{"id":62747,"date":"2020-10-29T14:11:01","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T18:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=62747"},"modified":"2020-11-02T08:53:35","modified_gmt":"2020-11-02T13:53:35","slug":"witch-lore-in-old-salem-village-ruthie-stearns-family-connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/witch-lore-in-old-salem-village-ruthie-stearns-family-connections.html","title":{"rendered":"Witch Lore in Old Salem Village: Ruthie Stearns\u2019 Family Connections"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes more about the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, focusing this time on the family connections of Ruthie Stearns. Melissa is a genealogist who has a blog, AnceStory Archives<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

My last story covered Richard B. Trask\u2019s excavation project of the Rev. Samuel Parris parsonage house in Danvers, Massachusetts, which is considered the nest hive for the Salem witch hysteria of 1692 (see Digging Up Witch Lore in Old Salem Village: The Rev. Samuel Parris Home<\/a>).<\/p>\n

When Ruthie Stearns and I worked together on her Mayflower line for a previous GenealogyBank blog article (see The First Families of America: No Blue Bloods on the Mayflower Part 2<\/a>), we decided to investigate her witch ties. Ruthie provided records and letters on her father Rev. Howard Oliver Stearns, former pastor of Rev. Parris\u2019 old church, now called the First Congregational Church of Danvers.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Rev. Howard Oliver Stearns at home in Danvers, Massachusetts, in 1966 with wife Barbara Dorcas Holmes (Mayflower descendant), Ruthie, and her sisters. Credit: Ruthie Stearns.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rev. Stearns helped transcribe the sermon notebook of Rev. Parris with James F. Cooper Jr. and Kenneth P. Minkema. The sermons are published on the Colonial Society of Massachusetts<\/a> website. Cooper is currently digitizing thousands of church records and is a partner in the Rev. Ebenezer Parkman Project<\/a>. I will be featuring a story on his work with Rev. Stearns and the Parris sermons later.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: three generations of Salem Witch Trials descendants, Christmas 1906 in Massachusetts at the Stearns home: (front row) William Dennett Stearns, Marion Eastman Swett, Helen Rachel Stearns; (middle row) Nettie Florence Gould Stearns, Susan Adeline Stearns, Fannie Ora Stearns Swett, John Francis Swett, Ethel Stearns Swett, Mary Augusta Stearns; (back row) Florence Helen Swett, Harriet Ann Stearns, Ellen Dorcas Stearns, Howard Oliver Stearns, Albert Henry Stearns. Credit: Ruthie Stearns.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rev. Stearns was active on Danvers\u2019 Historical Commission and displayed a deep commitment to the preservation of the local history, which must have been inspired by his spiritual blood ties connected to the history of Old Salem Village. Ruthie has found in the family tree ties to both victims and their accusers during the Salem Witch Trials.<\/p>\n

Rev. Stearns believed the people of Salem Village were \u201cenmeshed in one of the greatest calamities of human history.\u201d Ruthie says, \u201cI had no idea how I connected to Rebecca Nurse until I started my genealogy search and found it was through my Towne line.\u00a0I descend through a Towne brother (Edmund) through his son Joseph down into my Gould line (g grandmother Nettie Florence Gould); and through Edmund\u2019s daughter Abigail Towne Perley down into my Chase line and to my gr.\u00a0grandfather Willie Dennett Stearns (Nettie\u2019s husband).\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruthie discovered over 30 ancestors connected to the Salem Witch Trials. I found some tidbits on a few of her ancestor connections in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, and Ruthie furnished her family photos and genealogy charts.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 19 June 1955, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1955 the \u201cWitch\u2019s Chair,\u201d owned by the Nurse family, was on exhibit as part of the second \u201cBoston Herald Historic Homes\u201d tour. According to the Boston Herald<\/em>, the 71-year-old Rebecca Nurse was seated in the chair when the constables came to her arrest her. She was later found guilty of witchcraft and executed by hanging on 19 July 1692. The chair is in the collection of the Rebecca Nurse Homestead located on Pine Street in Danvers, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: the Rebecca Nurse Homestead, Danvers, Massachusetts. Credit: Willjay; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Salem (Danvers) held its tercentenary celebration in 1930, ex-President Calvin Coolidge was invited to attend and take part in a reenactment of the trial of Rebecca Nurse.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 23 June 1930, page 9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I also found this photo of the Rebecca Nurse witch trial reenactors in front of the Nurse house in the Times-Picayune<\/em> paper.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), 20 July 1930, page 71<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This Boston American<\/em> article noted that anyone could be a target for witchcraft accusations, and Ruthie\u2019s relation John Alden, a sea captain and merchant, escaped the hanging rope.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston American (Boston, Massachusetts), 20 March 1959, page 36<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another of Ruthie\u2019s connections, John Bradstreet, was mentioned in the Lowell Daily Citizen and News<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Lowell Daily Citizen and News (Lowell, Massachusetts), 19 November 1872, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Try a search in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> on your own ancestors connected to the Salem Witch Trials.<\/p>\n

Further Reading and Videos:<\/strong><\/p>\n