Rebecca Nurse Homestead
1678
In 1636 Francis Weston was granted this land upon which he laid out a farm. This property was purchased by Governor John Endicott in 1648, and in 1678 Francis and Rebecca Nurse moved here and built a house. In March, 1692, 71-year-old Rebecca was accused by children of Salem Village of practicing witchcraft. Nurse, upon hearing of the accusation, exclaimed, “I am innocent as the child unborn, but surely what sin hath God found out in me unrepented of that He should lay such an affliction upon me in my old age?.” Despite the aid of her relatives and friends, Nurse was tried, found guilty, and hanged on June 19, 1692, and her body was secretly brought back to the homestead for burial. On April 19, 1775, Rebecca’s great grandson, Francis Nurse, marched from here to the Lexington Alarm, which began the American Revolution.
Marker is at the intersection of Pine Street and Adams Street, on the left when traveling north on Pine Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
