Ewing family members may be interested to know that we have a personal connection with one of the infamous Salem witch trials. Indeed, one of direct ancestors was executed as a witch in 1692. Here's the full story:
Our ancestors William Towne and Joanna Blessing were married 25 April 1620 in St. Nicholas Parish Church, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. William and Joanna had eight children in Yarmouth, including four daughters: Mary (our direct ancestor), Rebecca, Susan (who died in childhood) and Sarah. William, Joanna and all their children emigrated from England to Massachusetts with Gov. Winthrop's fleet about 1635.
The three Towne girls thrived and eventually married fairly well-to-do men: Mary married Isaac Eastey, Rebecca married Francis Nurse, and Sarah married Peter Cloyse (her second husband, actually). Rebecca settled in Salem, but Sarah and Mary resided nearby in Topsfield, MA.
The Salem witch hunts didn't begin until all three sisters were somewhat older, in their late 50's and 60's. Mary was 58 years old when the hysterical young girls identified all three sisters as being among the "disembodied spirits" who had been terrifying the girls... Of the 19 people eventually executed for witchcraft in Salem (although 6 others died in jail as confessions were "elicited" bringing the grand total to 25), two of those who were killed were Rebecca Nurse and Mary Easty, the daughters of William and Joanna Towne. The following quotes are taken from a University of Virginia internet archive about the Salem witch trials:
"Rebecca Nurse was an elderly and respected member of the Salem Village community. She was accused of witchcraft by several of the "afflicted" girls in the Village in March of 1692. Although a large number of friends, neighbors and family members wrote petitions testifying to her innocence, she was tried for acts of witchcraft in June, 1692. The jury first returned a "not guilty" verdict, but was told to reconsider, and then brought in a verdict of "guilty." Governor Phips pardoned her, but was later persuaded to reverse his decision by several men from Salem. She was hanged on July 19, 1692."
"The story of Mary Easty...usually draws the portrait, now legendary, of a courageous martyr fighting for her innocence. Her case gives insight into the workings of the trials, and her eloquent and legally astute petitions have been said to help bring them to an end."
"Mary Easty was not a member of Salem Town or Village, but a resident of Topsfield, a settlement just north of the Village. Animosity had festered between members of Salem Village and Topsfield since 1639 when the General Court of Massachusetts granted Salem permission to expand northward in the direction of the Ipswich River, but then only four years later the same court authorized inhabitants of another Village, Ipswich, to found a settlement there. As land became scarcer, quarrels regarding boundaries between the settlement to become known as Topsfield and Salem went on for a century. The Putnams of Salem Village embodied this battle in their quarrels with the Nurse family, Mary Easty's brother-in-law.... it can be seen as no coincidence that the three Towne sisters, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Cloyce and Mary Easty, were....all persecuted by Putnam women in 1692 on behalf of Putnam men."
"More interesting than the accusations against Easty is her experience during the trials. She was accused on April 21, examined on the 22nd, and imprisoned after denying her guilt. Her famoous denial: "Sir, I never complied but prayed against [the devil] all my dayes... I will say it, if it was my last time, I am clear of this sin."
"In a surprising moment, Hathorne, clearly affected by the convincing manner with which Easty spoke, turned to the accusers and asked, "Are you certain this is the woman?" This question acted as a symbol for the accusers to release their full energy into tormented fits. Hathorne was now convinced and imprisoned Easty."
"The girls, however, seemed not to be fully convinced of their own accusations. Perhaps due to pressure from community around Easty, all of the accusers except Mercy Lewis began to back off their claims and Easty was released from jail on May 18....After Easty's release, Mercy Lewis fell into violent fits and appeared to be approaching death. Mercy later explained that Easty was tormenting her, and "said [Easty] would kill [her] before midnight..."... Mercy's fits did not cease until Easty was back in prison..."
"While Easty remained in jail awaiting her September 9 trial, she and her sister, Sarah Cloyce, composed a petition to the magistrates in which they asked, essentially, for a fair trial. They complained that they were "neither able to plead our owne cause, nor is councell allowed." ...The petition did not change the outcome of Easty's trial, for she was condemned to hang on September 17th."
"Easty's second petition was written not as a last attempt to save her own life but as a plea that "no more innocent blood may be shed." She concedes saying that the court had the best of intentions, but only more innocent deaths would occur if the court continued its practices, for she like many others could not "belie [their] own soul."
"Easty was hanged on September 22, 1692. Her demeanor at Gallows Hill is documented by Calef: "when she took her last farewell of her husband, children and friends, was, as is reported by them present, as serious, religious, distinct, and affectionate as could well be exprest, drawing tears from the eyes of almost all present."
"The trials ended nine months after they began, and Sarah was never brought to trial when the Colonial Courts recognized their grave error in the execution of innocent people."
In 1711, the village of Salem offered an apology to the descendants of Mary Towne, admitting that she had been wrongly accused and killed during that bizarre episode.