My Revolutionary War Patriots - Robert Wilson of Danvers, Massachusetts

 

At the Wilson Family Burial Ground, Peabody, Massachusetts

ROBERT WILSON

Died

Jan. 4, 1797

Aged 51

[epitaph illegible]

This is Patriot #10 I have written about for this series on my Revolutionary War ancestors.  

Robert Wilson is my 5th great grandfather.  He was born in Salem Village (after 1775 it was known as the town of Danvers), Massachusetts around 1746, the son of Robert Wilson (1724 - 1782) and Elizabeth Southwick of Danvers.  

Robert Wilson's father was a potter, and so was his grandfather, Isaac Wilson, and so were his sons.  According to the book Early New England Potters and Their Wares, by Lura Woodside Watkins, pages 65 - 66 "The Wilsons also were a prominent family of artisans.  Their homestead included the land near 141 Andover Street and eastward where Route 128 now crosses it.  The first two potting Wilsons were sons of Robert, a farmer.  They were Robert, known as Robert Jr., who remained in Danvers, and Joseph, who went to Dedham and thence to Providence, Rhode Island.  When Robert, Jr. died in 1782, he left property worth 627 pounds, including six lots of land, his house, barn, potter's shop, and corn house, a riding chair, and a large personal estate.  He seems to have done well in his trade.  His son Robert, known as Robert 3d, and a younger son Job were potters.  By an order of the court, Robert 3d, as administrator of his father's estate, was obliged to sell a large part of the elder Robert's property to pay certain debts.  This was not done until April 9, 1793, when two-thirds of the land and buildings, and an interest in the business was aquired by Isaac Wilson 3d.  He, too, was a craftsman in clay.  The threee Wilsons ran the shop together for a time, but Robert 3d. and Job both passed away before 1800, while Robert's son Robert, who had worked but a short time as a potter, died three years later at the age of twenty-seven.  Upon Isaac's decease in 1809, this early pottery must have come to an end."

Robert Wilson married Sarah Felton on 23 March 1775 in Danvers. She was the daughter of Malachi Felton and Abigail Jacobs (the great granddaughter of the George Jacobs hanged as a witch during the 1692 witch hysteria). She was probably the first child born in the Nathaniel Felton, Jr. house, which is still standing in the town of Peabody, Massachusetts.  Robert and Sarah had nine children, of whom seven grew up to adulthood and married.  I descend from the eldest child, Robert Wilson (1776 - 1803), mentioned above, who married Mary Southwick, his second cousin. This Robert died at age 27, leaving his widow with two babies.  She never remarried. 

The Wilsons produced an unsual kind of black pottery, which had an almost black glaze. There was a large clay deposit near Andover Street (now Route 114).  Some of this black pottery is on display inside the Nathaniel Felton houses (one is mentioned above) which are still standing on Felton Hill, owned by the Peabody Historical Society.  The Wilsons and their relatives lived on what is now the Danvers/Peabody line, near Route 114 and the Northshore Mall. Nearby is Wilson Square.  Several Wilsons were buried under the parking lot near Macy's at the Mall, but their graves were relocated. Across from the Mall, behind the Kappy's liquor store, there is a Wilson Family Burial Ground. 

At the start of the Revolutionary War there were over 50 small potteries in Danvers, all in the same neighborhood near the clay deposit.  The Wilsons lived and worked at the pottery business, along with other local families such as the Osborns, Paiges, Porters, and Southwicks. The last pottery in Peabody (which broke off from Danvers in 1855) closed due to a fire in the 1950s.  At one time some of these families also produced bricks. 

Robert Wilson served in the Revolutionary War as a Private in Captain Samuel Epe's Company under Colonel Pickering's Regiment of Danvers.  He marched on the alarm of 19 April 1775 for two days of service and is listed in the DAR Patriot's Index. There were six Wilsons from the area of Danvers and Peabody who marched on the Lexington Alarm.  

Robert Wilson died on 4 June 1797 in Danvers, and his son, my 4th great grandfather, Robert Wilson, was the administrator of his father's estate in 1782.  His will (Essex County Probate #30142) mentions his widow Sarah and all the children except for Mercy and Samuel in 1796. He was buried in the Wilson Family Burial Ground, and when Sarah died on 20 November 1836 she was buried nearby in the Felton Family Burial Ground. I cannot find a record of her applying for a widow's pension, and she never remarried. 

I'm curious to find out if the black and redware pottery produced in Danvers and Peabody contained a lead glaze. Both Robert Wilsons mentioned above (the Revolutionary War veteran and his son) died very young.  Perhaps it was lead poisoning? Perhaps we will never know? 

For the truly curious:

Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution

Essex County, Massachusetts Probate

Early New England Potters and Their Wares,  by Lura Woodside Watkins,  Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1950, pages 65-66. 

Sophia Richter, "Peabody: Pottery City, 1730 - 1940", Peabody Historical Society and Museum, posted 1 August 2025, ( https://peabodyhistorical.org/2025/08/peabody-pottery-city-1730-1940/: accessed 22 March 2026). 

#1 in this series,  Colonel Joshua Burnham of Milford, New Hampshire:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/02/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-colonel.html  

#2 in this series,  Andrew Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-major.html  

#3 Jonathan Flint of Reading, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-jonathan.html   

#4 Daniel Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-daniel.html  

#5 Levi Younger of Gloucester, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-levi.html  

#6 Nathaniel Treadwell of Ipswich, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-nathaniel.html 

#7 Captain Westley Burnham of Essex, Massachusetts:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-captain.html  

#8 Abner Poland, Sr. of Essex, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/05/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-abner_02014071889.html   

#9 Abner Poland, Jr. Of Essex, Massachusetts and Enfield, New Hampshire:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/05/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-abner_02014071889.html  

-------------------------

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Revolutionary War Patriots - Robert Wilson of Danvers, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 2, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/06/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-robert.html: accessed [access date]). 

