Dear Flora, Think you'llfind quite a bit on what your looking for at following WEB Address: http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/texts/ Please let me know what you think. Have a great day. Bob

To Jenn: At first glance, there is definitely an error......Rebecca Nurse was a sister to Mary Estey and Sarah Cloyce. Rebecca and Mary were hung and Sara was later released.

Oops, that show is on the History Channel at 8. Sorry.

OK, I was off line so this has probably already been posted ten times, but Salem Witch Trials tonight on PBS at 8. Sue

In a message dated 6/18/99 4:56:52 AM, [email protected] wrote: <<I don't think this is all totally right....>> You are right. Abby

--part1_2b7574f1.249b2b07_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I don't think this is all totally right.... --part1_2b7574f1.249b2b07_boundary Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-path: [email protected] From: [email protected] Full-name: Connjer Message-ID: <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1999 01:57:41 EDT Subject: Salem Witches - part II To: [email protected] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 13 The Witches at Salem - Part II 1692 by Dick Eastman CompuServe Genealogy Forum Miscellaneous notes: Martha Carrier and Rebecca Nurse were sisters. Ann Foster was the mother of Mary Lacy. Mary Lacy of Andover was accused of witchcraft and admitted to it. She said "me and Martha Carrier did both ride on a stick or pole when we went to witch meetings at Salem Village." Ironically, those who confessed to being witches were not executed, but many of those who denied witchcraft were hung. Mary Lacy was allowed to go free after her "confession" but she had damned Martha Carrier in the process. Martha was hung a few weeks later. Mary Lacy's mother, Ann Foster, died in a Salem Dungeon due to ill treatment from Sheriff George Corwin. Sarah Osborne and Sarah Dustin were both convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to be hung but both died in the Salem Dungeon from exposure, ill treatment and lack of adequate food before the sentences could be carried out. Rebecca Nurse was first granted a reprieve by the jury in her witchcraft case. Judge John Hathorne refused to accept the verdict and he convinced the jury to change their verdict. Judge Hathorne is now known as Salem's "witch hanging judge" and also was the great-great-grandfather of Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of the "House of Seven Gables." Rebecca Nurse was 70 years old when executed. Martha Corey was 60 years old when executed. She was generally disliked by her neighbors, something that may have been a contributing factor to her being accused. Years earlier she had given birth to an illegitimate child which apparently had not been well-received by the Puritans of Salem. Reverend George Burroughs had earlier been pastor of the Salem Village church but had left for a parish in Wells, Maine after arguments with Ann Putnam, the mother of the 12-year-old of the same name. In 1692, daughter Ann Putnam testified that Rev. Burroughs had appeared before her in an apparition one night asking her to sign the Devil's books. Two women also appeared in this apparition, Ann Putnam reported that they were the Rev. Burroughs' first and second wives. These wives "told" Ann Putnam that Rev. Burroughs had murdered both of them. Based upon this apparition, Rev. Burroughs was brought back to Salem, tried for witchcraft, found guilty and executed. John Alden, son of the couple John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, was a resident of Boston when accused by the young girls of Salem of witchcraft. Alden