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Ebenezer Russell

Male 1688 -


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Generation: 1

  1. 1.  Ebenezer Russell was born 7 Mar 1688, Reading, Massachusetts (son of William Russell and Elizabeth Nourse(Nurse)).

    Other Events:

    • AFN: GL5T-CK

    Notes:

    ----------
    Reference:
    Jeanne Wittress, Jwittress@aol.com, 24 September 1999.

    Ebenezer — Deborah Hebbard. [Group Sheet]

    Children:
    1. Samuel Russell

Generation: 2

  1. 2.  William Russell was born 28 Apr 1655, Cambridge, Middlesex, England (son of William Russell and Elizabeth); died 17 May 1744, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts.

    Other Events:

    • AFN: GL5T-82

    William married Elizabeth Nourse(Nurse) 25 Oct 1678. Elizabeth (daughter of Francis Nurse and Rebecca Town) was born 9 Jan 1656, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts; died 1734/1735. [Group Sheet]


  2. 3.  Elizabeth Nourse(Nurse) was born 9 Jan 1656, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts (daughter of Francis Nurse and Rebecca Town); died 1734/1735.

    Other Events:

    • AFN: GL5T-0N

    Children:
    1. William Russell was born 22 Oct 1680, Salem, Massachusetts.
    2. Jonathan Russell was born 19 Aug 1682; died 1730, Salem, Massachusetts.
    3. 1. Ebenezer Russell was born 7 Mar 1688, Reading, Massachusetts.
    4. Benjamin Russell was born 1690.


Generation: 3

  1. 4.  William Russell

    Notes:

    Of Salem.
    ----------
    Reference:
    "A Genealogy of the Nurse Family for Five Generations", 1892, John D. Ames, p
    102.

    William — Elizabeth. [Group Sheet]


  2. 5.  Elizabeth

    Notes:

    Of Salem.
    ----------
    Reference:
    "A Genealogy of the Nurse Family for Five Generations", 1892, John D. Ames, p
    102.

    Children:
    1. 2. William Russell was born 28 Apr 1655, Cambridge, Middlesex, England; died 17 May 1744, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts.

  3. 6.  Francis Nurse was born 18 Jan 1618, Yarmouth, Bristol, England (son of Allen Nurse); died 22 Nov 1695, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts.

    Notes:

    Francis Nurse was an early settler, and had lived for some forty years, "near
    Skerry's," on the North River, between the main part of the settlement in the
    town of Salem and the ferry to Beverly. He is described as a "tray-maker."
    The making of these articles and similar objects of domestic use was an
    important employment in a new country remote from foreign supply. He appears
    to have been a very respectable person, of great stability and energy of
    character; whose judgment was much relied on by his neighbors. No one is
    mentioned more frequently as umpire to settle disputes, or arbitrator to adjust
    conflicting claims. He was often on committees to determine boundaries or
    estimate valuations, or on local juries to lay out highways and assess damages.

    On 29 April, 1678 Francis Nurse became at one stroke a major Salem Village
    landowner by purchasing, on credit, a rich 300-acre farm located near Salem.
    Francis Nurse paid off his mortgage right on schedule. His economic rise after
    1678 is documented in the Village tax lists; his 1690 tax went up 39 percent
    from that of 1681, and in 1695 it rose by another 16 percent.

    The house on this land had an interesting history. Before his purchase the
    "mansion" or "cottage" was the scene of social intercourse among the choicest
    spirits of the earliest age of New England. Here the first owner Allen Bishop
    and, after him, Chickering, entertained their friends. Here the fine family of
    Richard Ingersoll was brought up. Here Governor Endicott projected plans for
    opening the country, and the road that passes its entrance gate was laid out by
    him. To this same house young John Endicott brought his youthful Boston bride.
    Here she came again, fifteen years afterwards, as the bride of the learned and
    distinguished James Allen, to show him the farm which, received as a "marriage
    gift" from her former husband, she had brought as a "marriage gift" to him.
    Here the same Allen, in less than six years afterwards, brought still another
    bride. In all these various and some of them rather rapid changes, it was, no
    doubt, often the resort of distinguished guests and the place of meeting of
    many pleasant companies. During the protracted years of litigation for its
    possession, frequent consultations were held within it; and in 1692, for twelve
    years, it had been the home of a happy harmonious and prosperous family,
    exemplifying the industry, energy and enterprise of a New England household.