19 August 1692, Five People Hanged for Witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts

On this date in 1692 five people were executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.  Only one was a woman, contrary to popular belief.  On this particular day George Jacobs, Sr., Martha Carrier, the Reverend George Burroughs, John Proctor, and John Willard were hanged on Gallows Hill.   Five innocent people.  

One month earlier the upstanding citizens Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Sarah Good, and Sarah Wildes were executed.   Two months earlier, on June 10, Bridget Bishop was hanged in Salem as the first official execution of the Salem witch trials.    Over that summer, nineteen innocent lives were lost to gossip, heresy and lies. 

What has been learned since then?  Did anyone change their ways because of this?  Did we see the follies of our ways and become kinder and more forgiving to our neighbors? Did we become accepting of the "different" and less fortunate?

In 2015, modern “witches” have taken over Salem, Massachusetts- people like Laurie Cabot, who exploit the deaths of innocent people for their own profits.  My daughter’s AP History Class took a field trip to the “Witch Museum” in Salem after reading Miller’s play The Crucible.  I was shocked to hear myths being re-told during the presentation, and then the narrator invited the school children to the back of the museum to see a display of modern pagan witch artifacts “by the descendants of the original witches!”   I was flabbergasted, as a chaperone, to know that these myths persist.  

The truth is that none of the original nineteen people were witches, nor were they practicing witchcraft.  The people of Salem were Puritans, however they did believe the Devil dwelt amongst them in Massachusetts.  They falsely believed that witches lived among them, the cause of their problems and troubles. The Devil’s work was truly the gossip, lies and heresy told by neighbors and friends, and not the work of witchcraft.  Over the years these innocent victims have all had their records expunged from the criminal court system. 

If you want to see any actual sites related to the trials of 1692, you are better off going to Danvers, Massachusetts to visit the Archives where some of the original documents can still be read, or the memorial to the victims on the site of the original meeting house, or the well preserved Rebecca Nurse Homestead.   In the city of Salem, there is a memorial (cenotaphs) to the executed victims, Judge Corwin’s house, and the disputed site of Gallows Hill.  In Salem you will also find several museums of dubious quality and inaccurate displays.  You are better off touring the world class Peabody Essex Museum in Salem than any of the other witch museums, and thank goodness the PEM has removed the display of George Jacob’s finger bones.

On this date in 1692 two of those five people hanged on Gallows Hill were my 9x great grandfathers, George Jacobs and John Proctor.  Sarah Averhill Wildes was my 9x step great grandmother (I descend from her husband's first wife).  Bridget Bishop was my 9x great grandmother.  In 1992 the descendants of George Jacobs removed his body from where it had been secretly buried on the Jacobs homestead, because the land was being sold for commercial development.  We had his body re-interred with a very nice reproduction 17th century style headstone at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead in Danvers, Massachusetts.   Laurie Cabot, nor any of the merchants profiting from “witchcraft” in modern Salem, did not donate a penny towards the re-internment.  It is the only actual gravesite of a witch trial victim, since the others were buried in a crevice, and not allowed to be buried in the town burial grounds.  Rebecca Nurse was reburied in secret on the grounds of the family farm.  No one knows where she is located exactly, and hopefully she has been at peace ever since 1692.

George Jacobs
"Because I am falsely accused. I never did it."

Bridget Bishop
"I am no witch. I am innocent. I know nothing of it."

Margaret Jacobs
"... They told me if I would not confess I should be put down into the dungeon and would be hanged, but if I would confess I should save my life."  [note:  Margaret was forced to confess and to accuse her own grandfather, George Jacobs, of witchcraft]

Engraved on a cenotaph to Rebecca Nurse, at the Nurse Family Burial Ground in Danvers, Massachusetts:

“O, Christian martyr!  Who for truth could die,

When all about thee owned the hideous lie!

The world, redeemed from superstitions sway

Is breathing freer for thy sake today.”

By John Greenleaf Whittier

--------------------------

Originally posted 19 August 2011 at Nutfield Genealogy at this link:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/08/august-19-1692-salem-massachusetts.html 


------------------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "19 August 1692, Five People Hanged for Witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted 19 August 2015, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/08/19-august-1692-five-people-hanged-for.html : accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ WILDES of Topsfield and Salem, Massachusetts

WILDES/WILD/WILDE

John Wild (1619 – 1705), my 9^th great grandfather, and his brother, William, arrived in New England on board the ship Elizabeth on 10 April 1635.  John was listed as 17 years old, William was age 30.  They both first lived in Ipswich, and then John removed to Topsfield, Massachusetts. In several documents he was listed as a carpenter.   Although it appears that the brother, William, left no children, there are extensive records to be found on him in the court, land and probate records.

 About 1648 John Wild married Priscilla, the daughter of Zacheus Gould and they had eight children, who are listed in land records and in John’s last will and testament.  Priscilla died in 1663, and John remarried that same year to Sarah Averill, the daughter of William Averill of Ipswich.  Sarah was hanged as a witch during the witchcraft hysteria of 1692.  John then remarried to Mary, the widow of George Jacobs, who was also hanged as a witch.   George and Mary Jacobs were my 9^th great grandparents in another lineage.  It is interesting that these two “witch widows” married each other, don’t you think?