was arrested and brought to Salem to face the girls. When Alden approached them in court, the girls who had accused him all fell to the floor in a faint. Alden then turned to Judge Hathorne and said, "What's the reason you don't fall when I look at you?" Hathorne had no answer, but he imprisoned Alden anyway. Three months later John Alden managed to escape from jail and he was never apprehended. Mary Bradbury of Salisbury was found guilty of witchcraft, but managed to escape the jail before execution. She apparently had assistance in this from her friends and relatives, she was never re-captured. Bridget Bishop was the first to be hung for witchcraft. There is still debate today as to whether or not she should be included in the list of Salem witches of 1692. Bridget Bishop had been tried for witchcraft in 1679 and acquitted. She was a twice-widowed tavern owner, owning "an ordinary" on the road between Salem and Beverly. She served a new and powerful drink called "rum" to many of the sailors who frequented her place. The sailors also played an evil new game called "shuffleboard" that upset many of the neighbors. Bridget wore bright clothes, a major offense in the eyes of the Puritans of Salem. Bridget apparently was condemned more for her lifestyle and for the veiled accusations of prostitution that cannot be proven or disproven today. During this time, two dogs were also hung by the neck at Gallows Hill because one of the girls said they had appeared to her as the Devil'sdisciples and gave her the evil eye. There is a popular theory today that mouldy rye was the real cause of the Salem hysteria. An article in "Science Magazine," April 2, 1976, by Linda, Caporael, a University of California graduate student, reveals that the physical afflictions of the accusing girls might have been caused by "Convulsive Ergotism", a disorder resulting from the ingestion of contaminated rye grain. "Rye, which grows in low, wet ground, yields ergot," wrote Miss Caporael. Rye was known to be a staple in the diets of the Salem Puritans. Rye was a common ingredient of bread and was eaten as a cereal. Judge Sewall's diary for the summer of 1692 states that the rye harvest was during a time that was "rainy and warm, hot and stormy." Ergot (claviceps purpura) is spread by a fungus that causes symptoms of hallucination, violent fits, choking, pinching, itching, a crawling sensation in the skin and muscular contractions. Linda Caporael adds that "females and children are more likely to get ergot poisoning than the males. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several young girls and a black servant were the primary instigators of the witchcraft hysteria. Of these, Ann Putnam confessed her fraud 14 years later at the age of 26. She had her minister read the confession at Sunday service "It was a great delusion of Satan that deceived me in that sad time whereby I justly fear I have been instrumental to bring upon myself and this land the guilt of innocent blood." The primary instigator apparently was the black servant Tituba. She was then accused of witchcraft herself, spent 14 months in jail and was finally sold into slavery. The only person who seemed to profit from the witchcraft hysteria was Sheriff George Corwin who confiscated property and pocketed fees collected from the accused and their relatives. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Much of the above information was obtained from: "Witches and Wizards" by Robert Ellis Cahill former Essex County (Mass.) Sheriff and Keeper of the Salem Jail. Supplemental material came from a number of other sources. Back To Family Treasure Time --part1_2b7574f1.249b2b07_boundary--

