The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-01-12
FROM We D TYNE.
TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF MRS.
NOURSE.
A Little Story of the Days When They
Stood in Fear of Witches.

The Boston Globe publishes the follow
ing regarding the trial and execution of
Rcbccca Nourse, who was sacrificed to,
that strange religious Molock, Salem
~witchcraft, in 1852. The magistrate
CHawthorne) mentioned, was an ancestor
OF Nathaniel Hawthorne, and is no
doubt the original of Colonel Pynchcon,
In the Scarlet Letter.
The life and death of Rebecca Nourse
form a sad chapter in the history of
Salem. Tradition says that she was a
beautiful woman, past middle age,
and respected by all who knew her.
from the time she first entered the town
until. i'll accordance with the popular
superstition of witchcraft, she fell a
victim to her ncighborH' displcasure, and
calmly went to her death on Gallows hill.
with the promptness which character
lZcd her peoples acts ON religious sub
Jccts, -four indictments were sworn out
against her, n the wife of Francis
NourSe, one of the most respectable
citizens of the dclu>ied town, was
brought into court.
In her old age, cr~,riencing q full
share Of the delicate irmitics which
the instincts of humanity required to be
treated with tender consideration, she
was ruthlcssly snatchcd from the midst
of q loving family and made to feel the
horrors of a criminals life and death
to please the imaginative md rcligiously
crazcd people.
OF her early life little cen be said. She
was born in Yarmouth. England, in
1921. but came to this country and set
tied in married state, having two sons.
For many years she was one of the lead
ing sisters IN the First Church., and was
actively engaged in all religious work.
How the fatal hand of suspicion settled
on her has never been asc~crtainrI. but
it is known that her examination came
oil in the First Parish Church. The
age, character and appearance of the
prisoner made the occasion one of I'M
usual interest. The building was
crowded. Hawthorne, the magistrate,
began the proceedings by addressing one
of her accusers.
elias this woman ever hurt you!"
"Ycs' was the reply.
"What do you say to that!" Ito the
prisoncr.)
In a clear but low voice the woman
replied:
II can say before my Eternal Father l
am innocent, and God will clear my in
~nocency." Their followed the investiga-
ton. With the customary unrelenting
character of the accusers u deaf ear was
turned to the eloquent appeals of the
wife and mother, who seemed to speak
by divine inspiration for life and lib
erty. So clear was her defence that no
possible case could be made out against
her, butdespite it all, she was kept with
in the arm of the law, and without re-
gard to justice sent to Jail. Mrs. Nourse,
90 hoe 1nny, cnII 1x,nc a .-,-., I,,~, ~r~
man, and probably the hardest blow of
of which she was Il member. The rec
ords still preserved read as follows
"Aftcr the sacrament the elders pro-
pounded to the church, and it was by
unanimous vote consented to that our
Sister NOurse, being a convicted witch,
and condemned to die, be excommuni-
Gated, which was accordingly done in the
afternoon, she being present."
Then came the day Of execution, july
10, 1892, At an early hour the little
village was bristling with activity.
"The devils angel ON earth" was to be
punished with the death she deserved,
and so the Puritan maidcns attired them
selves in holiday dress to honor the
event. The procession to the gallows
was a long one, scores of people from
the neighboring towns and villages talk
ing part. The victim manucIed and
guarded by the sheriff and his deputy,
headed the line, while close behind fol-
lowed troops of men and women who
laughed, deeming it rare sport to sec the
agonized faces of the terror-stricken
family us they watched tie mother and
wife grow pale, and trcmble as she be-
gan the ascent of the rocky cliff whose
top was crowned with the instrument of
death. 1t is impossible in words to de-
pict the scene of the execution in the
horrible colors in which tradition has
painted it. With firm steps and eyes
upturned to heaven the gray-haircd wo-
man took her place .on the drop. Silently
the hangman tied the rope before the
eager, waiting assembly; then Il mo-
mentary hush passed over the crowd
the e~xecutioner's duty done. A moment
later all that was left to tell the story
was the body of the aged woman swing
ing gently in the summer wind.
Seldom has woman met with a harder
fate. Her body was thrown with the
previous victims into a hole in the crew
ice of the rocks and hastily covered with
earth. Then the masses of spectators
turned homcward, leaving the bercaved
family at the homestead uncared for and
ignored by their once firm friends.