James and Martha, Samuel, and Jotham Nute: Three Generations in Colonial Dover, New Hampshire

Our Nute line remained in Dover for another three generations after James Sr. arrived in the New World. James Sr.’s two children, James Jr. (1643-1691) and Martha (1653-1718), are both direct ancestors, but they would converge two generations later when a grandchild of each, i.e., second cousins, marry each other.

We have a plethora of James, Williams, Elizabeths, Leahs, Sarahs, and Samuels, a bane to family history writers and readers alike. Bear with me. I'll try to make it as painless as possible.

Martha Nute, 8th GGM and the Dam Garrison

Martha (1653-1718) was the 4th child of James Nute Sr. In 1780, she married William Dam (1653-1718), son of 9th GGF John Dam (1611-1690) who was an early immigrant to Dover around the same time frame as our James Sr. Both James Nute and John Dam received land grands on the Back River; indeed, their lots were adjoining and Martha married the proverbial boy next door. 

William and Martha’s daughter, Leah (1695-1750) married 7th GGF Samuel Hayes (1695-1777) and their daughter, 6th GGM Mary Hayes (1728-1759) married second cousin Jotham Nute (1724-1801). Thus, the full circle comes back to the Nute family line.

Things weren’t, however, all peachy-keen between the two families. A 1709 row between the Nutes and the “whole Dam family” over a thatch bed was described as,

William Dam, Jr. (Leah’s brother) testified - “say we see James Nute (James Jr.’s son) throw our father (8th GGF) William Dam down and also call him thief and threaten to cut off his legs and bid him kiss his ass and also Richard Pinkham by violence thrown our father William down several times and hold him and called him thief.” Richard Pinkham further testified “(9th GGF) William Dam Sr. and William Dam Jr. and Jacob Allen (8th GGM Martha Nute’s son-in-law) and Martha Dam (daughter) and Sarah Dam (daughter) carry away ye thatch which James Nute had mowed and further saith he hear William Dam Jr. say he would run his pitchfork into ye James Nute’s belly or guts.” 

No love lost here between the Dam and Nute families.

Martha’s father-in-law, 9th GGF John Dam, was a carpenter and joiner. In 1656, he purchased Back River Lot 13 adjoining his Lots 11 and 12 and the Nute Lot 10, and gave the land to son William Dam on turning 21. Just before their marriage in 1675, John built a palisaded garrison for Martha and William, Jr. The garrison was spared in the 1689 Cochecho Massacre, likely due to its location across the Back River. 

Visiting the Dam garrison housed in the Woodman Institute, 2015

Dam-Drew garrison before removal to the Woodman Institute in 1915, pulled on log rollers several miles and across a bridge

The original garrison houses had no windows, only slits for rifles. The windows in the photo were likely added around the time of the Civil War. The large attic overhang had openings that allowed the women to pour boiling water on the attackers. Many had a palisade inside which about 100 people could fit if needed.

The couple lived in the garrison house for several decades and passed it down to their daughter, 7th GGM Leah Dam, who married Samuel Hayes in 1720. Samuel and Leah lived in the garrison until 1770 when it passed to Leah’s granddaughter, Leah Nute, who married Joseph Drew the following year. Joseph and Leah Nute Drew lived in the garrison until 1810 when they moved into a mansion. The garrison, however, remained in the Drew family until its removal to the Woodman Institute on the other side of the Bellamy River (Back River) in 1915. The garrison was in the Dam-Nute-Drew family for 240 years, and is today’s direct connection to the first families to settle Dover - our Nute and Dam families.

8th GGF William Dam died in March 1718, age 64, and Martha followed two months later in May 1718, age 65. They are both buried in the Nute-Dam Cemetery on the bank of the Back River with graves marked by etched stones. Daughter, Leah, is also buried in the cemetery, originally with an etched stone, but someone has placed a relatively recent headstone.

Leah in Nute-Dam cemetery

James Nute Jr. (1643-1691), 8th GGF

The eldest son of James the Immigrant lived on the Nute homestead his entire life, begat four children, and died at the young age of 48. Town records show James' level of involvement in the growing community was less than his father’s, perhaps as the Farm was across the Back River from town.

James married Elizabeth Heard (1653-1705), daughter of 9th GGPs Captain John Heard (1612-1688) and Elizabeth Hull (1628-1710), both English immigrants. Captain Heard built a defense garrison in the Cochecho area, but died just before the massacre of 1689.

The story is told that the widow Elizabeth, a daughter, and three sons were returning by boat to the settlement from Portsmouth the night of the massacre. As the family approached the Waldron garrison, they spotted trouble and fled. Elizabeth was unable to keep up with the others and ordered them to leave her behind. While hiding in the thicket through the night, she was spotted by a young Abanaki Indian who raised his gun, aimed, then turned away. It is said Elizabeth had saved this Indian’s life as a youth several years earlier.

James and the younger Elizabeth Heard married in 1675 and raised four children on the Nute farm:

Sarah (1675-1762) m. William Furber IV

Leah (1680-1748) m. 1st, Jethro Furber, brother to William, and 2nd, Hatevil Nutter

James III (1687-1759) m. Prudence, last name unknown 

SAMUEL (1689-1765) m. ELIZABETH Pinkham (1688-1765)

Father James Jr. died at the young age of 48 in 1691, leaving a 38 year old widow, Elizabeth, with  four young children, ages two to 16 years old. 

Elizabeth remarried three years later to Lt. William Furber whose wife had also just died, leaving him with  several young children as well. Lt. Furber’s first wife was from the Starbuck mariner family who founded the whaling industry on Nantucket. His father, an early Dover settler, was a survivor of the wreck of the Angel Gabriel off the coast of Maine during a hurricane in 1635; a brother and nephew were lost at sea in 1686.  Lt. William ran the Furber ferry service from his house at Welchman’s Cove (Bloody Point), Newington, to Oyster River.

James III was only four years old and our 8th GGF Samuel two years old at the time of their father’s death. James Jr.’s will left two thirds of the house and land to the eldest son, James III, when he came of age. The other three children, including Samuel, were only to have equal shares of the “moveables.” The widow was ordered to have the children’s estate bound out to “prentice” until she remarried in which case her one-third of the estate would be secured for the good of her children.

James III lived in the family homestead in Dover, but acquired land in Rochester, New Hampshire, the community north of Dover. At his death, he bequeathed the land to his sons Paul and James IV. This acquisition shows the Nute family was already getting land outside Dover by the third generation. Giving almost everything to the first-born son was clearly making the land situation tight in Dover, particularly for the younger sons. Disease and Indian wars had well decimated the Native population in New England by the 1700’s, making land acquisition easier for the earlier white colonists.

The two daughters, Sarah and Leah, married their Furber step-brothers, William and Jethro. Jethro died in 1715, five years after marriage to Leah. Several months later, the widow Leah took her sister’s husband to court on a boundary dispute. Not much love lost here.

Elizabeth died at the young age of 52 after “five days of extreme sickness with fever and malaise.” The burial of Elizabeth and Lt. William Furber is presumably on the Furber family homestead at Welchman’s Cove.

The burial site of James Nute, Jr. is unknown. As he lived and died on the Nute farm, internment in the Nute-Dam cemetery with an unmarked or lost stone would be a reasonable assumption.