--part1_47a29d94.249b2adf_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit --part1_47a29d94.249b2adf_boundary Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-path: [email protected] From: [email protected] Full-name: Connjer Message-ID: <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1999 01:56:11 EDT Subject: Salem Witches.....hehehe To: [email protected] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 13 The Witches at Salem 1692 by Dick Eastman CompuServe Genealogy Forum In the long and bitter winter of 1691-1692, several young girls frequently gathered at the parish house of Reverend Samuel Parris where they enjoyed the palmistry and black magic of a black servant woman named Tituba. She and her husband, John Indian, had been slaves who were bought by Rev. Parris while he was a merchant in the West Indies. These sessions apparently fired the imaginations of the girls, several of whom later started performing nightmarish fits and telling tales of witchcraft and of being possessed of evil spirits amongst them in Salem. The primary instigators were Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Parris, daughters of Rev. Parris, along with Ann Putnam, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Warren, Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott, Elizabeth Booth and Susan Sheldon. Ann Putnam was 12 years old, the others were in their mid to late teens. By the time the hysteria had subsided, many of their neighbors had paid the ultimate price. The following is a list of those hanged at Gallows Hill, Salem, Massachusetts for witchcraft: Name/Village or Town/Date Bridget Bishop ---- Salem ---- June 10, 1692 Sarah Good ---- Salem Village (Danvers) ---- July 19, 1692 Susanna Martin ---- Amesbury ---- July 19, 1692 Elizabeth Howe ---- Ipswich ---- July 19, 1692 Rebecca Nurse (or Nourse) ---- Salem Village (Danvers) ---- July 19, 1692 Sarah Wildes ---- Topsfield ---- July 19, 1692 George Jacobs ---- Salem Village (Danvers) ---- Aug. 19, 1692 Martha Carrier ---- Andover ---- Aug. 19, 1692 Reverend George Burroughs ---- Wells, Maine ---- Aug. 19, 1692 John Proctor ---- Salem Village (Peabody) ---- Aug. 19, 1692 John Willard ---- Salem Village (Danvers) ---- Aug. 19, 1692 Martha Corey ---- Salem Village (Peabody) ---- Sep. 22, 1692 Mary Easty ---- Topsfield ---- Sep. 22, 1692 Alice Parker ---- Salem ---- Sep. 22, 1692 Mary Parker ---- Andover ---- Sep. 22, 1692 Ann Prudeater ---- Salem ---- Sep. 22, 1692 Wilmot Reed ---- Marblehead ---- Sep. 22, 1692 Margaret Scott ---- Rowley ---- Sep. 22, 1692 Samuel Wardwell ---- Andover ---- Sep. 22, 1692 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In addition, 80 year old Giles Corey was pressed to death on Sep. 19, 1692 for the "crime" of witchcraft. Giles Corey's execution was dictated because he stood mute in court. He refused to plead either innocent or guilty. He simply stood in silence. Many of Corey's friends believed he remained silent in court because, by doing so under English law, he could leave his property to whomever he pleased. Otherwise, the Sheriff would confiscate it. Giles reportedly was a stubborn, fiery man who realized that he would not get a fair trial. By not pleading one way or the other, English law dictated that a person could not be tried, but the penalty for standing mute was "slow crushing under weights" until a plea was forthcoming or the person died. On Monday, September 19, 1692, 80-year-old Giles Corey was led naked to a pit in the open field beside Salem Jail. He was made to lie down in the pit, then six men lifted heavy stones, placing them one by one, on his stomach and chest. Giles Corey did not cry out, which perplexed Sheriff Corwin whose duty it was to squeeze a confession from the old man. "Do you confess?" the Sheriff cried over and over. More and more rocks were piled onto him, and the Sheriff, from time to time, would stand on the boulders staring down at Corey's bulging eyes. Robert Calef, who was a witness along with other townsfolk, later said, "In the pressing, Giles Corey's tongue was pressed out of his mouth; the Sheriff, with his cane, forced it in again." Three mouthfuls of bread and water were fed to the old man during his many hours of pain. Finally, Giles Corey cried out at Sheriff Corwin, "Damn you. I curse you and Salem!" Giles Corey died a few seconds later. Giles' wife Martha was hung at Gallows Hill three days later. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the spring of 1693, Sir William Phips, Governor of Massachusetts, liberated 168 people in Salem's Witch Dungeon who awaiting the hangman's noose. Several of these people died shortly thereafter from their neglect and abuse in the dungeon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While the term "Salem Witches" is common nowadays, it ignores the fact that most of the accused were not from Salem. The jail and site of executions were in Salem, but the accused were mostly from other towns and villages in the area. Only 10 the 134 who were accused and were held in Salem's Jail were from Salem Towne. The complete count was: Andover..........38 Boxford.............2 Boston...............1 Amesbury..........1 Billerica..............6 Beverly...............6 Charlestown.......3 Chelmsford.........1 Gloucester..........3 Haverhill.............3 Great Island........1 Marblehead........2 Lynn...................7 Malden................1 Reading...............4 Rowley................1 Romney Marsh (today called Revere)...............1 Salisbury.............1 Salem.................10 Salem Village (today this is part of Danvers and of Peabody).........30 Topsfield & Ipswich...7 Wells, Maine..........1 Woburn................3 In addition to the 134 above, another 34 were accused and in various jails awaiting trial when Governor Phips released all the prisoners. Part II ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back To Family Treasure Time --part1_47a29d94.249b2adf_boundary--