Sarah Wilde, born about 1651, was my 8^th great grandmother.  She married Edward Bishop, Jr. about 1675.  Edward Bishop (1648 – 1711) was the son of Edward Bishop (1620 – 1705) the third husband of my 9^th great grandmother, Bridge (Playfer) Oliver Wasselbee Bishop, who was also hanged as a witch on 10 June 1692.   You can see that this extended family was very affected by the witchcraft hysteria, and it touched many of the family members.  Sarah and Edward relocated to Rehoboth, Massachusetts during the time of the witch trials, to get away from the hysteria.  Rehoboth is more than 60 miles away from Salem. 

There are many good books out there on the 1692 Salem witch trials, and many include good sketches of the Wildes family. 

Some WILDES resources:

The Great Migration:  Immigrants to New England 1634 – 1635, by Robert Charles Anderson, Volume VII, pages 402 – 407 (sketch of John Wild)

The Ancestry of Dudley Wildes, 1759 - 1829, of Topsfield, Massachusetts, by Walter Goodwin Davis, 1959.

A Wildes Genealogy: The family of John Wild of Topsfield, Mass., and his descendants in Old Arundel, compiled by Douglas Wright Cruger, 1990

The Historical Collections of the Topsfield Historical Society, by the Topsfield Historical Society, 1920, several volumes including John Wild’s probate papers in Volume 25, pages 115 -116, etc.

   

My WILDES genealogy:

Generation 1:  John Wildes, born about 1619 in England, died 14 May 1705 in Topsfield; married about 1645 to Priscilla Gould, my 9^th great grandmother.  She was born about 1625 in Great Missenden, England and died 16 April 1663 in Topsfield.  He married second on 23 November 1663 to Sarah Averhill who was hung as a witch on 19 July 1692, and married third to Mary Unknown (also my 9^th great grandmother, widow of George Jacobs who was hung as a witch on 16 August 1692, my 9^th great grandfather in another lineage).   John and Priscilla had eight children.

Generation 2:  Sarah Wildes, born about 1651; married about 1675 to Edward Bishop.  He was born 23 February 1648 in Salem and died 12 May 1711 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.  Three children.  Edward Bishop was the son of Edward Bishop (1620 – 1705) who was married three times, once to Bridget Playfer, who was the first woman hung as a witch in Salem on 10 June 1692.

Generation 3:  James Bishop m. Sarah Holmes

Generation 4:  Sarah Bishop m. Daniel Poland

Generation 5:  Martha Poland m. Alexander Mears

Generation 6:  Samuel Mears m. Lydia W. Burnham

Generation 7: Samuel Mears m.  Sarah Ann Burnham

Generation 8: Sarah Burnham Mears m. Joseph Gilman Allen

Generation 9: Joseph Elmer Allen m. Carrie Maude Batchelder

Generation 10: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

-----------------------------------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo,  "Surname Saturday ~ WILDES of Topsfield and Salem, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 1, 2015, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/08/surname-saturday-wildes-of-topsfield.html: accessed [access date]).

19 August 1692, Five People Hanged for Witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts

The gravestone of George Jacobs
Danvers, Massachusetts

On this date in 1692 five people were executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.  Only one was a woman, contrary to popular belief.  On this particular day George Jacobs, Sr., Martha Carrier, the Reverend George Burroughs, John Proctor, and John Willard were hanged on Gallows Hill.   Five innocent people.  

One month earlier the upstanding citizens Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Sarah Good, and Sarah Wildes were executed.   Two months earlier, on June 10, Bridget Bishop was hanged in Salem as the first official execution of the Salem witch trials.    Over that summer, nineteen innocent lives were lost to gossip, heresy and lies. 

What has been learned since then?  Did anyone change their ways because of this?  Did we see the follies of our ways and become kinder and more forgiving to our neighbors? Did we become accepting of the "different" and less fortunate?

In 2011, modern “witches” have taken over Salem, Massachusetts- people like Laurie Cabot, who exploit the deaths of innocent people for their own profits.  My daughter’s AP History Class took a field trip to the “Witch Museum” in Salem after reading Miller’s play The Crucible.  I was shocked to hear myths being re-told during the presentation, and then the narrator invited the school children to the back of the museum to see a display of modern pagan witch artifacts “by the descendants of the original witches!”   I was flabbergasted, as a chaperone, to know that these myths persist.  

The truth is that none of the original nineteen people were witches, nor were they practicing witchcraft.  The people of Salem were Puritans, however they did believe the Devil dwelt amongst them in Massachusetts.  They falsely believed that witches lived among them, the cause of their problems and troubles. The Devil’s work was truly the gossip, lies and heresy told by neighbors and friends, and not the work of witchcraft.  Over the years these innocent victims have all had their records expunged from the criminal court system. 

If you want to see any actual sites related to the trials of 1692, you are better off going to Danvers, Massachusetts to visit the Archives where some of the original documents can still be read, or the memorial to the victims on the site of the original meeting house, or the well preserved Rebecca Nurse Homestead.   In the city of Salem, there is a memorial (cenotaphs) to the executed victims, Judge Corwin’s house, and the disputed site of Gallows Hill.  In Salem you will also find several museums of dubious quality and inaccurate displays.  You are better off touring the world class Peabody Essex Museum in Salem than any of the other witch museums, and thank goodness the PEM has removed the display of George Jacob’s finger bones.