Samuel Nute (1689-1765), 7th GGF

Samuel was two years old when his father died, five years old when his mother remarried, and 18 when his step-father, Lt. Furber, died. He may well have grown up on the Furber homestead at Welchman’s Cove, but the town history of Dover shows he had a home in Dover as an adult.  A 1707/8 notation in James Jr.’s probate indicates guardianship of Samuel Nute, age about 18, was granted to Jethro Furber, his future brother-in-law. This would have been about the time his step-father, Lt. William, died. The notation appears to be an addendum. The guardianship may have been an apprenticeship.

In 1718, Samuel married Elizabeth Pinkham (1688-1765), age 30, old for a woman’s first marriage in those days, but there is no record of a previous marriage. Elizabeth, our 7th GGM, was a direct descendant of Henry III, King of England and Eleanor of Provence through her grandmother, Rose Stoughton, wife of Richard Otis. Henry III is, thus, our 21st GGF to my generation.

Elizabeth’s grandparents, Richard Pinkham and Richard Otis, were both early arrivals in Dover and both families had garrison houses. 9th GGF Richard Otis, and two of his children were killed in the Cochecho massacre in 1689. Her 39 year old uncle, Stephen Otis, was killed in the garrison fight. Elizabeth’s young cousin, three-month old Margaret, was taken captive to Canada, renamed Christine, and raised by French nuns in Quebec. Elizabeth’s mother, 8th GGM Martha Rose Otis was taken captive, but released in Conway, New Hampshire.

Indians ambushed Elizabeth’s uncles, Nicholas and Richard Otis, and cousin while they were returning home from public worship in 1696. Nicholas, was killed, Richard wounded, and Nicholas’ son was carried away to Penobscot.

Scales’ History of Dover indicates Samuel and Elizabeth lived “on the north side of the road leading from the main road to the old Pascataqua bridge to Capt. Thomas Nute’s (the original Nute homestead).”

Children of Samuel Nute and Elizabeth Pinkham:

JOTHAM (1724-1801) m. Mary Canney, 6th GGPs. Their son Jotham, enlisted in the Revolution at age 16; son, William, fought with the 3rd New Hampshire in the War of 1812.

John (1728-1800) m. Hepzibeth last name unknown; their son, Samuel (1749-1828) was a Captain in the Revolution and fought at Bunker Hill.

Sarah (1729-aft 1777) m. Josiah Clark

Martha (1732-1783) m. Benjamin Dam

Elizabeth (1736-bef. 1765) m. unknown Nute; her son, Obed, likely served three years in the Continental Army from Massachusetts.

Samuel and Elizabeth died the same year in 1765, he at age 75 and she age 77. His will written the year before indicates he had “homestead lands,” pasture land, corn, hay, and fruit orchard. The property had a barn and cellar under the house. Son, John, received 60 acres of the first division in Rochester on which John was already living, as well as title to Samuel’s acreage in the third division. Son, 6th GGF Jotham, received the Dover homestead land, barn, and farm equipment, 12 additional acres in Dover, and land in the second division in Rochester. He left 50 pounds cash each to daughter Sarah and grandson Obed, and a feather bed and livestock to his granddaughter Elizabeth.

As an aside, there is a curious story about the grandson, Obed. Samuel’s first will in 1749 left property to his youngest daughter, Elizabeth, but he changed his will in 1764 leaving money to Elizabeth’s son, Obed. Evidently, Elizabeth, the youngest daughter, married an unknown Nute after 1749 and was deceased at the time of the second will. Obed married and moved near Casco Bay, Maine. He had a son, also Obed, then suddenly disappeared when the child was three-weeks old. Obed, Sr. was last seen sitting on a log beside the trail between his home and Casco Bay where he had gone for provisions. He appeared ill, but refused assistance. It is believed Obed did not die, but absconded from his family responsibilities. A man by the same name enlisted in the Continental Army in Framingham, Massachusetts, two years later (1776) and served 3 years. The Goodspeed genealogy identifies the wife as Thankful Bangs who moved to the Cape Cod area with young Obed and married John Goodspeed.

Jotham Nute (1724-1801), 6th GGF

Indian attacks continued in the Dover area, with the last foray at Knox Marsh in 1725 when members of a Quaker family who refused to use the garrisons for shelter were killed or captured.

6th GGF Jotham Nute was born around the time of the Knox massacre and remained in Dover most of his life. His father’s will indicates Jotham inherited the land referred to in Scales History of Dover on which his father Samuel and Phebe lived.

Jotham married 6th GGM Mary Hayes (1728-1759) in Dover before 1749, the year our 5th GGF Samuel was born to the couple. No marriage records have been located. Jotham and Mary were third cousins with shared great-grandparents, immigrants James and Sarah Nute.

Mary Hayes’ paternal grandfather, 8th GGF John Hayes, immigrated from England or Scotland about 1680 and settled in Dover. Mary’s maternal GGF, 9th GGF William Horne, immigrated as early as 1630, settled in Dover by 1659, and was killed in the Cocheco massacre in 1689. Her mother, 9th GGM Elizabeth Cough, was taken captive by Indians in 1707 while walking along the road.

8th GGM Mary Horne, daughter of William and Elizabeth who died so tragically, married 8th GGF John Hayes when she was but 13 years old and he 25. The couple had their first child within the year. She died at age 30.

Jotham’s children with 1st wife Mary Hayes:
SAMUEL Nute (1749-1825) m. PHEBE Pinkham
Leah (1752-1815) m. Joseph Drew and lived in the Dam Garrison until 1810; Joseph is a DAR patriot for his service of signing the petition to request formation of committee of safety.
Mary (1754-after 1820 in Athens, Maine) m. James Tuttle; James served in the Revolution.

Jotham's children with 2nd wife Mary Canney (1724 - ), widow of Daniel Canney:
Jotham Jr. (1760-1836) m. Sarah Twombley, served in Continental Army in Revolution (see below)
Elizabeth (1763- ), no marriage or death records located
William (1764-1812) m. Mary Polly Davis; served in War of 1812
Jonathan (1768- ) m. Charity Smart; served in War of 1812 as an artificer (skilled in working on artillery devices in the field)

The list of Rochester proprietors shows Jotham’s father, (7th GGF Samuel), uncle (James III) and Thomas Tuttle shared an original 1722 proprietorship in Rochester just north of Dover. Samuel’s 1765 will bequeathed Rochester property in the first division to his son John and land in the third division to Jotham, indicating additional Rochester land had been acquired during the senior Samuel’s lifetime. John was already living on his property in Rochester by 1765. Jotham opted to stay on the family homestead in Dover and leave it to 5th GGF Samuel to settle the Rochester property.

In 1760, Jotham was elected Constable of Dover, but refused to serve. The family of Joseph Nute, compiler of our genealogy, had a receipt for the five pounds he had to pay for the refusal.

The death date of Jotham’s wife, widow Mary Canney, is unknown, but census evidence in Rochester indicates she died before 1790 and that Jotham was living with his son, 5th GGF Samuel, in Rochester. The 1800 census indicates Jotham is still living with Samuel before his death from palsy in 1801.

Jotham was the last generation to live in Dover. His son, Samuel, married and had several children in Dover before moving north to the new town of Rochester, NH, and carving out a farmstead on Nute's Ridge with his half-brother, Jotham.

Sources:

The Royal Descents of 600 Immigrants, https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/49324/FLHG_RoyalDescentsof600Immigrants-0480/93937?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/13190951/person/12568336064/facts/citation/602150460772/edit/record

John Scales, Colonial Era History of Dover, New Hampshire, 1932

George Wadleigh, Notable Events in the History of Dover, New Hampshire, 1913

James Nute (1613-1691), our Nute Immigrant

Our surname Nute extends from modern-day descendants and our grandfather, Raymond Nute Sr., through multiple geographic migrations back to the first Nute immigrant to southeastern New Hampshire in 1631. 

Sporadic fishing and trading settlements had been in the area of modern day Dover Point and Portsmouth between 1603 and 1630. Serious permanent settlement began when Captain John Mason, one of the Grantees of New Hampshire, sent over two men to manage settlement of the area - Captain Thomas Wiggin responsible to the upper settlement (Dover and north) and Captain Walter Neal to run the lower settlement (Portsmouth, Rye, and Newington). 

Map of Dover/Portsmouth Landmarks

An unsourced list of settlers brought to the area by Captain Neal in 1631 includes our 9th GGF James Nute and 10th GGF Thomas Canney, both listed in History of New Hampshire as stewards or servants. The immigrants who settled at Strawberry Banke (now Portsmouth) were described as a “rag-tag group of adventurers, servants, and planters.” Captain Wiggin, governor of the Upper Plantation of New Hampshire, brought over a group of Puritan settlers on the ship James to the Dover area in 1633, and more carpenters and millwrights followed in 1634.

Wadleight’s Notable Events in the History of Dover, New Hampshire names heads of families in Dover in 1633, including James Nute, John Dam, Thomas Canney, Richard Pinkham, William Pomfrett, and Henry Tebbetts, all grandparent ancestors.

The reliability of all these passenger lists is called into question as there are no direct records. In any event, when the people of Dover established a formal government in 1640 with the Dover Combination, signers included ancestors James Nute, Richard Pinkham, John Heard, William Pomfret, and Thomas Canney.

The New England Indian Wars began in 1675 and continued for 50 years, ending at Knox Marsh in 1725. The first of 15 garrisons, or fortified houses, in Dover were built in 1675, and more constructed after tension with local Indians increased in the 1680s. The Pinkham, Dam, Tibbitts, Hayes, Otis, Wentworth, and Heard ancestor families were among those with garrison houses built in defense against Indian attacks. The original Dam garrison is housed in the Woodman Institute in Dover.

Coordinated Indian attacks against the garrisons in 1689, known as the Cocheco Massacre, resulted in the deaths and kidnappings of dozens of Dover inhabitants. The treachery began on the part of white settlers in Dover in 1676 when peaceful Indians fleeing the war in Massachusetts were deceived, rounded up for return to Massachusetts, and hanged or enslaved. Hostilities worsened in Dover between settlers and natives over the next several years.

On the evening of June 27, 1689, Indian women requested shelter in several garrisons. During the night the women opened the gates to the attacking Indians. Twenty three people were killed and 29 taken captive.

Ninth great-grandfather Richard Otis, 72, and his children, Hannah, 2 (and yes, that age is correct), and Stephen, 39, were killed. His wife, infant daughter, 3 daughters from his first marriage, and 2 grandchildren were taken captive to Canada. The garrison was burned to the ground.

Ninth great-grandfather William Wentworth, 76, was guarding the Heard garrison while neighbor 8th great-grandmother Elizabeth Heard was away. He was wakened by dogs and able to close the gates against the attack.

Tenth GGF Thomas Canney and 9th GGF James Nute who arrived at Strawberry Bank in 1631 and 9th GGF John Dam who arrived in Dover in 1633 appear to be our earliest ancestor settlers in Dover. Over the next twenty years numerous other grandparent ancestors arrived. These included Richard Otis and wife Rose Stoughton, Richard Pinkham, Henry Tibbitts and wife Elizabeth Austin, Joseph Austin, Thomas Canney and wife Mary Loame, Thomas Cook and wife Katherine Preece, Thomas Downes, John Heard, John Hayes, Thomas Nock, William Pomfret, Edward Starbuck and wife Catherine Reynolds, William Hackett, William Horne,  and William Wentworth. Several immigrant or first generation women from the coastal families of Maine and Massachusetts married men of 17th century Dover, including grandmother ancestors Mary Horne, Elizabeth Knight, Martha Miller, Elizabeth Hull, Elizabeth Clough, Sarah Taylor, Mary Atkins, and Elizabeth Kenney.

All told, we have not just the Nute progenitor from Dover, but at least 30 ancestor families who converged on Dover, New Hampshire in the 17th century. 

James Nute Sr, Immigrant

James’ birth is estimated to be about 1613, extrapolated from the age scratched into his tombstone. He is believed to be from Tiverton, Devonshire, where a distinguished family with this surname lived during the reign of Elizabeth. The first two generations in New Hampshire spelled the name “Newte."

James was with the group of "stewards and servants" - named as a servant - sent by Captain Mason to work the settlement of Strawberry Banke, now Portsmouth, in 1631. He would have been 18 years old at the time of arrival in the New World. With the death of Captain Mason in 1635, arrival of settlers on Dover Point, and opportunity to own land in Dover, James crossed the river at Bloody Point and settled in Dover, likely around 1635.

The first scenario has been the most popular, but direct evidence is lacking. Dover was in political and religious turmoil during the 1630s and no records of the time are available in the town itself. Further, some believe that records may have been destroyed related to a lawsuit brought by the heirs of Captain Mason. 

In 1640 at age 27, James had enough stature in the town that he was a signer of the Dover Combination to establish a formal government. He received a 20-acre land grant in town in 1642. His home was on Low Street of Dover Neck just west or northwest of the Meeting House, on the current Neck Road at Little Johns Creek which flows into the Back River. His lot is at the angle of the creek and river on the south side. His neighbors on Low Street were Captain Wiggin, 10th GGF William Pomfrett, and 9th GGF John Damme.

He married before 1643, age 30, to Sarah, last name unknown, and started his family. Sarah's name is confirmed in town records when James transferred land to his son, Abraham, in 1671. Her surname is unknown.

James bought 20 acres (Lot 10) on the west side of Back River in 1650 and received another land grant of 40 acres in 1656. He was a proprietor of communal ox pasture land bordering Low Street in 1652. He moved from “town” to the Back River farm in about 1661. In 1671, he conveyed the family farm of 60 acres to his son, James II, and the 12 acres in Dover Neck to son Abraham. The conveyance indicates he and his wife Sarah would continue to live on the farm as well. The Nute farm remained in the family at least until the 1920’s, at the time thought to be the oldest land in continuous family possession in the country.

James was on a tax list in Dover in 1648, and several tax lists as late as 1685. He was an upright citizen, served on the Grand Jury in 1643, and a Petit Juror at Strawberry Bank on August 8, 1650.  He served as Selectman in 1659-1660, but was fined in 1663 for missing church meetings and entertaining Quaker missionaries.

Children of James Nute Sr. and Sarah:

1. JAMES Jr. (1643-1691) m. ELIZABETH Heard

2. Abraham (1644-1724) m. 1st, unknown; 2nd, widow Joanna Stanton

3. Sarah (1646 - ) m. James Bunker

4. MARTHA (1653-1718) m. WILLIAM DAM

5. Leah (1656-1726) m. 1st, John Knight; 2nd, Benedictus Tarr

James Jr./wife Elizabeth Heard and Martha/husband William Dam are both grandparent ancestors.

The population of Dover dropped to 146 in 1675, likely due to the Indian wars.

Family lore has been that 78-year old James Sr. was killed in his garden by Indians in 1691, two years after the Cocheco massacre. Supposedly, he left his gun in the house when he went to work the fields and became involved in an altercation with three Indians. He killed two Indians with a hoe before being killed himself by the third.