In a message dated 6/15/99 7:29:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: > I am a new lister. I descend from Rebecca NURSE and have been > researching my family for 18 years Carol, I sure would be lovely to hear that you descend through Samuel & Mary (Smith) NURSE; Jonathan and Rebecca (Nurse) Kinne. I am actually trying to document all the children and especially grandchildren of Jonathan and Rebecca (Nurse) Kinne in the hope that I can find the parents of Lydia Kenney (b. abt 1755 at Sutton, MA) m. Samuel Harwood 05 January 1775, Sutton MA and moved to Braintree, VT. Nathan Kinne (probably the son of Nathan and Mary (???) Kinne b abt 1751) who m. Lydia Robinson and Eunice Cleveland; and Thomas Kinne b. 03 December 1746 at Sutton, MA who m. Sarah Warren, were both early settlers of Braintree VT and could be brothers, not only to each other, but also to my Lydia. Cathy [email protected]

Greetings from Iowa I am a new lister. I descend from Rebecca NURSE and have been researching my family for 18 years. Carol Ashby 5655 NW 113th St. - Grimes, Iowa 50111

On 6/14/99, Kathy Smith <[email protected]> wrote: >I have a book, _The Devil in the Shape of a Woman_ by Carol F. Karlsen, [snip] >This book should be widely available in bookstores and libraries. This is a terrific feminist approach to the events in Salem -- another one of those "must-reads." Amazon.com has it for $10.40 plus shipping and says it will ship in 2-3 days: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0679721843 Cheers, --Margo Margo Burns, Webweaver [email protected] http://www.ogram.org Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously." -- Chomsky

Does anyone have vital info on Bartholomew Gedney, one of the magistrates in the trials -- a merchant & shipyard owner in Salem Town, and Major of the Essex South Regiment? Many thanks! --Margo Margo Burns, Webweaver [email protected] http://www.ogram.org Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously." -- Chomsky

I have heard their is a book on the genealogy of the Nurse (Nourse) family. Has anyone heard of it or does anyone know where it may be purchased? If anyone has such a copy could you let me know how many generations are included? Names I am researching are: Francis and Rebecca Nurse John and Elizabeth Very (Verry) Nurse Elizabeth Nurse and Joseph Dowty (Doughty) Elizabeth Dowty (Doughty) and Jonathan Southwick Jesse Southwick and Copia (Sophia) White Sarah Southwick and Jonathan Pierce Alanson Pierce and Elizabeth Fowler Ira M Pierce and Lovina McKinnis Lucy Pierce and Jennings Alexander Mock Thanks so much. Jeen from Minnesota

In a message dated 06/14/99 4:05:58 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: << My husband has an old family tree that lists Rachel (Varney) (Cook) (Langton) Vinson(c1633-1707) daughter of William Varney(1608-1654) and Bridget Knight (1611-1672) as a Salem Witch. Does anyone have any information on this? Susan >> Susan, I have a book, _The Devil in the Shape of a Woman_ by Carol F. Karlsen, that mentions Rachel Vinson as a person imprisoned in 1692 for witchcraft. It's in a chapter titled, "The Economic Basis of Witchcraft." Karlsen discusses the fact that Rachel became the sole beneficiary of her husband's estate on his death, because all of his sons had died before his own passing. This book should be widely available in bookstores and libraries. Regards, Kathy Smith

For anyone interested in looking up names using the search engine for B & N Salem Witchcraft Papers <http://[email protected]/selam/witchcraft/texts> click on the link titled Search the Verbatim Transcripts. This will open the search engine page. Enter the last name in the "search for word or phrase" window, and enter one space (using the space bar) after the last letter of the name. This will separate the name as a descrete word for the search engine to find. At the bottom of this search engine page, you'll find a link to "compound search" where you can enter the fist name in the first window and the second sname in the second window. Right now, the search engine cannot find all the varient spellings, but will search only for the precise spellings that you enter. The searching for varient spellings using a sigle standard spelling is function that will be developed a little later one. We're also going to activate the search of documents by date function in the next few weeks. Another way of searching for names in the Boyer and Nissembaum SWP is to go to the like titled "Name index for the print edition." We'll be making this into a functional name/document finding device in a few weeks. Right now it just lists the standardized spellings of names that B & N used for their index and gives you the page number. The fact is that there are more names in the body of the documents than listed in this index, as I recently discovered. Best to all, Benjamin Ray >My husband has an old family tree that lists Rachel (Varney) (Cook) (Langton) >Vinson(c1633-1707) daughter of William Varney(1608-1654) and Bridget Knight >(1611-1672) as a Salem Witch. Does anyone have any information on this? > Susan > >-- >Susan C. Johanson >Springfield, VA >[email protected] >Rootsweb sponsor >NEHGS member >http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/j/o/h/Susan-C-Johanson/ >....I prefer digging in the past to digging in the yard.... . . . . . . . . . . Benjamin Caleb Ray Tel: 804-924-6720 The Daniels Family FAX: 804-924-1467 NEH Distinguished Teaching Professor Department of Religious Studies Cocke Hall, University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 22903

My husband has an old family tree that lists Rachel (Varney) (Cook) (Langton) Vinson(c1633-1707) daughter of William Varney(1608-1654) and Bridget Knight (1611-1672) as a Salem Witch. Does anyone have any information on this? Susan -- Susan C. Johanson Springfield, VA [email protected] Rootsweb sponsor NEHGS member http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/j/o/h/Susan-C-Johanson/ ....I prefer digging in the past to digging in the yard....

Hello all! I just read the following at the UVA eText site (http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/texts/ ) where Boyer & Nissenbaum's Salem Witchcraft Papers (SWP) are available: "A new transcription and chronological organization of the Salem Witchcraft Papers is currently in preparation by Professor Bernard Rosenthal of SUNY Binghamton, to be published by Cambridge University Press." Bernard Rosenthal is the author of "Salem Story: Reading the With Trials of 1692" (Cambridge, New York, 1993) -- a book I highly recommend. He does much to dispell the myths which have grown up around the events by going back and reading the original documents. It is available at Amazon.com if you haven't got it in your library already: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521558204 His project will not be finished for about five years, so don't hold your breath, but for those of us who have been frustrated about not owning a copy of SWP (despite its availability on-line) the promise of a new compilation is terrific news and well worth waiting for. Some new texts have surfaced since the 1977 release of the SWP, and there are apparently some errors in some of the texts which had been carried over from the work done with them in a WPA project of 1938, under the supervision of Archie N. Frost. Rosenthal and his team will be going back to the original manuscripts. B&N's SWP is helpful in giving chunks of info about individuals, but I think that Rosenthal's chronological organization will be very helpful for understanding the big picture. All the best of luck to this venture! Cheers, Margo (your list elf)

On Sun, 6 Jun 1999 15:35:18 EDT, you wrote: >Can anyone give me any information on the family of Elizabeth Bishop b. in >Conn, d. 1710 in Salem? She was supposed to have married Eleazar Giles from >Salem. Settlers of New England Dictionary, Savage: GILE, GUILE, GYLES, or GILES, DANIEL, Salem 1689, fisherman. "EDWARD, Salem, freem. 14 May 1634, m. wid. Bridget Very, had there bapt. Mehitable, 2 Apr. 1637; Remember, 23 June 1639; Eleazur, 27 Nov. 1640; and John, 11 May 1645. He d. prob. a. 1650. His wid. long outliv. him, made her will 14 Jan. 1669, pro. 30 Nov. 1680, giv. est. to ch. Samuel and Thomas Very, the latter of Gloucester, Mary, w. of Thomas Cutler of Reading, and Eleazur, John, and perhaps other Giles ch. Mehitable m. 9 Mar. 1659, John Collins of Gloucester; and Remember m. 1 Apr. 1659, Henry Moses of S." "ELEAZUR, Salem, s. of the preced. m. 25 Jan. 1665, at Lynn, Sarah More, perhaps sis. of James, or George, or Richard, or all three, had Sarah, b. 1 Jan. 1666; Eliz. 7 Dec. 1667; Hannah, Feb. 1670; Mary, 14 Feb. 1672; Susanna, 1 Mar. 1674; and Eleazur, 3 Mar. 1676, wh. prob. d. in youth; and his w. d. 9 May 1676. He m. 25 Sept. 1677, Eliz. d. of James Bishop of New Haven, had James b. 15 Nov. 1679, d. under 10 yrs.; John, 31 Aug. 1681; Abigail, 7 Dec. 1684; Ruth, 12 July 1687; Edward, 28 Apr. 1689; James, again, 15 May 1691; Samuel, 17 Dec. 1694; Eleazur, again, 8 July 1698; and Mehitable, 11 Apr. 1701. He d. prob. 1726, and his wid. d. 1732 or 3." For more on your heritage, see: http://members.tripod.com/~ntgen/bw/index.html Particularly, look under: Very, Scudder, Stoughton. You are both a Scudder and a Giles, related to the Very's by a common mother, and are related to the American Scudder families who came from the widow Elizabeth Stoughton: John Scudder, of Barnstable, and Elizabeth Scudder, who md Samuel Lathrop; as well as the Salem Scudders, and Joanna Chamberlain who married Richard Betts of Newtown, Long Island, New York. This interesting network of relationships is from: TAG 72:285-300, 1997: A New England Immigrant Kinship Network, Jane Fletcher Fiske, F. A. S. G., (Editor of NEHGR, but contributor/author of this TAG article.) Norris -- Silver Bullet <[email protected]> Home Page: http://members.aol.com/ntgen/index.html - -------------------------------------

Can anyone give me any information on the family of Elizabeth Bishop b. in Conn, d. 1710 in Salem? She was supposed to have married Eleazar Giles from Salem. Thanks, Jenn

I'm looking for info on James and Martha Nurse Giles of Salem, Mass. Their daughter <Biel, Abial, or Abigail> was born in 1745 and married David Stockwell of Sutton, Mass. Does anyone have any info on this family??? I'm at a stand still with them. Any info would be GREATLY appreciated!!! Jenn

Dear All: I have been researching the Salem Witch Hysteria for about 4 months. I have been most impressed with all of the descendants and their convictions for the truth from this 'List.' Many of you have put endless hours into best understanding how something so absorb got so out of control. I would like to hear from you. Those of you who are only researching your family tree may wish to disregard the rest of this message. I, like most people across the country, was ignorant to the facts. I was shocked to find out how the hysteria led to the deaths of so many innocent people. As we all know, there are so many theories as to why it started. There's not just one possibility, but several. My goal is to write a screenplay about the Witch trials. "The Crucible" hit and missed on the facts, the love romance infuriated many of you. And, I don't blame you for your anger, as the truth as much as we can interpret it, deserves to be heard. In my research, I'm also studying Puritan behavior and many other facets that would have acted as catalysts in the hysteria. Whatever I end up doing with my research, my conviction is to tell the story as best I can from my interpretation of the facts and other strong possibilities leading to the craze. Your ancestors deserve nothing less than the truth being shared. I understand where Arthur Miller was coming from, but if the story can't be told on screen, giving your ancestors the total respect they deserve, I won't do it. I need your help in doing so. I want to share with you a few facts about screenplays, as they are limiting to the Writer. It takes endless hours of dedication to put truth in a form of entertainment. Schindler's List, in its perfection, is a great example. One can't write with the detail as you can in a novel. That's why books are often considered better than the adapted screenplay. One must try to tell a story where you grab as many viewers as possible. This is extremely HARD work. This story should be told to many, especially the younger generations. It's an awareness that should be heard. By far, movies grab more "numbers." Awareness is in numbers and I want this truth to be heard in numbers. A screenplay usually entails a time period of 3-4 days. It has one or two main characters in discovery or rediscovery, a handful of supporting characters, a major conflict (don't we have one), usually a love interest, and resolution. There are other guidelines and one's creativity may take writer's liberty. Characters are best portrayed by the writer if their life is developed from birth to the time of the writing (even the life of their families before them). With this information, the writer can develop strong characters for the screenplay. You have to get into the minds of your characters. If you don't, you can't tell their story. Each of you that are willing to share with me will have strong convictions about your interpretation of what happened, as well as the people involved. Help me understand and present the veracity. Tell your story as if I have come to your country home to interview you. We're sitting in rockers on the front porch sipping on fresh squeezed lemonade. Please share with me. In advance I am sending my thanks and appreciation for your time invested. Cindy