Edward Putnam Jr's third wife, whom he married in 1736/37, was "Martha Nurse widow of Francis Nurse of Reading" (from Eben Putnam's book). I sometimes wonder if Francis Nurse of Reading was related to Rebecca Nurse of Salem Village. Lester On Tue, 18 Mar 2003 13:22:36 -0500 "Cathy Brinkman" <brink@choice.net> writes: > > I'd be interested in "mergers" between descendants of > accusers and > descendants of accused and how long it took. In my line, Rebecca > Nurse > (grand-daughter of accused Rebecca Nurse) married Jonathan Kinne > (grandson > of accuser Henry Kinne) at Sutton, MA. ________________________________________________________________ Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today Only $9.95 per month! Visit www.juno.com

Yes, Francis Nurse of Reading was a Rebecca Nurse descendant. Davis, Walter Goodwin, Massachusetts & Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis (1996) Vol. 3, p. 73. Francis Nurse b. Jan. 3, 1688; m. Jan. 2, 1716/7, Martha Hartshorn; d. May 15, 1733. The widow Martha Nurse m. secondly Feb. 24, 1735, Edward Putnam of Middleton. This Francis was the son of Francis and Sarah (I never can remember whether she's Tarbell or Craggin; Goodwin says Tarbell) Nurse and thus he was a grandson of Rebecca Nurse who was executed in 1692. While researching my possible connection through the Pease family this evening, I realized that I also have a probably descent through Samuel and Ruth (Trumbull) Perley who were the complainants and witnesses in the case against Elizabeth Howe for bewitching their daughter, Hannah. That gives me Rebecca Nurse, John Harwood, Henry Kinne, Samuel & Ruth Perley, and Robert and Sarah Pease, none of which can I prove with certainty... probably because their grandchildren left Salem Village to pioneer other settlements, especially Sutton, MA where the initial keeping of records left something to be desired. It is interesting that Bass, Hist of Braintree VT states of my ancestor Samuel Harwood who was not born until 1743 that he was accused of being a witch "before the Salem witchcraft episode had completely died out" and that he threatened the woman who accused him with a fireplace poker to take back her accusation. It was this statement that originally prompted my interest in the Salem witchcraft trials and of course, I soon realized that Samuel was born way too late to have any connection to the the Salem episode. But, it is said that there is usually a grain of truth in family lore and this grain has lead me to discover the probable descent of Samuel's wife, Lydia Kenney from Rebecca Nurse. Cathy Brinkman Lester M Powers wrote: > Edward Putnam Jr's third wife, whom he married in > 1736/37, was "Martha Nurse widow of Francis Nurse of > Reading" (from Eben Putnam's book). I sometimes wonder > if Francis Nurse of Reading was related to Rebecca Nurse > of Salem Village. > > Lester > > On Tue, 18 Mar 2003 13:22:36 -0500 "Cathy Brinkman" <brink@choice.net> > writes: > > > > I'd be interested in "mergers" between descendants of > > accusers and > > descendants of accused and how long it took. In my line, Rebecca > > Nurse > > (grand-daughter of accused Rebecca Nurse) married Jonathan Kinne > > (grandson > > of accuser Henry Kinne) at Sutton, MA. > > ________________________________________________________________ > Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today > Only $9.95 per month! > Visit www.juno.com