James is buried in the Nute-Dam cemetery on the banks of the Back River on the Bellamy Wilderness Preserve. The cemetery is not easily accessible, as I learned during a visit in 2015. The visitor would be wise to use mosquito repellent and wear boots to get through the marsh between the entry point at the Bellamy Wilderness Preserve and the woods where the cemetery lies.

Marsh leading to woods of the Nute-Dam Cemetery

James’ original gravestone in the Nute-Dam cemetery reads Mr. J. Nute, age 78.  A photo on file at New England Historical and Genealogical Society shows the headstone in 1915.

Mr. I Nute Ae 78

A modern-day headstone placed by E.F. Nute in 1968 reads,

James (Newte) Nute

Born 1613

Landed in Portsmouth 1631

Settled in Dover 1640

Killed by Indians 1691

Original and new gravestone for James Nute, Sr.

Other burials in the Nute cemetery  include daughter Martha, and her husband William Dam,  Leah Dam, wife of Samuel Hayes. In a field closer to the main road is a small cemetery, unkept, with headstones for Paul Nute, Ephraim, Nute, Greenleaf Nute and his wife Susan.

Personal communication with Lee Nute who has extensively researched the family histories and been in communication with others who have researched our common ancestor shows that James Sr., not James Jr., was killed by Indians, although James Jr. also died in 1691. James Jr. left a will when he died at age 48, indicating most likely that he had a potentially terminal illness.

According to Lee, he learned from Judge Eugene F. Nute in Farmington that academics at the University of New Hampshire decided to excavate the grave of James and the two Indians. The Judge “stopped the foolishness,” had the remains reinterred, and placed the granite marker over the grave to prevent any further intrusion.

The short Nute Road off Spur Road (may have been the old Low Road) on Dover Neck may be the location of James’ 20-acre lot on Dover Neck bordering the east bank of the Bellamy River.

Next installment: Our Nute line from Dover to Woodstock, ME.

Sources: 
John Scales, Colonial Era History of Dover, New Hampshire, 1923
Dover Historical Society, Vital Records of Dover, New Hampshire, 1686-1850
George Wadleigh, Notable Events in the History of Dover, New Hampshire, 1913
Mary Thompson, Landmarks in Ancient Dover, NH, 1892
John Scales & Alonzo Quint, Historical Memoranda Concerning Persons & Places in Old Dover, NH, 1900

Our Salem Family in 1692 the Witch Trials: A Village Divided

Who doesn’t know about the hysteria that gripped Salem, Massachusetts, for more than a year from the first “fits” of two pre-teen girls in February 1692 until the last trial in May 1693? Over the course of those months, more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 20 people killed by the judicial system. Nineteen were hanged and one elderly man crushed to death with stones for refusing to cooperate with trial. 

Settlement of the colonies had been occurring for only 72 years when Salem’s witch hysteria began. Salem had been a small fishing settlement in 1626 until the arrival of a group of planters under the leadership of 10th GGF Captain John Endecott in 1628.  As such, most of those involved in the Salem witch trials were first and second, sometimes third, generation English immigrants. Europe was just winding down their several centuries-long witch executions. One difference, Europe’s witches were executed by the thousands - by hanging in England, and by strangling, then burning, in the rest of Europe.

Although today’s Salem has built a thriving tourist industry around the witch hunts, the center of witch accusation activity was not in Salem, but Salem Village, today’s Danvers. In those days, “Salem” was a larger area that encompassed today’s Middleton, Danvers, Topsfield, Marblehead, Beverly, Wenham, and Manchester-by-the-Sea.  At the time, these outlying areas were on the edge of wilderness.

The entire population of Salem Village and Salem Town in 1692 is estimated to be about 2000, with that of Salem Village numbering between 500 and 600 residents.

As planters cleared and settled farmland outside Salem, they wanted their own parish to shorten travel distance to church.  Salem Village parish was established about five miles away from Salem Towne in 1672 with rights to build a meetinghouse, hire a minister, and collect taxes.  Salem Village was incorporated as Danvers in 1757. Internal disputes arose from the beginning over hiring the minister, and added to disputes with the wealthier Salem Towne and Salem Villagers own boundary disagreements.

After establishing their church in Salem Village, the parishioners went through three ministers in 16 years, including George Burroughs who was later accused of witchcraft and hanged. The fourth, Samuel Perris, was the father of one of the accusing girls and uncle to another. Rather than soothing the feuds and conflicts of the Village when he arrived in 1689, he fanned the flames of hysteria.

Religion was but one prong in the Salem’s fiasco.  A small pox outbreak, the Puritan’s strong belief in the devil, constant threat of Indian raids, economic hardship, internal disputes within the church, boundary disputes, and disputes between present-day Salem and Salem Village all combined into a perfect storm of stress. What began with hysterical young people turned into vengeful, spiteful actions by feuding individuals and families, our ancestor grandparents among them.

As the Salem jails filled with the accused, a special Court of Oyer and Terminer (to hear and determine) was established in early June 1692. Not all accused were found guilty and executed. Some were able to flee the area or escape jail, others were found not guilty or pardoned by the Governor. Four times, though, the guilty were placed in a cart and hauled to Gallows Hill for hanging, as many as eight at a time.

Between June and September 1692, 19 people were hanged, one crushed to death, and two dogs killed. In mid-September, elderly Giles Corey refused to enter a plea and, as English law allowed, he was tortured in a field over a period of two days, crushed to death with stones.

In October, Thomas Brattle, a Boston merchant, wrote a letter to an English clergyman criticizing the Salem trials and the letter circulated widely in Boston, finally getting to Governor Phips. The Governor ordered that spectral and intangible evidence could no longer be allowed in trials, and later in the month dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminer. Some remaining witchcraft cases were tried by the General Court, but no one convicted. By May 1693, the long Salem nightmare was over.

Cast of Characters

The Accused

• Sarah Averill, 2nd wife of 10th GGF JOHN Wildes and also our 9th great aunt, hanged with 4 other women, June 1692.  John subsequently married Mary Jacobs, widow of George Jacobs who had been hanged for witchcraft.
• Sarah Wildes Bishop, daughter of 10th GGF JOHN Wildes, arrested, jailed in Boston with her husband, Edward Bishop. They both escaped from jail and fled to Rehoboth, Massachusetts.
• PHEBE Wildes Day, 9th GGM and daughter of JOHN Wildes and 1st wife 10th GGM PRISCILLA Gould, accused, jailed in Ipswich, released.

The Accusers

• HUGH Jones, 9th GGF, deceased in 1688, whose ghost allegedly appeared to accuser Elizabeth Booth in 1692, saying that Elizabeth Proctor had murdered him. Elizabeth was convicted, but the execution delayed long enough due to her pregnancy that the debacle passed and she was freed by the Governor.
• ZERUBABBEL Endecott, 9th GGF, whose ghost allegedly appears to Elizabeth Booth and said Elizabeth Proctor killed him. Zerubabbel’s sons, Zerubabbel, Jr. and 8th GGF Samuel  Endecott testified against Mary Bradbury.   
• SAMUEL Endecott, 8th GGF, accused 78-year-old Mary Bradbury saying she appeared as a ghost when he was at sea and was so angry at the ship captain she caused a storm; she escaped jail and is the 9th GGM of Christopher Reeve of Superman fame.
• BRAY Wilkins, 9th GGF, accuser and major player in the trial of John Willard who was hanged. Ten Wilkins family members made accusations excepting our 8th GGF THOMAS Wilkins, the only Wilkins who stood against the tide and, consequently, was disinherited.
• JOHN Putnam, 10th GGF, and wife 10th GGM REBECCA Prince, testified against minister George Burroughs who was hanged. John also testified against Rebecca Nurse and John Williard, both of whom were hanged; defender of John Proctor and George Jacobs, both of whom hanged.
• NATHANIEL Putnam, 10th GGF and John’s brother, signed complaints against Elizabeth Fosdick and Elizabeth Paine and testified against John Williard and Sarah Buckley. Sarah was held in shackles in a cold jail for eight months until acquitted in January 1692; she lost all her few possessions, and was required to pay expenses of imprisonment before she could be released.
• JONATHAN Putnam, 9th GGF and son of John Sr., issued complaints against Sarah Osborne, Mary Easty, Rebecca Nurse, John Willard, and four-year-old Dorcas Good. Easty, Nurse, Willard were hanged. The four year old was not indicted. Jonathan’s daughter and 8th GGM, LYDIA, married Thomas Flint (below) a juror.
• Ann Putnam, 12-year-old grandniece of John Sr., was one of group of the first afflicted girls, and was a prolific accuser in the trials; she accused 19 people and, of these, 11 were hanged.
• John Putnam, Jr. nephew of 10th GGF JOHN Putnam, Sr., signed a complaint against Rebecca Nurse who was hanged, as well as against a 4-year-old, Dorcas Good, claiming himself to be afflicted.

Other involved family

• JOSEPH Herrick, 8th GGF constable of Salem Village brought Tituba, Sarah Osborne, and Martha Corey to court for trial. He and wife, 8th GGM MARY Endecott, testified against Sarah Good who was later hanged.
• Henry Herrick, Jr., Joseph's brother, juror in witch trials, including that of Rebecca Nurse who was hanged. He later apologized and wrote the Confession of Error in 1696 in which jurors expressed remorse and asked for forgiveness.
• George Herrick, Joseph's nephew, Marshall for the Court of Oyer and Terminer in Salem. 
• Zachariah Herrick, Joseph's brother, refused to help Sarah Good when she was begging for help. She was one of the first women arrested and hanged.
• WILLIAM Dounton, 10th GGF and 9th GGF THOMAS Flint's father-in-law, keeper of the Salem jail where four accused died due to conditions. His records indicate prisoners had to pay for their room and board.
• THOMAS Flint, 9th GGF, juror in the examination of George Jacobs, Jr., and George Burroughts, both accused of witchcraft. He also served as juror investigating the suspicious death of 17-year-old Daniel Wilkins. His wife was 9th GGM MARY Dounton, daughter of 10th GGF WILLIAM Dounton.
• NATHANIEL Felton, 9th GGF, first signer on paper also signed by neighbors that provided positive testimony and support for John Proctor and his wife, thus putting his life at risk as potential target for charge of witchcraft.
• Margaret Wilkins, daughter of 9th GGF THOMAS Wilkins and granddaughter of 10th GGF BRAY Wilkins, married to John Willard who was hanged.

 The Family of Immigrant John Putnam

11th GF John Putnam, Sr., (1580-1662) was already in later life in 1634 when he immigrated from Buckinghamshire, England, to Salem with his wife 11th GGM Priscilla Gould and three grown sons, Thomas, 10th GGF Nathaniel, and our 10th GGF John, Jr. They all received land grants in Salem Towne, but moved inland to the fertile farmlands of Salem Village. 

Only four of John Sr’s offspring were surviving in 1692 - Mary, Elizabeth, and our 9th GGFs Nathaniel and John, Jr.  As a wealthy and large land holding family in the area, the Putnams became embroiled in disputes and jealousies with another large land holding family, the Porters, and these played out in the witch frenzy to come.

10th GGF Captain John Putnam Jr. (1627-1710) and his wife, 10th GGM Rebecca Prince, remained on the family homestead in Salem Village. His military service was the local Troop of Horse during the Indian wars. 

Captain John Putnam has been described as “not a nice guy,” using the hysteria to arrest and get rid of business rivals or people he “just didn’t like.”  John and Pricilla both testified against Reverend George Burroughs, a former minister of the Salem Village church, with whom there was bad blood from a previous situation, as well as against Rebecca Nurse, John Williard, and Sarah Buckley. All but Sarah Buckley were hanged.

Captain John’s brother, 10th GGF Lt. Nathaniel Putnam (1619-1700), married 10th GGM Elizabeth Hutchinson (1629-1688) in1648 and lived on family land in Salem Village. He and John invested in ironworks on lands they owned in nearby Rowley, but the foundry was failing and burned in 1674. Nathaniel signed complaints against Rebecca Nurse, Elizabeth Fosdick, and Elizabeth Paine, and testified against John Willard and Sarah Buckley.

Among the third generation of John Sr. descendants, 9th GGF Captain Jonathan Putnam (1659-1739) married 9th GGM Lydia Potter. He lived with his family on a farm not far from his father’s, and was a Captain in the Salem Village militia. 

Captain Jonathan Putnam Headstone
Wadsworth Cemetery
Danvers, Massachusetts

When witch accusations began to fly, Jonathan joined in testimony against Sarah Osborne with whom the Putnam’s had a financial grudge, as well as Mary Easty, Rebecca Nurse, 4-year-old Dorcas Good, John Williard and Sarah Buckley. Jonathan later recanted his allegations against Rebecca Nurse, and he and Lydia both signed a petition that Rebecca could not be guilty of the charges. Nevertheless, Easty, Nurse, Williard, and Dorcas' mother, Sarah, were all executed.

Among the third generation Putnams was John Sr.’s grandson,Thomas Putnam, Jr., a major ringleader who accused and testified against 43 people while Thomas’ daughter,  Ann, one of the original afflicted girls, testified against 62 people. It was Thomas who wrote to the judge that Ann had apparitions of the a man in a “winding sheet” saying that elderly Giles Cory had murdered him, and suggesting that Cory be pressed to death. 

Giles was an 80-year-old prosperous farmer who refused to enter a plea in protest to the proceedings. The law allowed that anyone who refused to enter a plea could be pressed with heavy stones until they were cooperative. Giles was placed in a pit dug beside the jail and heavy stones placed on his chest with his neighbors watching. When the sheriff would tell him to plead, he would only say “more weight,” knowing he was willing to sacrifice himself in protest. He withstood two days of this torture before finally dying and being buried on Gallows Hill.

Among this powerful and vengeful family, one from the third generation stood against the tide and denounced the proceedings from first to last, a young man of courage - 22-year-old Joseph Putnam (1669-1724), a cousin to our Jonathan, married to a girl from the rival Porter family, and father of General Israel Putnam, hero of the American Revolution. Placed in this position of peril, he kept one of his fastest horses saddled should an attempt be made to arrest him.

The Family of Immigrant Bray Wilkins

Believed to be from Wales, 9th GGF Bray Wilkins (c. 1610-1702) arrived in 1630 as a young man of about nineteen years old among the first settlers in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He was educated as evidenced by being able to sign his name. He received several grants of land for pasture and fishing and, at various points in his life, he is referred to as a yeoman, planter, and husbandman.

In 1636 Bray married 9th GGM Hannah Way who immigrated in the 1630 Winthrop fleet with her merchant father from Dorchester. Bray and Hannah had eight children while living in Dorchester. By 1657, he had removed to Lynn, Massachusetts, where he was constable. In 1659, Bray was first settler on 700 acres of land northwest of Salem in what became Middleton in 1728. Bray and his sons ventured into a logging business that failed and they were reduced to subsistence farmers.

Bray’s will referring to Thomas and John Putnam as “loving friends.” indicated he was on good terms with the Putnam family. Bray’s house burned in 1664 leading a neighbor to say Bray was “by that means brought to a mean and low condition, I myself and some other neighbors taking the sad condition of Bray Wilkins and his family into  our consideration, we were willing to contribute something to the help and assistance of Bray…”

Bray’s third son, Thomas Wilkins (1647-1701) our 8th GGF, was born while the Wilkins family was still living in Dorchester and moved as a child moved to Salem Village with the family. He married Hannah Nichols (1647-1718) whose father immigrated and settled in the area of Salem now known as Middleton.  Thomas and Hannah were charged with fornication before marriage in 1667; the identity of that child is unknown and may have been premature. Thomas had six children, among these our 7th GGF Bray Wilkins and 8th great aunt Margaret Wilkins. Margaret married John Willard who figured prominently in the Wilkins' involvement in the witch trials.

7th GGF Bray Wilkins (1678-1724), son of Thomas and Hannah, and his two brothers, Henry and Thomas, located themselves nearby in the Boxford area, later set off to Middleton. Over the course of four generations, our Wilkins line moved to Mont Vernon, NH, then to Boston where our 3rd GGF Samuel Carter Wilkins worked for the Chickering piano company and made those wonderful boxes and pieces of furniture in the family.

7th GGF Bray Wilkins, Jr. House in Middleton, 1705

Back to the Salem trials, the elder Bray and numerous offspring in the tight-knit family figured prominently as accusers in the witchcraft hysteria. In 1692, Daniel Wilkins, 17-year-old grandson of Bray Sr., succumbed to “brain fever” and Rev. Parris of the Salem Village parish opined the boy had been bewitched. Since the doctor was unable to ascertain the cause of the boy’s illness, he concurred with the bewitchment diagnosis. Numerous Wilkins family members came forward with reasons why John Willard was a witch and responsible for Daniel’s death.

The twist is that John Willard from Groton, Massachusetts, was married to Bray Sr.’s granddaughter, Margaret, daughter of our 8th GGF Thomas Wilkins. John had been doing well with some land deals in Salem, in contrast to the Wilkins' woes. It didn’t help that Willard was the only outsider to marry into the Wilkins family. 

Once the first witch accusations began, John Putnam, Jr. tried to get Constable John Willard to arrest the accused; Willard refused and was the first to speak out against the trials. With this, teenager Ann Putnam made accusations that Willard was afflicting her; 81-year-old Bray Wilkins made further accusations about his grandson’s bewitchment death, and further that Willard had caused him to be ill. It could only go downhill from there.

Only one member of the Wilkins family did not join with accusations - our 8th GGF Thomas Putnam, father of Margaret. Thomas and three other men unfruitfully protested “grievouly offended by reasons of unwarrantable actings of their Pastor, Mr. Parris, in the matter of Witchcraft, do therefore habitually absent themselves from public worship and from Communion at the Lord’s Table.” John Willard was hanged at age 37, and 8th GGF Thomas was disinherited from his father’s will.

The Family of Immigrant John Wildes

Seventeen-year-old 10th GGF John Wildes (1618-1705) and his brother William, both carpenters, arrived in Massachusetts in 1635 on the ship Elizabeth and settled in Rowley, Massachusetts, before moving to Ipswich. John was involved in the Pequot War in 1639, one of 20 soldiers in an expedition to disarm a sachem. After marriage to 10th GGM Priscilla Gould* (1628-1663) in 1645, John moved to the area of Salem now known as Topsfield, perhaps with the influence of his wealthy father-in-law 11th GGF Zaccheus Gould,

*Note we had two Salem Pricilla Gould’s grandmother ancestors 

Priscilla Gould, born 1586 in Buckinghamshire, England, married John Putnam Sr. in 1611, and died in Salem/Danvers in 1662 

Priscilla Gould, born 1628 in a different town in Buckinghamshire, immigrated 1640 with father Zaccheus, married John Wildes in 1647, and died Salem/Topsfield in 1663

Zaccheus Gould House, Topsfield, built about 1670

Zaccheus Gould and his wife, Phebe Deacon, were in their later 40’s with five children when they immigrated from Buckinghamshire to New England, first to Weymouth in 1638, and within a few years moving to Salem and that area of Ipswich which later became Topsfield. Even starting over in a new location at a later age in life, Zaccheus amassed 3000 acres of land during his lifetime.

Priscilla and John Wildes were parents to eight children, including 9th GGM Phebe Wildes (1653-1728) who married 9th GGF Timothy Day of nearby Gloucester, Massachusetts. Offspring of Phebe and Timothy Day ended up in our Woodstock, Maine, several generations later. More on Phebe later. 

John held various town responsibilities, including constable, jury, and settling land boundaries. Aa a carpenter, he built many area homes of the time. 

Priscilla died in 1663, age 34,  within a month of the death of her 4-month-old infant, leaving John with 7 children under age 15.  Not surprisingly, within months John took another wife, 36-year-old spinster Sarah Averill, sister to our 8th GGF, William Averell, and they had one more child. John’s rapid re-marriage caused dissension between John and and the Gould family, particularly with Lt. John Gould and his sister Mary who lived on an adjacent farm.

In spite of what should have been a close bond between the Wildes and Goulds, at least with the children, a series of events led to tragic outcomes during the Salem witch trials. As part of his town responsibilities, John was involved in settling a boundary dispute over Gould land. Further, John testified against Lt. John Gould, son of Zaccheus, in 1686 on a charge of treason. Shortly after, Lt. Gould’s wife, Mary, began to spread witchcraft stories about John’s second wife Sarah Averill Wildes. Mary Gould withdrew her statements when John threatened to sue, but the cloud still remained over the Wildes.

The Wildes family were among the greatest sufferers of the Salem witch hysteria. John’s second wife, Sarah Averill, was hanged. Daughter Sarah and her husband, Edward Bishop, were arrested but escaped, and another daughter, our 9th GGM Phebe Wildes, was accused and jailed. 

When the witch hysteria began in 1692, pre-teen Ann Putnam included Sarah in her myriad accusations with a claim that Sarah “most previously tortured and affected me with a variety of tortures as by pricking and pinching me and almost choking me to death.” In late April 1692, a warrant was issued for Sarah Averill Wilde’s arrest, and 9th great-uncle Marshall George Herrick, picked her up. Ironically, Sarah’s only child, Topsfield Constable Ephraim Wildes, now adult, arrested the four others who were on the same warrant. Sarah was sent to a Boston jail as the Salem town jail was full. She stood trial in the Salem Court of Oyer and Terminer where Lt. John Gould testified that his sister, Mary (the original accuser in 1686) was pulled off her horse backward by Sarah Wildes “in spirit form” and had given Mary hens that “went moping about until they died.” Others testified that Sarah had lain on them in the shape of a cat and caused them to fall down unconscious. Even Sarah’s stepson, John (son of John and Pricilla) testified he believed his step-mother was a witch. Sarah was convicted on July 29, 1692, and the same day taken by cart to Gallows Hill along with four other women and hanged.

The warrant for wife Sarah’s arrest also named John and Pricilla’s daughter, also a Sarah, and her husband, Edward Bishop. Sarah and Edward owned and lived in a tavern in Salem Village, now Danvers, and were not well liked by the Puritan community. In spring 1692, in the height of witch accusations, Salem Village dwellers filed complaints of witchcraft against nine of their neighbors. Not surprisingly, Sarah and Edward were on the list.

Both were arrested the same day along with Sarah Averill Wildes with testimony the pair kept unreasonable tavern hours where underage patrons drank and played shovel-board. 

They were charged with committing witchcraft against several accusers, including the ubiquitous Ann Putnam. Both Sarahs went on trial the same day, and both convicted. Sarah Wildes was hanged while Sarah Bishop and Edward remained in jail in Boston. In August, the pair escaped, fled to New York, and re-settled in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.

The following month, another of John Wildes' daughters, our 9th GGM Phebe Wildes Day (1653-1728), was one of nine Gloucester women accused of witchcraft.  Phoebe, age 39 when arrested, was the step-daughter of Sarah Averill Wildes who was hanged and younger sister of Sarah Wildes Bishop who escaped from a Boston jail after conviction.

Phebe married into a well-to do Gloucester family to Timothy Day (1653-1723). Their granddaughter, Phebe Day, married into the Gloucester Davis family whose branch removed to Maine and married into the Nute family. 

In contrast to Salem, Gloucester’s surviving witch records are meager. We do know Phebe was arrested for bewitching a Lt. Stevens, jailed for several months in Ipswich, and that her name was among those of Ipswich prisoners who petitioned the Governor in early winter for release from jail pending a spring trial. She was released on bond and she was never tried as the Court of Oyer and Terminer was disbanded.

Proctor Ledge Memorial to Salem Witch Victims
At Gallows Hill, Salem

The Family of Immigrant Hugh Jones

9th GGF Hugh Jones (1637-1688) became a player in the Salem witch trials even though he died four years earlier.  

Hugh came to New England from Somerset, England, as a servant, perhaps an apprentice, in 1650 at age 13, and settled in Salem as a planter. He married, first, our 9th GGM, 19-year-old Hannah Tompkins, in 1660 and received a grant of land in Salem the following year. Hugh and Hannah had eight children born nearly yearly between 1661 and 1672. Hannah died ten days after the birth of our 8th GGF, Samuel, and Hugh remarried to Mary Foster within five months. He and Mary had another seven children.

Fifteen children later, Hugh died at age 51 of unknown causes. During the Salem trials, Elizabeth Booth testified that ghosts of four murdered people appeared to her, one of whom was the specter of Hugh who assured her that Elizabeth Proctor killed him for not paying for a jug of cider. Elizabeth Proctor was convicted, her execution postponed due to pregnancy. Her husband John Proctor was hanged.

The Family of Immigrant Governor John Endecott

10th GGF Governor John Endecott ,“one of the most important Colonial figures in the founding of a new country,” (c. 1588-1665) was the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and co-founder of Salem, Massachusetts. The Endecotts were large owners of tin mines in Devonshire, England. John obtained a patent for Salem and led a company of planters and servants from Weymouth, England, to Salem, then called Naumkeag, on the ship Abigail in 1628.  

Another group of colonists, dissidents from Plymouth under Roger Conant, had already occupied Salem since 1626. According to tradition, the colony changed its name to Salem, meaning “peace,” to signify the two groups were getting along. Given the non-violent nature of Roger and John’s aggressive nature, a more likely scenario is that Roger stepped aside. 

John’s first wife,  Anne, died over the first winter at Salem and John remarried in 1630 to our 10th GGM Elizabeth Cogan Gibson, believed to be the mother of our 9th GGF Dr. Zerubbabel Endecott (1635-1684) of Salem and one other son, John, who had no children.

Governor John Endecott in later life

John led an amphibious military landing, the first in the new world, when he brutally took Block Island in the opening offensive of the Pequot Indian War in 1636.

In addition to his first stint of as Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1628-29, he returned to that office in the 1640’s and served a total of 16 years as Governor toward the end of his life. Bigoted, he despised Quakers who were exiled, hanged, publicly lashed, and had ears and tongues lopped off during his terms.  At the request of the Council of Magistrates, he moved in 1655 to the area now Beacon Hill in Boston, and left his wife, Elizabeth, and sons in Salem.  A commemorative marker marks his Boston residence across from the steps of the Suffolk County Courthouse. He died in Boston at age 77. The funeral was a costly affair, with the country treasury footing the bill for wine, cakes, tomb, as well as 70 pounds for mourning clothes for the widow and family.

John's burial site has been determined to be the Granary Burying Ground, tomb #189, along with those of Paul Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and victims of the Boston Massacre. (The Essex Genealogist, NEGHR, Vol 27, 2011).

In some ways, second son 9th GGF Zerubbabel Endecott, MD, (1635-1684) seems to have fallen not far from the tree. He was accused of rape by an indentured servant when he was age 18. She gave birth, continued to accuse Zerubbabel even after trial for slander and public whippings, and eventually was made to leave the colony.

Zerubbabel married, first, 9th GGM Mary Smith (1636-1677) and they had 11 children, all born in Salem. Within the year of Mary’s death, he married Elizabeth Winthrop Newman, daughter of Governor John Winthrop of Winthrop fleet fame. 

Zerubabbel had medical training, likely in London and/or Paris, and authored a short medical text in 1677 at age 42, Synopsis Medicinae, or, A compendium of Galenical and chymical physick, showing the art of healing according to the precepts of Galen Paracelsus (available on Amazon).

Zerubbabel inherited considerable land from his father, but “played the role of gentleman planter, entirely lacking his father’s Puritan drive and ardor for public service.”

Two of our Salem Village ancestor grandparents - Zerubabbel Jr. and Nathaniel Putnam engaged in a major lawsuit squabble over the attempts of Zerubabbel to push his land boundary over onto Nathaniel’s land. The case was finally settled in 1683 in favor of Nathaniel. Zerubabbel was stressed, “a changed man."  He died the following year.

Zeruabbel figured in the witch trials several years after his death when twelve-year-old Elizabeth Booth claimed his ghost appeared to her saying Elizabeth Proctor had killed him.  The land on which a Salem jail was built, the same in which those accused of witchcraft were held and from whence they went by cart to the gallows, was originally owned by Zerubbabel.

Two sons of Zerubbabel Sr. - 8th GGF Samuel, his next younger brother, Zerubbabel Jr. - and daughter, Mary, were involved in the Salem witch trials.

8th GGF Samuel Endecott (1759-1694) married Hannah Felton (1663-1737) in 1684 and appears to have been a mariner.  Samuel and Hannah had four children before he disappeared from Salem. A daughter, 7th GGM Ruth Endecott, married into the Herrick family; her son and three grandsons were Revolutionary War soldiers.

Samuel signed the petition in support of Rebecca Nurse who was among the first hanged. Samuel and Hannah both signed a petition in support of the accused John Proctor and his wife, Elizabeth. Both Proctors, however, were convicted; John was hanged, but Elizabeth’s execution was postponed due to pregnancy and she was later pardoned once the witch hysteria subsided.

Samuel testified at the trial of Mary Bradbury that butter made by Mary and stored in a ship headed for Boston was found to be rotten.  He stated that on another occasion he saw Mary’s shape on the vessel after15 horses were lost from a ship’s hold during a storm. Further, he testified that, as boys, he and brother Zerubbabel saw a blue boar charge out of the Bradbury gate which he was sure was a transformed Mary. Mary was found guilty and sentenced to death. Mary’s supporters broke her out of jail and hid her away.  She died of natural causes, age 70, in 1700.

Samuel disappeared from Salem after the trial and never returned. Guardianship papers for his children were filed in probate after he was declared legally dead in 1697. The same year, Samuel’s wife, Hannah, married Thorndike Proctor, son of the executed John Proctor.

The Family of Immigrant Henry Herrick

9th GGF Henry Herrick (1598-1670) arrived from England in 1629, age 31, and seemed to be a person of some means before migration. DNA family studies show Henry’s Viking heritage. He was a yeoman (farmer) who amassed substantial estate with numerous grants and exchanges of land in Salem,. Their area of residence appears to be that part of Salem set off to Beverly in 1668. 

Henry married Edith Laskin (1612-1677) in 1634 and they had 9 children. Edith, 22, arrived in Salem in about 1634 with father, 10th GGF Hugh Laskin, a planter, and mother, Alice. Interestingly, their first-born, Thomas, was left a legacy by his father only if he did not live his life as a single man; he married, but was divorced by his wife for impotence.

Henry’s fifth son, 8th GGF Joseph Herrick (1645-1717) married Sarah Leach in1665. They had three children, but Sarah died in 1674 at age 22 and Joseph remarried three years later to Mary. Records indicate this is Mary Endecott, sister to our Samuel Endecott but other examination has raised a question whether this is an editorial error (Great Migration). In any event, Joseph and Mary had another nine children, including out 7th GGF Martyn Herrick (1680-1739). Joseph was a solider during King Phillip’s War in 1676.

As constable of Salem Village in 1692, Joseph arrested several defendants including Tituba, Sarah Osborne, Martha Corey, and John Williard. He was one of twelve men assigned to examine the corpse of 17-year-old Daniel Wilkins allegedly bewitched and killed by John Willard. 

Sarah Good and her infant were confined to Constable Joseph’s farm under guard. She escaped her confines barefoot on a cold March night but, having nowhere to go, returned in the morning with a bloodied arm. Joseph testified at her trial that, while under guard at his house, her specter had tormented Elizabeth Hubbard, also in custody, and that Elizabeth’s guard had fended off the specter of Sarah, thus causing the bloodied arm. Sarah was hanged in July 1692.

Joseph’s brother, Henry Herrick, Jr., was a juror in the Rebecca Nurse trial. She was hanged alongside Sarah Good. George Herrick, Joseph’s nephew, was Marshal for the Court of Oyer and Terminer in Salem. 

Joseph initially bought into the accusers’ claims, but gradually questioned the accusations and became a leader of opposition to the trials.

Old North Beverly Cemetery

Beverly, Massachusetts

Here lyes ye body

of Mr. Joseph Herrick

who died Febr ye 4th in ye 73 year of his age 1717

Joseph died in Beverly in 1717, age 71. Our Herrick line migrated to the Reading, Massachusetts, area. Three generations later, the Gove and Wilkins families converged with the marriage of Charles Wilkins to Lydia Harriet Gove. Harriet Gove Wilkins, their daughter and granddaughter of Samuel Carter Wilkins, the furniture maker, married GGF Joseph Edson Nute of Boston.

The Family of Immigrant Thomas Flint

First generation immigrant, Welsh 10th GGF Captain Thomas Flint, Sr. (1603-1663), was living in Salem by 1637 when he applied to be a freeman. Thomas’ brother, William, also immigrated to Salem and accumulated substantial property in the vicinity of town now Flint Street. Thomas did not remain long in Salem town, but was one of the small group who early moved into the wilderness six miles beyond the original settlement and founded Salem Village.

Thomas married Ann, last name unknown, in Salem before 1644, and had six children over the next twenty years.  Two of their offspring, Thomas Flint, Jr., and Elizabeth Flint Leach, are grandparent ancestors.

As the oldest son, 9th GGF Captain Thomas Flint Jr. (1644-1721), stayed on the family farmstead in that area of Salem now Peabody. In addition, he acquired considerable other land around North Reading. He was in the expedition against the Narragansett in King Philip’s War and was wounded in the Great Swamp Fight in Rhode Island in December 1675.

His second wife, 9th GGM Mary Dounton/Downton (1647-1721), is identified in the Flint Genealogy as the daughter of William Dounton. 

The Flint farm neighbored that of Giles Corey across the road.  When the 80-year-old Giles was crushed with stones to death in 1692, his land became part of the Flint homestead.

8th GGF Thomas Flint III (1678-1757) was but 14 years of age during the Salem witch trials. In 1703, Thomas married 8th GGM Lydia Putnam (1684-1711) whose father, Jonathan, was a major player testifying against numerous people who were hanged.  Twenty-six-year old Lydia died twelve days after her fourth child was born, leaving Thomas with 4 children ages 6 and under.  A year and a half later, Thomas married Lydia’s cousin, Mary Putnam, daughter of Deacon Edward Putnam who was in that group who brought charges against numerous townspeople. When an accusation of witchcraft was made, Edward performed examinations to determine whether or not they were truthful.

The Family of Immigrant William Dounton

10th GGF William Dounton/Downton’s (1618-1696) origins and early life are unknown, but he is believed to have been born in England about 1620. He married Rebecca (last name unknown) in Salem by 1658 according to Torrey. His immigration date and original destination are unknown.

9th GGM and William’s daughter Mary’s birth record has not been located, but as she married Thomas Flint in 1674, we can assume her birth was by 1656. William married Rebecca (last name unknown) in 1658, and it is unlikely Rebecca was Mary’s mother. William and Rebecca have births recorded of two sons in 1665 and 1669 in Salem, but no other recorded births in Salem.

William appears to be a man of lower means. Court records in 1684 show he was keeper of the Salem prison in 1684, living near Federal Street in Salem when his 16-year-old son, John, carelessly discharged a gun, killing a 6-year-old girl, Rebecca Booth. The boy was indicted for murder and the case heard in Boston. William was sentenced to a fine of ten pounds as well as five pounds to be paid to the parents of the child.

William, 74, was still the jailer during the Salem witch trials in 1692. He kept records of expenses that prisoners had to pay for room and board and was present at times when they were examined for physical evidence of possession by the devil.

The Family of Immigrant Nathaniel Felton

9th GGF Lt. Nathaniel Felton was born in England about 1615 and immigrated to Salem in 1633 as a 17 year old. He returned to England in 1634, spread the word about the New World and returned to Salem in 1635.  His brother, Benjamin, followed him to Salem in 1636. Nathaniel received 20 acres in Salem in 1636, a nice plot for a 20 year old.

In 1643, 28-year-old Nathaniel married 16-year-old 9th GGM Mary Skelton, daughter of Reverend Samuel Skelton, first minister of Salem, who immigrated to Salem in 1629. The First Church of Salem is the oldest churches in America, now housed in a Gothic style structure built in 1836. Reverend Skelton was granted 200 acres known as Skelton Neck, now Danversport.

Nathaniel built a home for his bride in 1644 in that part of Salem now Peabody. The Nathanial Felton Sr. house still stands at 47 Felton Street in Peabody, part of the Brooksby Farm maintained by the city of Peabody and the Peabody Historical Society.

Nathaniel Felton, Sr. House in Peabody

Nathaniel and Mary had seven children between the years of 1645 and 1665, and lived to ripe old ages of 90 and 73, respectively. Their sixth child, 8th GGM Hannah (1663-1737), married 8th GGF Samuel Endecott, son of Zerubabbel and grandson of Governor John Endecott.

Nathaniel wrote and was the first signer of a petition supporting John Proctor, putting his own life at risk as supporters often ended up later accused of witchcraft themselves.

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Our Putnam,  Wilkins, Herrick, and Endecott families laid a swath of destruction in other people’s lives that year in Salem. Some others were peripheral figures by arresting, confining, and trying the accused. Some publicly regretted their actions while other more courageous family spoke out at the time, signed petitions, and risked their own lives to buck the tide, even going against their own family to support the accused.