On this date in 1692 two of those five people hung on Gallows Hill were my 9x great grandfathers, George Jacobs and John Proctor.  Bridget Bishop was my 9x great grandmother.  In 1992 the descendants of George Jacobs removed his body from where it had been secretly buried on the Jacobs homestead, because the land was being sold for commercial development.  We had his body re-interred with a very nice reproduction 17th century style headstone at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead in Danvers, Massachusetts.   Laurie Cabot, nor any of the merchants profiting from “witchcraft” in modern Salem, did not donate a penny towards the re-internment.  It is the only actual gravesite of a witch trial victim, since the others were buried in a crevice, and not allowed to be buried in the town burial grounds.  Rebecca Nurse was reburied in secret on the grounds of the family farm.  No one knows where she is located exactly, and hopefully she has been at peace ever since 1692.

George Jacobs
"Because I am falsely accused. I never did it."

Bridget Bishop
"I am no witch. I am innocent. I know nothing of it."

Margaret Jacobs
"... They told me if I would not confess I should be put down into the dungeon and would be hanged, but if I would confess I should save my life."  [note:  Margaret was forced to confess and to accuse her own grandfather, George Jacobs, of witchcraft]

Engraved on a cenotaph to Rebecca Nurse, at the Nurse Family Burial Ground in Danvers, Massachusetts:

“O, Christian martyr!  Who for truth could die,

When all about thee owned the hideous lie!

The world, redeemed from superstitions sway

Is breathing freer for thy sake today.”

By John Greenleaf Whittier

Originally published on 19 August 2011 at the Nutfield Genealogy Blog

------------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "19 August 1692, Five People Hanged for Witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 19, 2013, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/08/19-august-1692-five-people-hanged-for.html: accessed [access date]).

August 19, 1692 and how you can help the Salem Witch Trials Memorial

On Thanksgiving 2004 I brought my Father-in-Law
from Spain to see the Witch Trials Memorial in Salem, Mass. 

On August 19, 1692 five people were hanged in Salem, Massachusetts when found guilty of witchcraft.  Their names were Reverend George Burroughs, Martha Carrier, George Jacobs, John Proctor, and John Willard.   Jacobs and Proctor were my 9x and 8x great grandfathers.   Carrier (maiden name Martha Allen) was my first cousin 9 x removed. Willard is my first cousin 11 x removed.  Other family members include the jailor, several accusers, and many witnesses both for and against the victims. My family has lived in this area a long time, and I was born less than ten miles away from Gallows Hill.  

During this frightening summer the victims of the witchcraft hysteria were hanged on June 10, July 19, August 19, September 19 and September 22, until the Royal Governor Phips stopped the trials from proceeding with hangings.   Hundreds of people had been imprisoned, tortured, and the entire colony had been scared into blaming neighbors and even family members of the crime of consorting with the devil.

The Witch Trials Memorial in Salem, Massachusetts stands in quiet memorial to those who suffered death during the witchcraft hysteria.  It was dedicated by Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel in August 1992 as part of the 300^th anniversary of the Witch Trials.  It consists of 20 granite benches along a granite dry wall.  Each bench is inscribed with the name of one victim, along with their cause of death and the date of their execution.  Nineteen people had been hung, and one tortured to death.   The entrance of the memorial contains a threshold of granite blocks inscribed with quotes from the victims. 

John Proctor
My 8 x Great Grandfather

I have visited this memorial several times.  It is located right next to the Charter Street Burying Point, and on my regular tour of Salem when we bring out-of-town visitors.  Many tourists leave flowers and other memorials on the stone benches.  The compassionate, the descendants, and the history buffs all spend a few quiet moments inside the granite enclosure.  It is a powerful reminder of intolerance, and a place to memorize the victims because most do not have proper burial sites to visit, or gravestones. (Rebecca Nurse has a cenotaph and George Jacobs a gravestone in Danvers). 

This simple, yet elegant, memorial has suffered neglect in the past twenty years, and is in need of a facelift.   Over six million visitors have walked through the memorial, and the City of Salem has provided regular maintenance, but several stones need to be replaced by a master mason, and the walls have shifted due to weather and frost heaves. 

Quotes taken from court records decorate the entrance,
but are cleverly cut off mid sentence.
This quote from Bridget Bishop reads in its entirety
"I am no witch. I am innocent.  I no nothing of it." 

The Salem Award Foundation has begun a major fundraising drive to restore the Salem Witch Memorial.  There is an urgent need to provide maintenance to the site, before the problems with the granite walls grow worse.  Please consider donating now.  You can visit the website below to make a donation electronically, or send a check to the address.

Bridget (Playfer) (Wasselbee) (Oliver)  Bishop
My 9x Great Grandmother

The Salem Award Foundation website.

http://www.salemaward.org/the-salem-witch-trials-memorial-110.html

The Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice Foundation

P. O. Box 8484

Salem, MA  01971

Disclaimer:  I am not affiliated with the Salem Award Foundation, nor was I asked to write this post, nor did I receive special treatment or monetary consideration.

-----------------

Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ Proctor of Salem, Massachusetts

PROCTOR

John Proctor, of unknown origin and unknown birth date, died on 28 November 1672 in Salem, Massachusetts.  His son, John Proctor, died when he was hung as a witch in 1692, but lives on in most people’s memory as the main character in Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible”.   In the play there is a fictional love affair between a young John and his teenaged servant, but in reality there was no affair since John Proctor was more than sixty years old, and Abigail Williams, his maid, was only eleven years old at the time of the trial.