    Francis Nurse had been involved during the 1670's in a protracted timber dispute
    with Nathanial Putnam over some mutually bounded acreage. He was elected to a
    Village Committee which took power at the end of 1691. These were factors that
    contributed to Ann Putnam's accusation of Francis' wife of witchcraft.
    ----------
    Reference:
    "Salem Possessed, The Social Origins of Witchcraft", 1974, Paul Boyer & Stephen
    Nissenbaum, p 149, 200.
    "A Genealogy of the Nurse Family for Five Generations", 1892, John D. Ames, p
    96-100.

    Francis married Rebecca Town 24 Aug 1644, , Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. Rebecca (daughter of William Towne and Joanna (Jone) Blessing) was born 21 Feb 1621, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; was christened 21 Feb 1621, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; died 19 Jul 1692, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts; was buried Abt 19 Jul 1692, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet]


  4. 7.  Rebecca Town was born 21 Feb 1621, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; was christened 21 Feb 1621, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England (daughter of William Towne and Joanna (Jone) Blessing); died 19 Jul 1692, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts; was buried Abt 19 Jul 1692, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts.

    Notes:

    Rebecca was in the eyes of those who knew her well the very essence of what a Puritan mother should be. Deeply pious, she was so steeped in Scripture that the country roughness of her speech - she had a Chaucerian fondness for triple negatives - was often shot through with a poetical Scriptural quality. It was not merely a matter of lugging in texts, but a deep, instinctive poetry of
    feeling that overflowed into her simple, pregnant speech. When Rebecca spoke it was as if one of the grand women of the Old Testament were speaking Naomi or Ruth amid alien corn (Rebecca herself remembered her birthplace, Yarmouth, England), or the beloved Rachel, or indeed her own namesake.

    In her home life she had resembled the wise woman of Proverbs, and her children she had reared with loving devotion to both their spiritual and temporal welfare. Now in her old age they rose up and called her blessed, not only her four sons and four daughters, but what perhaps the super most tribute, her three sons-in-law and four daughters-in-law.

    This is not to say that she was altogether a saint. Even the Bible women, as anyone can discover by examining Scripture closely, had their off days. The years had made Rebecca hard of hearing and infirm; when she was ill and did not clearly understand what was said to her, she could sometimes lose her temper.

    Rebecca was one of 19 hanged as witches in the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Her trial is most often cited for the injustice of this trying period. Recent evidence indicates the accusers were suffering from ergot poisoning.

    The night of the hanging, her family secretly removed her body from a mass grave to their family farm.
    ----------
    Reference:
    "The Devil in Massachusetts", 1989, Marion L. Starkey, p 78-84, 159-165, 175-176, 189.
    "Salem Possessed, The Social Origins of Witchcraft", 1974, Paul Boyer & Stephen Nissenbaum.

    Children:
    1. John Nurse was born Abt 1645, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts; died 1 Dec 1719.
    2. Rebecca Nurse was born Abt 1647, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts; died 1719.
    3. Sarah Nourse was born 1648, Marblehead, Essex, Massachusetts.
    4. Samuel Nurse was born 3 Feb 1649, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts; died 15 Jul 1715.
    5. Michael Nurse was born Abt 1651, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts.
    6. 3. Elizabeth Nourse(Nurse) was born 9 Jan 1656, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts; died 1734/1735.
    7. Mary Nurse was born Abt 1657, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts.
    8. Francis Nurse was born 3 Feb 1660, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts; died 8 Oct 1716.
    9. Benjamin Nurse was born 26 Jan 1666, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts; died 1747/1748.
    10. Nurse was born Abt 1667, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts.


Generation: 4

  1. 12.  Allen Nurse
    Children:
    1. 6. Francis Nurse was born 18 Jan 1618, Yarmouth, Bristol, England; died 22 Nov 1695, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts.

  2. 14.  William Towne was christened 18/18 Mar 1598/1599, St. Nicholas Church, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England (son of John Towne and Elizabeth); died 24 Jun 1673, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts; was buried Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts.

    Notes:

    Married in St. Nicholas church in Yarmouth, England, one of the finest
    buildings in that city, founded in 1101.

    Came to Salem in 1632 and moved to Topsfield, Massachusetts in 1652.

    Death place not certain.

    Died intestate in 1672 leaving a "small estate."

    Estate of William Towne of Topsfield
    Essex Probate Docket # 27923

    Administratation granted 24:4:1673 to Johana Towne on the estate of Wm Towne, her late husband, and she was to bring in an inventory to the next Ipswich court.

    Salem Quarterly Court Records 5:66
    Petition for settlement of a small estate left the undersigned by their father, who died ten years ago leaving no will, but left his estate in the hands of their mother who was appointed admininistratrix and the estate remained unsettled until her death, and now they desire that the following division may be allowed: the land to be divided equally to his three sons, Edmund, Jacob, and Joseph and the moveables equally to the three daughters, Rebecka, Mary and Sarah; also the three brothers to pay all debts now due and what charges shall after arise in settlement of the estate to be equally borne by all six. Adted Jan 17, 1682.
    Signed by Mary (her mark) Towne relict of Edmond
    Jacob Towne
    Josep (his mark) Towne
    Francis (his mark) Nurs with the consent of Rebeka
    Mary (her mark) Esty, formerly Mary Towne
    Sarah (her mark) Bridges.

    Witness:
    John How
    John Pritchet
    Allowed by the court at Ipswich April 10, 1683

    Source: Ipswich Deeds, vol4, page 515
    ----------
    Reference:
    "Salem Possessed, The Social Origins of Witchcraft", 1974, Paul Boyer & Stephen Nissenbaum, p 199.
    "A Brief Sketch of Thomas Fuller", Jesse Franklin Fuller, 1896, p 33.
    "The Descendants of William Towne...", Edwin Eugene Towne, 1901, p 11

    William married Joanna (Jone) Blessing 25 Mar 1620, St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. Joanna (daughter of William Blyssynge) was born 1599, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; died 1682, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts; was buried Topsfield, Salem, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet]


  3. 15.  Joanna (Jone) Blessing was born 1599, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England (daughter of William Blyssynge); died 1682, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts; was buried Topsfield, Salem, Massachusetts.

    Other Events:

    • AFN: 2P4M-0J

    Notes:

    Accused of witchcraft though never arrested or brought to trial.
    ----------
    Reference:
    "Salem Possessed, The Social Origins of Witchcraft", 1974, Paul Boyer & Stephen
    Nissenbaum, p 149.

    Children:
    1. 7. Rebecca Town was born 21 Feb 1621, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; was christened 21 Feb 1621, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; died 19 Jul 1692, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts; was buried Abt 19 Jul 1692, Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts.
    2. John Towne was born 1623, , England; was christened 16 Feb 1623/1624, St. Nicholas Par, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; died Bef 1673.
    3. Susanna Towne was born 1625, St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; was christened 20 Oct 1625, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; died 1678.
    4. Edmund Towne was born Abt Jun 1628; was christened 28 Jun 1628, St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; died 1678.
    5. Jacob Towne was born 1632; was christened 11 Mar 1632, St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; died 27 Nov 1704, , Massachusetts.
    6. Mary Towne was born 1634, , England; was christened 24 Aug 1634, St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; died 22 Sep 1692, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts.
    7. Sarah Towne was born 1639; was christened 3 Sep 1639, , Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; died 1703.
    8. Joseph Towne was born 1639, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts; was christened 3 Sep 1639, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts; died Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts.