rebecca ultimately lost her life. She is remembered today in multiple memorials, and her legacy lives on through her countless descendants. For more listen to our episode, Rebecca Nurse of Salem with Dan Gagnon, which was released on December 29, 2022. Please see also the following: Witch Hunt: Rebecca Nurse of Salem with Dan Gagnon Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 Bernard Rosenthal, editor, Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt Daniel A. Gagnon, A Salem Witch: The Trial, Execution, and Exoneration of Rebecca Nurse Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-By-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege Marilynne K. Roach, Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials Stacy Schiff, The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem