Francis Nurse

Francis Nourse

• Birth: circa 1618 - Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England (also seen as Bristol UK)
• Death: Nov 22 1695 - Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony
• Parents: unknown [not a known son of Rev. Edward Norris, of Salem & Elinor Norris]

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Family

Francis Nourse married [Rebecca Towne] on August 24, 1644. She and her husband were members of the First Church of Salem, and he was a deacon."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Nurse

They raised their family in Salem village (modern day Danvers, Massachusetts). The couple had eight children: four daughters and four sons. Their names were

1. John Nurse (born 1645), married on November 1, 1672, Elizabeth, daughter of John Smith. She was born June 5, 1662 and died October 12, 1673. He married second Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel and Alice Very/Vary, on August 17, 1677.
2. Rebecca Nurse (born 1647), died 1719; married April 15, 1669, Thomas Preston [7] born at Ipswich in 1643, son of Robert and Martha Preston
3. Samuel Nurse (born 1649), married Mary Smith, daughter of John on April 5, 1677. [7] [2] [5] Died July 15, 1715
4. Sarah Nurse (born 1662) (born 1652 according to Torrey); married Michel Bowden of Marblehead and Salem in 1669
5. Elizabeth Nurse (born 1655 or 1656), Elizabeth born January 9, 1665; married William Russel, son of William and Elizabeth Russell, of Salem Village on October 25, 1678 [25: 8m: 1678]
6. Mary Nurse (born 1657 – 28 June 1749), Mary married John Tarbell at Salem, on October 25, 1678. She died June 28, 1749 in her 90th year.
7. Francis Nurse (born 1660 or 1661),
8. Benjamin Nurse (born in 1665 or 1666). died in 1748; married first Tomasin/Tamesin/Thamesin Smith on February 21, 1688. She was born at Salem 1: 2m: 1671, daughter of John and Margaret (Buffum) Smith. [7] ; married second Elizabeth Morse, widow of Joseph Morse, daughter of John and Mary Sawtelle.

In 1672, Francis Nurse served as Salem's Constable. It was later written that Rebecca had "acquired a reputation for exemplary piety that was virtually unchallenged in the community," making her one of the "unlikely" persons to be accused of witchcraft.

Rebecca Nurse is the ancestor of several notable people, including Mitt Romney, Zach Braff, and Lucille Ball.[15]

Francis died at age 77 at Salem Village on November 22, 1695. [2] [7] [8] His death was recorded in the Danvers Church Record. [9]

His last Will was dated December 4, 1694, and proved on December 23, 1695. His estate to be divided equally among his eight children:

• John Nurse,
• Samuel Nurse,
• Francis Nurse,
• Benjamin Nurse,
• Michael Bowden,
• Thomas Presson,
• John Tarbell,
• William Russell.

The will also mentions grandson John a son of John Nurse. [10]

From "Salem Witchcraft" Volume 1 by Charles W. Upham:

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17845/17845-h/salem1-htm.html

Nothing, or scarcely any thing, can be inferred from spelling. It was wholly unsettled among the best-educated men, and in the practice of the same person... The name of the Nurses was often written Nourse, and sometimes Nurs.

...

The terms "Goodman" and "Goodwife" were applied to the heads of families. The latter word was abbreviated to "Goody," but not at all, as our dictionaries have it, as a "low term of civility." It was applied to the most honored matrons... It was a term of respect; conveying, perhaps, an affectionate sentiment, but not in the slightest degree disrespectful, derogatory, or belittling.

Surely no better terms were ever used to characterize a worthy person. "Goodman" comprehends all that can be ascribed to a citizen of mature years in the way of commendation; and the whole catalogue of pretentious titles ever given by flatterers or courtiers to a married lady cannot, all combined, convey a higher encomium than the term "Goodwife."

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Please refer to the timeline tab for events in Francis Nurse's life.

"On account of the witchcraft delusion in Salem, [Francis] and his wife became historical characters. The name of Rebecca Nurse (or Nourse) is perhaps the best known of all of its unfortunate victims.

Francis Nourse was an early settler in Salem, and was a proprietor of the town 1647. He lived for forty years near Sperry's, on North River Street, between the main village and the ferry to Beverly. He was a woodworker, called a tray-maker. In those days, wooden trays and dishes were the rule; there was little pewter, less silver and china, and the plates, trays and trenchers of wood were the ordinary dishes.

He was a skilled workman, and a respectable man of great stability and strength of character. He was called frequently as umpire and arbitrator in cases of dispute over land boundaries. He served on local committees to lay out grants and highways, and on juries. He bought the Bishop farm of some three hundred acres at Salem village, April 29, 1678, and settled there. His sons all built their homesand lived on it, and were men of influence in town and church; were prosperous, and it is believed that their success in acquiring a large estate, paying for it and prospering, was the cause of the charges against wife and mother, Rebecca Nourse.

