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Title
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Rebecca Nurse, House and Signage
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Creator
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Nurse, Francis
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Biographical Text
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Traditional red colonial saltbox house. Built in 1678 by the Nurse family.
Metal rectangular sign with rounded top featuring white text on a red background.
Aluminum square marker featuring gold text on a blue background. Erected in 1977 by the Danvers Historical Commission.
The property was leased to the Nurse family in 1678 by Reverend Allen. The home was built shortly after by her husband, Francis Nurse. Nurse remained living there until her death during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. Multiple family members continued occupying the home until 1784. In 1908, the house was presented to the Rebecca Nurse Memorial Association, beginning its life as a museum. In 1981 the home was purchased by the Danvers Alarm List Co. who have preserved it as a museum and memorial of Nurse's life since.
Minor modifications to the house have taken place over the years. In 1909 architect Joseph Everett Chandler historically restored the home, and in 2017 the wood-shingled roof was replaced by the American Steeple and Tower Company.
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Text
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[Text on Red Signage]
REBECCA
NURSE
HOMESTEAD
circa
1678
OWNED-BY-THE
DANVERS-ALARM LIST-COMPANY-INC.
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[Text on Blue Marker]
1678
REBECCA NURSE HOMESTEAD
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.
DANVERS HISTORICAL COMMISSION, 1977
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Date Created
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1678
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1977
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Date Modified
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1909
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2017
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Type
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English
Museum
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English
Signage
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Project Researcher
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O'Neill, Iris
