Mary Towne

b 1634, , , , England
d 22 Sep 1692, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts
16 27 Mar 1922,
c 24 Aug 1634, St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England
24 18 May 1922,  
61 26 May 1943, !& Leonard Towne  
Richard Towne b 1540  
| b 12 Dec 1568 Ellen Greene  
William Towne   16 03 Apr 1943 b 25 Mar 1544  
|d 24 Jun 1673 |    
| 16 03 Apr 1943 Ann Denton  
|  b 1569    
Mary Towne   16 08 Mar 1941  
|Isaac Estey John Blyssynge  
|m 1658 William Blyssynge b 1549  
|, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England |b 1575 Joane Preaste  
Joanna (Jone) Blessing   b 1553  
 b 1599 |    
 d 1682    
   

Children

1 < Isaac Esty
2 Joseph Estey
3 Sarah Esty
4 < John Esty
5 Hannah Esty
6 Benjamin Esty
7 Samuel Esty
8 Jacob Esty
9 Joshua Esty
10 Jeffrey Estey
11 Mary Estey
12 Abigail Esty

Notes

Mary Esty, so gentle in life that the magistrates themselves were with difficulty convinced of her witchhood, and her very jailers pleaded for her, nevertheless had the will of a Cromwell. Even when she knew that there was no hope of establishing her own innocence, she had continued her contest with the judges in the hope of saving others.

She was hanged accused of practicing witchcraft despite the moving appeal to the court she composed after her trial. 'I petition your honors not for my own life,' she wrote, 'for I know I must die, and my appointed time is set; but ..., if it be possible, that no more innocent blood be shed.'

Source: 'The Devil in Massachusetts', 1989, Marion L. Starkey, p 207-210. 'Salem Possessed, The Social Origins of Witchcraft', 1974, Paul Boyer & Stephen Nissenbaum, p 8. 'The Devil Discovered', 1991, Enders A. Robinson, p 273, 278.


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© Copyright 1995, 1996 David L. Beckwith