Rebecca Nurse (21 February 1621 – 19 July 1692) was a respected member of the community of Salem, Massachusetts who was executed by hanging after being condemned as a witch during the Salem Witch Trials.
Biography[]
Rebecca Nurse was born on 21 February 1621 in Great Yarmouth, England, and in 1640 her family settled in Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony after emigrating to America. She married the tray maker Francis Nurse, a respected artisan, in 1644 and lived on a 300-acre estate, and the Nurse family was respected by the people of Salem. However, the family had land disputes with Thomas Putnam and his family, and Putnam's daughter Ruth Putnam accused Nurse of being a witch. Although she was very pious and obviously innocent, she was condemned to death by Judge Thomas Danforth and the court after Ruth Putnam claimed that she was tormenting her, and Nurse, John Proctor, and Martha Corey were hanged on 19 July 1692 while reciting the "Our Father" prayer.