{"id":79813,"date":"2021-08-13T10:51:25","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T14:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=79813"},"modified":"2021-08-16T10:16:24","modified_gmt":"2021-08-16T14:16:24","slug":"nathaniel-hawthornes-salem-family-line-the-manning-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/nathaniel-hawthornes-salem-family-line-the-manning-scandal.html","title":{"rendered":"Nathaniel Hawthorne\u2019s Salem Family Line: The Manning Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry presents another story from the family line of author Nathaniel Hawthorne, this one having a possible connection to \u201cThe Scarlet Letter.\u201d 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

\u201cIf truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom besides Hester Prynne\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

–Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Nathaniel Hawthorne, c. 1862. Credit: Mathew Brady; Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My last story<\/a> explored the family background and sources Nathaniel Hawthorne used for his novel The House of the Seven Gables<\/em>. In my continued research, I came across a court case that perhaps provided a hot source for Hawthorne\u2019s novel The Scarlet Letter<\/em>. Also, the Manning family case here is a genealogy link to his maternal ancestral line through his mother Elizabeth (Betsey) Clarke Manning.<\/p>\n

First, some background: in April 1847 two gravestones were dug up by some workers laying down water pipes in Salem Street, Boston, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, Massachusetts), 23 April 1847, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The inscription on Mrs. Hannah Palfrey\u2019s gravestone reads:<\/p>\n

Here lies ye
\nBody of Mrs. Hannah Palfrey,
\nWife to Mr. Richard Palfrey,
\nAged 46 years.
\nDec\u2019d Jan\u2019ry 2, 1727.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I researched the genealogy of Mrs. Hannah Palfrey, which led to the discovery of an illicit sex scandal surrounding her husband\u2019s family that shocked the Puritan community in Salem, Massachusetts (where Nathaniel Hawthorne was later born).<\/p>\n

Mrs. Hannah (nee\u2019 Harris) Palfrey married Richard Palfrey in Salem in 1704.\u00a0 Richard was born to Walter Palfrey and Margaret Manning of Salem, who married in May 1680.<\/p>\n

The families were considered pillars of Puritan society \u2013 but while Margaret was carrying Richard, she and her sister Antice were convicted of \u201cincestuous carriage\u201d with their brother Captain Nicholas Manning.<\/p>\n

The three Manning siblings were born to Richard and Antice Manning.\u00a0 Another sibling, Thomas (a twin to Jacob), was the 2nd gr. grandfather to Nathaniel Hawthorne.<\/p>\n

Nicholas was a respected citizen, successful mariner, and skilled gunsmith. He served as soldier, constable, and selectman. In 1667 he made a name for himself as commander of the ketch Supply<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Nicholas married Elizabeth (nee\u2019 Wickes) Gray, a widow much older than he. She brought children into the marriage, fathered by Robert Gray.<\/p>\n

By 1680 Nicholas and Elizabeth\u2019s marriage was not harmonious, and she then unleashed the purposive, shocking charge of his incestuous relationships with his sisters. The case carried little merit and most of the evidence came from hearsay.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth testified that she lived in terror from the Manning family and was forced to retreat to her daughter\u2019s home. She claimed she was living in poverty and petitioned the court to seize all assets of Nicholas\u2019 estate, or else she would be on the dole.<\/p>\n

Two of Elizabeth\u2019s daughters, Elizabeth Priest and Bethia Allen, gave testimony that did not support evidence of the alleged crime. However, the court brought down indictments on all three of the Manning\u2019s.<\/p>\n

You can read the transcribed court files on the University of Virginia website \u201cRecords and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County Volume VIII<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the court transcription reads as follows:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnstis [Antice] Manning and Margert Manning, now Palfrey, for incest, their brother Nicholas Manning being implicated, were committed to prison until morning, and then at Ipswich to be whipped upon the naked body. At the next lecture day at Salem they were to stand or sit upon a high stool during the whole time of the exercise in the open middle alley of the meeting house, with a paper upon each of their heads, with their crime written in capital letters [INCEST, My Whorish Carriage], the constable of Salem to see it performed.\u201d (p. 87-88)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Margaret and Antice were found guilty and made to suffer a punishment of public humiliation known as \u201cbranding.\u201d The magistrates had mercy on the sisters and allowed them to pay a fine instead of being whipped \u2013 and may have even questioned their guilt, because branding was intended to be permanent in most cases. Their brother Nicholas, meanwhile, had fled.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: Hester Prynne at the pillory, wearing her scarlet \u201cA\u201d and holding her illegitimate daughter Pearl, from an 1878 edition of \u201cThe Scarlet Letter.\u201d Credit: Mary Hallock Foote; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hawthorne\u2019s character Hester Prynne in the The Scarlet Letter<\/em> had to permanently wear an embroidered red \u201cA\u201d (for Adultery) on her dress upon her breast, a form of \u201cbranding.\u201d Although they were not branded, it is certain the Manning sisters felt slighted and degraded by society even without the reminder stamped on their bosom.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned for more on the Manning scandal\u2026<\/p>\n

Related Article:<\/strong><\/p>\n