The first John Proctor arrived on the “Susan and Ellen” in 1635.  He had land in Ipswich and also in Salem.  His son John was an innkeeper in Ipswich, and farmed his father’s land.  His first wife, Martha, is my 8x great grandmother through son Benjamin.  He had a total of 17 children with three wives.  His third wife was pregnant when they were arrested and she “plead the belly”.  She was not hung along with John on 19 August 1692, and she later gave birth to a child after the trials and hangings were suspended.  She was deeply in debt and impoverished when set free, and her home had been looted.  She had many children and stepchildren to care for.  She went back to Lynn, where she had been born and there is a record of intention to marry Daniel Richards on 22 September 1699.   In her father’s will she is named “Elizabeth Bassett, alias Richards”.  [The Bassett Family, by Catherine Soleman Chandler, Salem Historical Society Publications, Volume 3, No. I, page 11]

John Proctor was accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams and Mary Walcott, young maids in the household.  He had been outspoken against earlier arrests.  Several people in the community spoke against him, and he was found guilty.  There is a surviving petition signed by other members of the neighborhood requesting leniency in his case.  This was a very brave act, for it put them in grave danger, just like when John Proctor spoke out against earlier arrests.  There are several members of my family tree on that petition: John Andrews, William Cogswell, Thomas Choate, Thomas Varney, William Andrews, John Burnham, John Andrews, John Choate, John Cogswell, Samuel Giddings, and Thomas Andrews.

From Robert Calef's More Wonders of the Invisible World written in 1700 after the trials and executions, one of the few contemporary accounts of the witch hysteria:

"John Proctor and his wife being in prison, the sheriff came to his house and seized all the goods, provisions and cattle that he could come at, and sold some of the cattle at half price, and killed the others, and put them up for the West Indies; threw out the Beer out of a barrel,  and carried away the barrel; emptied a pot of broath, and took away the pot, and left nothing in the house for the support of the children; No part of the said Goods are known to be returned.  Mr. Proctor earnestly implored Mr. Noyes to pray with and for him, but it was wholly denied, because he would not own himself to be a witch." 

After his arrest and trial, his sons Benjamin (my 7x great grandfather) and William were also arrested.  He was hung along with Reverend George Burroughs, John Willard, George Jacobs (also my 8x great grandfather), Rebecca Nurse (a distant relation to the Proctors) and Martha Corey.  Later in 1711 the descendants of John and Elizabeth Proctor were given 150 pounds compensation for their suffering.   It took seven years for Elizabeth to reverse her legal rights since she was considered guilty by the court.  At the time John wrote his will, he thought Elizabeth would be hung, too, so he had left her nothing in the will.

As you see, the truth is much sadder than Arthur Miller's play...

I have two Proctor lineages:

A.

Generation 1:  John Proctor, born about 1595 in England, died between 28 August and 28 November 1672 in Salem, Massachusetts; married on 1 June 1630 to Martha Harper.

Generation 2:  John Proctor, born 9 October 1631 in Assington, England, hung as an accused witch in Salem on 19 August 1692; married first about 1651 to Martha Unknown.  She died 13 June 1659; married second in December 1662 in Ipswich to Elizabeth Thorndike, daughter of John Thorndike and Elizabeth Stratton; married third about 1674 to Elizabeth Bassett.  He had four children with Martha, seven with the first Elizabeth, and six with the last Elizabeth.

Generation 3: Benjamin Proctor, born 10 June 1659 in Ipswich, died 1717; married on 10 December 1694 in Lynn to Mary Buckley. Four children.

Generation 4: John Proctor, born 27 January 1693 in Salem, died 3 September 1773 in Danvers; married first to Lydia Waters on 14 December 1727 in Salem, married second to Eunice Unknown. Ten children with Lydia.

Generation 5: Lydia Proctor, born 31 March 1730 in Salem; married 1 August 1751 in Salem to Jonathan Flint.

Generation 6: John Flint married Phebe Flint

Generation 7: Olive Flint married Luther Simonds Munroe

Generation 8: Phebe Cross Munroe married Robert Wilson Wilkinson

Generation 9: Albert Munroe Wilkinson married Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 10: Donald Munroe Wilkinson married Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

B.

Generation 2: Abigail Proctor, born about 1639, died 1 March 1732 in the Chebacco Parish of Ipswich, Massachusetts; married Thomas Varney as his first wife. 

Generation 3:  Mary Varney married Thomas Choate as his first wife

Generation 4: Anne Choate married John Burnham

Generation 5: Jeremiah Burnham married Abigail Andrews

Generation 6: Abigail Burnham married Isaac Allen

Generation 7: Joseph Allen married Judith Burnham

Generation 8: Joseph Allen married Orpha Andrews

Generation 9: Joseph Gilman Allen married Sarah Burnham Mears

Generation 10: Joseph Elmer Allen married Carrie Maude Batchelder

Generation 11: Stanley Elmer Allen married Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

For more information on the Proctor family:

The American Genealogist, volume 81, page 218

The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England 1634 – 1625, by Robert Charles Anderson, Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999, volume 5, pages 540 – 542

John Proctor of Ipswich and Some of his Descendants, by Leland H. Proctor, Springfield, MA: Research Associates, 1985

The Proctor Genealogy, by Albert Carlton Proctor, 1979,

Planters of the Commonwealth, by Charles Edward Banks, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1979

This website has the John Proctor genealogy and other Proctor families http://www.houseofproctor.org/genealogy/

See my blog post about my ancestor George Jacobs, who was also hanged the same day as John Proctor:  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/04/surname-saturday-jacobs-of-salem.html 

--------------------------

Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ Waters of Salem, Massachusetts

WATERS

Richard Waters was granted lot 87 on this map
of the Northfield section of Salem, Massachusetts

Richard Waters was found in records in England, such as his baptism in 1604 in London, and the record admitting him into the Ironmongers Company on 26 April 1626.  There are additional records of him making payments to the Ironmongers Company, and of money he owed them. 
 

The next records of Richard Waters are in Salem, Massachusetts such as on 21 August 1637 "It's ordered that Mr. Connant's house, ground and half acre of corne standing on same next unto Mr. Jon Fisk shalbe bought by the Towne fro ould mr. William Plase and his wife that now is, to them , for the time of their life and what costs the saide Wm. Plase shalbe att his use and behouefe the Towne at the end of ther life shalbe will to allow his eyers executors or asigns the value that the same shalbe worth, voted."  There are additional records in Salem showing Richard Waters in divisions of land and grants of land.   He was a member of the First Church in Salem in 1637, too.

Richard Waters was a gunsmith.  He also owned a tavern in Salem.  His son, John, my 8 x great grandfather, was a farmer, who lived with his parents in Salem, and later in the Northfield section of Salem.  John Waters was called as a witness during the Salem witch trials to testify against George Jacobs.  His summons is unclear whether he was for or against Jacobs.  His daughter, Abigail, married John Jacobs, son of the accused George Jacobs.  

Summons for Witnesses v. George Jacobs, Sr. 

W'm and Mary by the Grace of God of England &c King and Queen &c. 

To the Sheriff of Essex or deputy or Constables of Salem Greeting. 

Wee comand you to Warn and give notice unto Joseph Flintt John Waters sen'r John Doritch Corpo'll John foster Capt Puttnam and [his] Rebecca his wife that they and Every of them be and appear forthwith att the Court of Oyer and Terminer holden at Salem there to Testifie the truth to the best of your knowledge on certain Indictments Exhibited against George Jacobs Sen'r hereof make return faile not. 

Dated in Salem Aug't 4th 1692, and in the fourth yeare of our Reigne 

( Essex County Archives, Witchcraft, Volume 1, page 85)

-------------------------------------

I have two WATERS lineages:

A.

Generation 1: Richard Waters, son of James Waters and Phebe Manning, was baptized on 3 March 1604 at St. Botolph, Aldersgate, London, England, and died 16 July 1677 at Salem, Massachusetts.  He married about 1630 in England to Rejoice Plaise, his stepsister, daughter of William Plaise and Margery Smith.   William Plaise married Phebe (Manning) Waters about 1592 in England.  Richard Waters and Rejoice Plaise  had sixteen children.

Generation 2: John Waters, born 29 November 1640 in Salem, died 14 February 1706; married on 1 August 1663 in Salem to Sarah Tompkins, daughter of John Tompkins and Margaret Goodman.   She was born 1 January 1643 in Salem, and died about 1707 in Salem.  Ten children.

Generation 3: John Waters, born 4 July 1665 In Salem, died 1741; married Mary Unknown.  Six children.

Generation 4. Lydia Waters, born 1704, died 4 August 1769 in Danvers, Massachusetts; married on 14 December 1727 in Salem to John Proctor as his first wife.  Ten children.

Generation 5. Lydia Proctor m. Jonathan Flint

Generation 6.  John Flint m. Phebe Flint

Generation 7.  Olive Flint m. Luther Simonds Munroe

Generation 8. Phebe Cross Munroe m. Robert Wilson Wilkinson

Generation 9.  Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 10. Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

B.

Generation 3. Abigail Waters, born 6 May 1683, died before 1721 in Salem; married on 6 April 1704 in Salem Village (now Danvers) to John Jacobs, son of George Jacobs (hung as a witch in 1692) and Rebecca Andrews.  He was born on 18 September 1679 in Salem and died in 1764 in Salem.  Seven children.

Generation 4. Abigail Jacobs, born about 1706, married on 5 February 1736 in Salem to Malachi Felton, son of Nathaniel Felton and Elizabeth Foot, born 14 May 1705.  Four children.

Generation 5. Sarah Felton married Robert Wilson

Generation 6. Robert Wilson married Mary Southwick

Generation 7. Mercy F. Wilson married Aaron Wilkinson

Generation 8. Robert Wilson Wilkinson married Phebe Cross Munroe

Generation 9.  Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 10. Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

For more information on Richard Waters' family see the Salem, Massachusetts Vital Records, and Sidney Perley's History of Salem, 1924.  See also Ancestors and Descendants of Thomas Rice Lyon and his Wife Harriet Wade Rice with Related Families, by Patty Barthell Myers, 2003, pages 616 - 619.

-------------------

Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ Jacobs of Salem, Massachusetts

"The Trail of George Jacobs" (my ancestor)
painting by T. H. Matteson,
this artwork depicts teenager Margaret Jacobs 
accusing her grandfather, to save her own life

JACOBS

George Jacobs arrived in Salem and bought the house and ten acre lot belonging to Richard Waters on 25 November 1658.  He lived as a farmer for more than thirty years when he was arrested, along with his granddaughter, Margaret Jacobs, and accused of “sundry acts of witchcraft.”  Later his son, and his wife Rebecca were also arrested.  Their four little children were left behind and cared for by neighbors.  Rebecca was aquitted on 3 January 1693.  Margaret could not pay her jail fees, and so languished in prison for several months after her acquittal.

One of the “afflicted girls” was teenaged Sarah Churchill, his servant.  This group of teens accused her of witchcraft, too, when she expressed sorrow at wrongly accusing George Jacobs.   Granddaughter Margaret Jacobs was tortured until she accused her grandfather, which she later recanted.  She was only sixteen years old.   