The story of her trial is well known. She was arrested and protested her innocence on the charge of witchcraft. With steadfast dignity and unwavering patience she bore the ordeal of her trial. Thirty-nine of her friends among the highest and most respectable in the town, signed a statement testifying to her blameless character and faithfulness to the church. These names have been inscribed on a tablet on the memorial recently erected over her grave in Danvers.

They jury found her not guilty, but the court reversed the verdict and condemned her to death. She was hanged on Witch Hill, and buried in the little cemetery at Danvers.

https://norfolktalesmyths.com/tag/francis-nurse/

… Four years later, Rebecca Towne met nineteen year old Francis Nurse who was a “tray maker” by trade but more than likely also made many other wooden household items. Due to the rarity of such household goods, artisans of that medium would have been highly regarded. Rebecca married Francis Nurse on 24 August 1644, after which they went on to live for the next 30 years in the more thickly settled part of Salem, “near Skerry’s” not far from where the bridge crosses to Beverley. During this time they had four sons and four daughters, all but one of them married by the fateful year of 1692. As for Rebecca, she had “acquired a reputation for exemplary piety that was virtually unchallenged in the community” and became a long standing member of the Salem church; but she was also known for occasionally losing her temper. In 1672, Francis served as Salem’s Constable and was regularly asked to act as unofficial judge to help settle disputes in the village.

Rebecca Nurse’s House, built 1636. (Photo: copyright owner unknown).

References

• "Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts"; William Richard Cutter Published in 1908 (Page 1489).
• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jan 24 2017, 18:43:38 UTC
• New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1568/rd/21175/1104/426897922
• https://famouskin.com/family-group.php?name=3579+rebecca+nurse&ahnum=1
• Case 19688: p. 1-10: Essex County, Massachusetts: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) Francis Nurse # 19688 Dec 23, 1695. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB515/i/13788/19688-co1/245895816
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Nurse-4
• Ames, John D. A Genealogy of the Nurse Family Through Five Generations in: Putnam, Eben, editor. The Genealogical Magazine, Volumes 3-5, Putnam's Monthly Magazine, Salem Press and Genealogical Record, 1893, p. 100-1. <GoogleBooks>
• Our colonial and continental ancestors : the ancestry of Mr. and Mrs. Louis William Dommerich / by Louis Effingham de Forest. by De Forest, Louis Effinghan, 1891- (Publication date 1930). “Francis Nurse.” Chart XLVll. <Archive.Org>
• Perley, Sidney History of Salem 1638 - 1670 (link - https://books.google.com/books?id=uX8lAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA143&lpg=PA143&d...)

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Francis Nurse

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/50647036/francis-nurse

"On account of the witchcraft delusion in Salem, Francis and his wife became historical characters. The name of Rebecca Nurse (or Nourse) is perhaps the best known of all of its unfortunate victims.

Variations of Last Name: Norris Nourse Nurse

Francis Nourse was an early settler in Salem, and was a proprietor of the town 1647. He lived for forty years near Sperry's, on North River Street, between the main village and the ferry to Beverly. He was a woodworker, called a tray-maker. In those days, wooden trays and dishes were the rule; there was little pewter, less silver and china, and the plates, trays and trenchers of wood were the ordinary dishes.

He was a skilled workman, and a respectable man of great stability and strength of character. He was called frequently as umpire and arbitrator in cases of dispute over land boundaries. He served on local committees to lay out grants and highways, and on juries. He bought the Bishop farm of some three hundred acres at Salem village, April 29, 1678, and settled there. His sons all built their homesand lived on it, and were men of influence in town and church; were prosperous, and it is believed that their success in acquiring a large estate, paying for it and prospering, was the cause of the charges against wife and mother, Rebecca Nourse.

The story of her trial is well known. She was arrested and protested her innocence on the charge of witchcraft. With steadfast dignity and unwavering patience she bore the ordeal of her trial. Thirty-nine of her friends among the highest and most respectable in the town, signed a statement testifying to her blameless character and faithfulness to the church. These names have been inscribed on a tablet on the memorial recently erected over her grave in Danvers.

They jury found her not guilty, but the court reversed the verdict and condemned her to death. She was hanged on Witch Hill, and buried in the little cemetery at Danvers.

Francis Nourse married [Rebecca] on August 24, 1644...She and her husband were members of the First Church of Salem, and he was a deacon."

--- "Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts;" William Richard Cutter Published in 1908 (Page 1,489).