Evidence at the trial showed that George Jacobs was quite elderly.  He was hunchbacked and walked with two canes.  He must have been over eighty years old during the trial. George was found guilty and hung on 19 August 1692 along with the Reverend George Burroughs, John Proctor (also my ancestor), John Willard and Martha Carrier.  In 1703 the General Court repaid the heirs of the condemned, and the Jacobs family received 79 pounds.

All the victims hung at Salem had their bodies thrown into a crevice on Gallows Hill because they were not allowed a decent burial.  It is well known that the bodies of George Jacobs and Rebecca Nurse (and perhaps others) were secretly reburied by family.  In 1854 his bones were found on the Jacobs homestead.   In 1992, the 300^th anniversary of the hangings, and also the same year the Jacobs homestead was demolished, his bones were reburied at the Rebecca Nurse homestead at 149 Pine Street in Danvers.   Forensic evidence showed the bones belonged to a tall arthritic man with no teeth. 

A quote from George’s testimony at his trial: “Well, burn me or hang me I will stand in the truth of Christ. I know nothing of it.”

The day after her grandfather was hung, Margaret Jacobs wrote this letter:

Honored father--After my humble duty remembered to you, hoping in the Lord of your good health, as blessed be God I enjoy, though in abundance of affliction being close confined here in a loathsome dungeon, the Lord look down in mercy upon me, not knowing how soon I shall be put to death, by means of the afflicted persons. My grandfather having suffered already and all his estate seized for the king. The reason of my confinement is this, I having, through the magistrates threatenings, and my own vile and wretched heart, confessed several things contrary to my own conscience and knowledge, though to the wounding of my own soul, the Lord pardon me for it. But O, the terrors of a wounded conscience, who can bear ? But blessed be the Lord, he would not let me go on in my sins, but in mercy, I hope, to my soul, would not suffer me to keep it in any longer, but t was forced to confess the truth of all before the magistrates who would not believe me, but 'tis their pleasure to put me here, and God knows how soon I shall be put to death. Dear father, let me beg your prayers to the Lord on my behalf, and send me a joyful and happy meeting in Heaven. My mother, poor woman, is very crazy, and remembers her kind love to you and to uncle, viz. d--A--, so leaving you to the protection of the Lord, I rest your dutiful daughter.

MARGARET JACOBS

From the dungeon

in Salem prison,

Aug. 20, 1692

--------------------------

 There is much information on the Jacobs family and the witch hysteria in Sidney Perley’s three volume set The History of Salem.  The English origins of George Jacobs were written up in The American Genealogist, Volume 79, pages 3-12, 209 – 217, 253- 259.  

There are many good books about the witch hysteria, but my favorites are:

In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, by Mary Beth Norton, New York: Knopf, 2002.

Salem Possessed by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, Boston: Harvard University Press, 1974.

Salem Village Witchcraft by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1993.

There is a webpage devoted to the story of George Jacobs and the genealogy of his descendants at this link: http://www.angelfire.com/ny/georgejacobs/georgejacobs.html

----------------------

My lineage from George Jacobs:

Generation 1:  George Jacobs was born about 1612 in England, died on 19 August 1692 when he was hung as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts; married to Mary Unknown.  She remarried to John Wildes,  whose first wife, Sarah Averill, was hung as a witch on 19 July 1692, in Salem.  Two children.

Generation 2: George Jacobs, Jr., who died before 1718; married on 9 February 1675 to Rebecca Andrews, widow of John Frost.  She was born 16 April 1646 in Watertown or Cambridge, Massachusetts daughter of Thomas Andrews and Rebecca Craddock.   Six children.

Generation 3.  John Jacobs, born 18 September 1679 in Salem, died 1764 in Salem; married first on 6 April 1704 in Salem Village (now Danvers) to Abigail Waters, daughter of John Waters and Sarah Tompkins.  She was born on 6 May 1683 and died before 1721 in Salem.  He married second on 21 May 1721 in Salem Village to Lydia Cooke. 

Generation 4: Abigail Jacobs married Malachi Felton

Generation 5. Sarah Felton married Robert Wilson

Generation 6. Robert Wilson married Mary Southwick

Generation 7. Mercy F. Wilson married Aaron Wilkinson

Generation 8.  Robert Wilson Wilkinson married Phebe Cross Munroe

Generation 9. Albert Munroe Wilkinson married Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 10.  Donald Munroe Wilkinson married Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

---------------------------------

To Cite/Link to this post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ Jacobs of Salem, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 28, 2012, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/04/surname-saturday-jacobs-of-salem.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ Felton of Salem, Massachusetts

FELTON

The Nathaniel Felton, Sr. House, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nathaniel Felton settled in Salem in 1633 with his mother “Misstress Eleanor Felton”, and his sisters Judith and Margaret, along with his Uncle Benjamin Felton. He was about 17 years old when he arrived in New England.  He married Mary Skelton, daughter of Salem’s first minister, Reverend Samuel Skelton.  

Nathaniel Felton built the house on Felton Hill in 1644, which still stands and is used every summer for the Felton Family Association reunion.  This grant of land now sits in Peabody, Massachusetts, overlooking the North Shore Mall and Routes 114 and 128.  The Nathaniel Felton, Jr. house is next door, surrounded by apple orchards.   Both Felton houses are the property of the Peabody Historical Society.

Nathaniel Felton can be found in the records on juries, as a constable, and in military positions.  His house on Felton Hill was considered the frontier, and it served as a garrison.  He witnessed several wills found in the Essex County records.   His son John was constable in 1685 and 1687.   The grandson, Nathaniel Felton was a weaver, and there is a large floor loom on display in the Nathaniel Felton, Jr. House.  His son, Malachi Felton was appointed administrator of his will on 26 February 1733, with guardianship of the two youngest children, Isaac and Samuel.

The Peabody Historical Society has much information on the Felton family, and maintains a family museum with artifacts and furniture inside both Felton houses in Peabody.  The Felton Family Association historian, Cora Felton Anderson, is updating the old Felton genealogy written by Cyrus Felton in 1886. 

The 2002 Felton Family Reunion, Peabody, Massachusetts

For more information:

Peabody Historical Society http://www.peabodyhistorical.org/  and the page for the Felton houses is http://www.peabodyhistorical.org/properties.asp#senior

Cora Felton Anderson can be reached at Felton96@aol.com

The Felton Family Association website http://www.feltonfamily.org/

A Genealogical History of the Felton Family: Descendants of Lieutenant Nathaniel Felton, by Cyrus Felton, Marlborough, MA: Pratt Brothers Printers, 1886

There is also much information on the Feltons and their descendants in Perley’s History of Salem, the published vital records of Salem, Danvers and Peabody, Volume II of Savage’s Genealogical Dictionary of New England, and in Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700.

Felton Genealogy:

Generation 1:  John Felton, son of John Felton and Judith Damrell, born before 3 January 1584 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, died 17 October 1629 in Great Yarmouth; married on 22 April 1612 at the St. Nicholas Church in Great Yarmouth to Eleanor Thrower, daughter of John Thrower and Margaret Unknown,  who died in Salem, Massachusetts.  Four children born in England:

1. Benjamin Felton, born about 1613, married Mary Unknown, died in 1668 in Salem, Massachusetts

2. Nathaniel Felton (see below)

3. Judith Felton, born about 1621, married John Ingersoll

4. Margaret Felton, born 1623, married first to Christopher Waller, married second to Robert Fuller

Generation 2: Nathaniel Felton, born about 1615 in Great Yarmouth, England, died on 30 Jul 1705 in Salem (now Peabody), Massachusetts; married about 1643 to Mary Skelton, daughter of Reverend Samuel Skelton and Susanna Travis, baptized on 28 June 1627 in Tattershall, Lincolnshire, England, died on 8 May 1701 in Salem (now Peabody).   Eight children:

1.  John Felton (see below)

2. Mary Felton, born about 1651, died young

3. Elizabeth Felton,  born 18 March 1653, married Thomas Watkins

4. Nathaniel Felton, born 15 August 1655, married Ann Horne

5. Mary Felton, born 15 January 1657, married John Gloyd

6. Hannah Felton, born 20 June 1663, married Samuel Endicott

7. Susannah Felton, born about 1665

8. Ruth Felton, married James Houlton

Generation 3:  John Felton, born 3 September 1648 in Salem (now Peabody), died 19 February 1717;  he married first on 29 September 1670 in Salem to Mary Tompkins, daughter of John Tompkins and Margaret Goodman, baptized on 29 April 1649 in Salem, died 12 December 1688.  Seven children with Mary.  He married second to Hannah Unknown and had two more children.

1. Nathaniel Felton (see below)

2. Mary Felton, born 31 March 1674, married Freeborn Reeves

3. John Felton, born 22 March 1676, died 6 April 1676

4. Hannah Felton, born 18 Apri 1677, married Arthur Chamnes

5. Elizabeth Felton, born 28 February 1678, died about 1763

6. Samuel Felton, born 1 January 1681, married Sarah Goodale

7. John Felton, born 22 August 1686, married Mary Waters

8. Ruth Felton, born 15 September 1693

9. Susanna Felton, born 15 September 1693

Generation 4: Nathaniel Felton, born 8 June 1672; married on 29 June 1698 to Elizabeth Foot, daughter of Isaac Foot and Abigail Jeggles, born in April 1675. Ten children:

1. Abigail Felton, born 12 May 1699, married James Taylor

2. Samuel Felton, born 7 August 1701, died 1718

3. Malachi Felton (see below)

4. Mary Felton, born 16 March 1707, married Caleb Balch

5. Elizabeth Felton, born 17 May 1709,

6. Benjamin Felton, born 9 September 1712, married Joanna Ruggles

7. Nathaniel Felton, born 9 May 1714, married Anna Jacobs

8. Isaac Felton, born 6 March 1716, died 2 February 1718

9. Isaac Felton, born 1719

10. Samuel Felton, born 21 May 1721

Generation 5: Malachi Felton, born 14 May 1705; married on 5 February 1726 in Salem to Abigail Jacobs, daughter of John Jacobs and Abigail Waters, born about 1706. Four children:

1. Abigail Felton, born 30 April 1738, married Joseph Richardson

2. Mary Felton, born about 1742, married Benjamin Kent

3. Malachi Felton, born about 1745

4. Sarah Felton (see below)

Generation 5: Sarah Felton, born about 1750 in Salem, died 20 November 1836 in Danvers, Massachusetts; married on 23 March 1775 in Danvers to Robert Wilson, son of Robert Wilson and Elizabeth Southwick, born about 1746 and died 4 June 1797 in Danvers. Nine children.

Generation 6. Robert Wilson m. Mary Southwick

Generation 7. Mercy F. Wilson m. Aaron Wilkinson

Generation 8.  Robert Wilson Wilkinson m. Phebe Cross Munroe

Generation 9.  Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 10. Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Robert (my grandparents)

-----------------------------

Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo