Susan--So sad to hear of how your ancestor passed. It gives insight into your wit and wisdom. And there are a number of resources that indicate they were healers. Here's one from UAB https://guides.library.uab.edu/c.php?g=1048546&p=7609205
I really appreciate this link, Sharon! I cant wait to dive into it. Thank you! The genealogy bug bit me pretty hard! And the things I learn are sometimes amazing!
Oh wow, Maggie. Our people probably knew each other! (I believe hanging was the method...so barbaric.) What makes you think they were healers? I'd be interested in your thoughts. Margaret was poverty stricken and had to beg.
The little bit I’ve studied about the history of all of this is that they were midwives and healers or a lot of them were anyway… Yeah, somehow Rebecca Towne is the family’s claim to fame… Kind of pathetic …
Susan, I am of the opinion that people who are running away who are usually white privileged people who can afford to do it …to live in another country… are chicken shits…!
we need everyone to fight, but that is my opinion and as you know, (this is one of my favorite sayings) “opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one”
This is in part - Why my Home Site is All Ages - & Zero Organized Religion or Politics allowed. Education & Healthcare are under Attack by Parasitic Elected & Unelected ‘Public Servants’
One either ‘stands for The Autonomy of Women & the Rights of Children .. or NOT ..
What a heartbreaking story! Homo Sapiens is one crazy species, both smart and also incredibly stupid. We have a beautiful planet and lack nothing, but we make our lives and other people´s lives deliberately difficult. Why? It´s like we are addicted to suffering. At least Grandma Margaret is at peace <3
Very good point: "smart and also incredibly stupid". I can't imagine living in colonial America.... just surviving would be a full time job. Then you add the superstition of an extremist religious group.... we are definitely crazy!
Wow! Holy fuck! I would be gobsmacked to learn one of my ancestors was hung as a witch. It's so incredibly grieving. In 2025, a woman dies from violent misogyny every 6 seconds on this planet. Rape is used as a weapon of war. Its cost affective, according to war lords. We haven't evolved that much. Religious fucking nut jobs! 😤 Same fucking story throughout the generations. If men couldn't control their wives, they had them committed to a nut house.
Boy, you were pounding the pavement looking for answers. Fascinating Susan, really fascinating. I love your tenacity. ❤️ I can't wait to hear more. Get some rest. You earned it. 😘
I'm jealous 😫 10 hours of straight sleep. My grandson likes to sleep in my king size bed because I don't snore.😅 Then he does his imitation of a clock. His feet are in my face. At least I have room to move to the edge of the bed and hang on. He doesn't like sleeping alone right now. Whatever he needs right now.
What is remarkable is that the Puritans/Pilgrims were Calvinists, who, for religious freedom, migrated through The Netherlands -- dominated by the Reformed Church (Calvinism).
Essentially, the Calvinists (see the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms) taught that God is Love, gives grace, that none of us deserve His grace, that He is Sovereign, and He predestines the Blessed and . . . er . . . passes over (predestines NEGATIVELY!!) THE DAMNED.
The Puritans/Pilgrims, religious minorities in England, enjoyed religious freedom in the remarkably advanced and enlightened Netherlands.
But they missed the English culture.
So, in migrating to Massachusetts, they stopped, having run out of beer. So they stopped, brewed beer, and stayed.
But the Puritan faith is, well, . . . PURE.
So, having been persecuted by Anglicans, Puritans now took to persecuting others.
Judge John Hathorne was among the learned judges who performed inquisition upon the "witches."
His descendant added a "w", namely, Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote much about the evil doings of his ancestor.
The great Robert Lowell of Massachusetts, one of our greatest poets, retells some of the Hawthorne tales about the witch-trial era.
And your ancestress was a victim but is now honored.
And you make exactly the right connection to our monstrous Trump/ICE-era.
You are one of my favorites, very sincerely.
Your posts reveal so much about your inner self, and it is inner beauty you share, that we, your friends, cherish.
I must say discovering Margaret was a shock. And thank you for the back story of the Puritans...as well as Nathaniel Hawthorne, who I remember reading in school. I took a quick glance on Robert Lowell and am now intrigued to read his work! He passed far too early in his life and sounds like a fascinating person. As always, THANK YOU for reading and sharing your kind words. It means the world to me. ❤️
You have quite the family history Susan! Heartbreaking but amazing post. It doesn’t seem to matter how far we seem to progress it’s only to digress. Anger, bigotry, all still in full display.
I guess thats why my grandmother didn't want to reply to my questions about past relatives! "Leave the nuts on the family tree". 🤣🤣 Why can't we see as a species how this behavior is not getting us anywhere? It only hurts us all. Sorry for the deep question! HA! It all just blows my mind!
The sadly ironic thing about that is the Puritans that founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony fled England to escape religious persecution. Then they fell into their own persecutory madness. When Cromwell and his Roundheads ruled England, they tried to exterminate Catholics. They invaded Ireland for that purpose and got their asses kicked. The more things change, the more they stay the same. You're a fine history detective. I can't wait for your next adventure.😃😘
Fascinating how you were able to research this barbaric chapter and find your link to your ancestors as well. I envy your freedom to follow your path and the amazing discoveries along the way.
Oh Susan, such a heartbreaking story. Women in that period had to be very careful or those “in charge” could accuse them of being a witch.
Looking around, women today also have to be very careful or can be accused of being “woke”, and the patriarchy doesn’t like that. Imho, the patriarchy is the oppressor of women in so many situations. Their idea of a ‘trad’ wife is certainly not the way women should behave. We are intelligent, educated, and know more about compassion than men ever did. Empathy is considered a flaw rather than a quality, and that is a disaster for civilization.
"Empathy is considered a flaw rather than a quality, and that is a disaster for civilization."
👏👏👏👏👏👏 Spot on, Sharon. I just cant understand how, after 300+ years, we can't be a better, kinder, more civil society. It was a big genealogical discovery, one I had to follow up on since I'm this close!
I live just a couple of towns over from Rowley, Mass and grew up here in the area. The Salem Witch Trials are very much a part of our real history here. I wish I had known you were to be here!
This whole area is fascinating and beautiful. It’s also an interesting time for history as Massachusetts is celebrating “The Road to Revolution,” the 250th anniversary of the Revolution starting here.
What a horrific and chilling story, Susan. And to think there are parallels in the behavior of the powerful today.
And wow! Thanks for the shout out! It was wonderful to meet you. Glad you made it to Maine and sorry you got stuck in traffic! P.S. I left a VM for Susan Collins excoriating her and her vote to advance the budget bill. A betrayal to the people of Maine that will result in needless suffering and death was the primary message. That, and to lose the expression, “I’m concerned.” It’s an embarrassment!
Just great finally meeting you too! I just loved talking to you… we could have gone on for hours! My traffic fiasco didnt happen till I left Boston. Good grief. BOTH sides of the highway, loaded and S L O W! 😂 Car crashes that reduced traffic flow to a crawl! But I made it!
GOOD for you to let Susan Collins know exactly how you feel. 🙄
Charlie! It was quite a shit show! 😂😂 I took 84 to get to the Tappan Zee Bridge (However you spell that) to avoid the George Washington bridge and get on the New Jersey turnpike. HOLY CRAP! So... I took a Spanish lesson in the car, caught up on some emails, all doing about 10 miles an hour. 😂
I was in Salem MA a few years ago and also have a picture of one of the benches. Not a relative but a man that was pressed to death because he wouldn’t testify against his wife who was accused a witch. She was hung as well. Truly sad for grandma. None of those people deserved such a fate.
Unreal what they did! In that cheesy presentation they portrayed the poor man who was pressed to death. Absolutely barbaric. I keep hoping modern America will get a grip on itself but I fear we’re going backwards, not forwards. Thanks for reading!!
Yep, we saw the cheesy presentation too. What got me was the little tour afterwards which showed the cells those women were confined to. Some you couldn’t even sit in let alone lay down, but had to remain standing or leaning.
Our tour guide was a young lad named Owen who talked SO FAST I only understood every other word! 😂. I missed the cells… I don’t think they were there for my tour.
I agree with you 100%! Btw, I have never been to Salem Massachusetts and the New England area region. I have been to upstate New York. The ancestors on my father’s side of the family arrived here in the USA in 1802 from England, Scotland and Ireland. They settled in the Philadelphia PA area. The ancestors on my mother’s side of the family arrived here in the USA in 1879 or 1880 from eastern Europe. They settled in the Detroit MI area and Ontario Canada. I found stuff when I was cleaning out my grandmother's, aunt and mother’s house.
My ppl came from Scotland, England, and Ireland. Many went to Nova Scotia, Ontario,and BC. I have an ancestor who went to Massachusetts in 1630 on the Winthrop Fleet from England.
presumably there’s copious ‘Ships Lists - ie By Year - Port - Registered Owner - Crew - Passengers Lists & Origin .. even Occupation - Children
I’ve used this tactic successfully re Shipwrecks - Newfoundland - Grand Banks.. ‘Wreck of Despatch .. at that point - with some level of success - one gets into Church Records haha .. Baptisms & Funerals .. & THE CHURCH always a ‘righteous source haha - a veritable ‘hive of busybody manipulation with a keen talent for ‘grooming .. that i certainly took personal note of till age 12 or so
Oh, I’m sure you discovered lots of interesting things! I loved New England, but I had to keep the time there short and cram in as much as possible. It’s very expensive (in my view)….Spain was cheaper! 😂 But being able to learn more about Margaret was worth every cent. Plus that lobster roll! YUM!!!
Yes, I found old photo’s and papers that they wrote down or typed information. Here at my house I have 2 big plastic storage containers. I have one container has all the stuff on my father’s side of the family and the other container with my mother’s side of the family. I have been to the cemetaries in the Philadelphia PA area where my ancestors/relatives on my dad’s side. Some of them did not live long. Like only to a couple of years old, some in their teens and some in their early 20’s. Back then it was common because there was no vaccines and modern medicine like we have today.
Well, I’m hoping we do not go back to those days. With the current toddler, his whole staff and whole cabinet in DC. Yeah, RFK Jr with his crazy wacko ideas.
Geez, FFS this is 2025! Not 1625! Yeah, the 🍊clown’s way of ending messages on his crappy app: Thank you for your attention to this matter. Him and his goons can F-OFF!
.. ‘shameless deserves more Attention - recently read a Contemporary ‘Clinical perspective i might paraphrase loosely as - The ‘State of an individual Narcissist upon Accepting their Utter (fill in the blanks) & may go forward confident in their ‘utter shamelessness at who they’ve actually become ! I believe Sam Ray has the Clinical Cred re this level .. I just think of Alex Jones as benchmark Apex Shameless - Will Kill & Ruin Americans without Shame.. Did he get Pardoned ? 🦎🏴☠️🧨
Susan--So sad to hear of how your ancestor passed. It gives insight into your wit and wisdom. And there are a number of resources that indicate they were healers. Here's one from UAB https://guides.library.uab.edu/c.php?g=1048546&p=7609205
I really appreciate this link, Sharon! I cant wait to dive into it. Thank you! The genealogy bug bit me pretty hard! And the things I learn are sometimes amazing!
My pleasure!
My ancestor Rebecca Towne was also hung/burnt?In Salem. I believe a lot of these women were healers and that they threatened the patriarchy.
Oh wow, Maggie. Our people probably knew each other! (I believe hanging was the method...so barbaric.) What makes you think they were healers? I'd be interested in your thoughts. Margaret was poverty stricken and had to beg.
The little bit I’ve studied about the history of all of this is that they were midwives and healers or a lot of them were anyway… Yeah, somehow Rebecca Towne is the family’s claim to fame… Kind of pathetic …
I cant even imagine living in such an era…I hope we’re not headed that way. :(
We may be until we stop it.
Susan, I am of the opinion that people who are running away who are usually white privileged people who can afford to do it …to live in another country… are chicken shits…!
we need everyone to fight, but that is my opinion and as you know, (this is one of my favorite sayings) “opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one”
This is in part - Why my Home Site is All Ages - & Zero Organized Religion or Politics allowed. Education & Healthcare are under Attack by Parasitic Elected & Unelected ‘Public Servants’
One either ‘stands for The Autonomy of Women & the Rights of Children .. or NOT ..
- Thank you for the Post ! 🦎🏴☠️ Canadian 💋
What a heartbreaking story! Homo Sapiens is one crazy species, both smart and also incredibly stupid. We have a beautiful planet and lack nothing, but we make our lives and other people´s lives deliberately difficult. Why? It´s like we are addicted to suffering. At least Grandma Margaret is at peace <3
Very good point: "smart and also incredibly stupid". I can't imagine living in colonial America.... just surviving would be a full time job. Then you add the superstition of an extremist religious group.... we are definitely crazy!
THANK YOU Kati... have a good week!
Wow! Holy fuck! I would be gobsmacked to learn one of my ancestors was hung as a witch. It's so incredibly grieving. In 2025, a woman dies from violent misogyny every 6 seconds on this planet. Rape is used as a weapon of war. Its cost affective, according to war lords. We haven't evolved that much. Religious fucking nut jobs! 😤 Same fucking story throughout the generations. If men couldn't control their wives, they had them committed to a nut house.
Boy, you were pounding the pavement looking for answers. Fascinating Susan, really fascinating. I love your tenacity. ❤️ I can't wait to hear more. Get some rest. You earned it. 😘
"Get some rest" Do you know when I got back to Philly, I've slept TEN hours two nights in a row? 😂
Women have always taken the brunt of men's failures, haven't they? It was an incredible genealogical find. That poor woman. 😭
I'm jealous 😫 10 hours of straight sleep. My grandson likes to sleep in my king size bed because I don't snore.😅 Then he does his imitation of a clock. His feet are in my face. At least I have room to move to the edge of the bed and hang on. He doesn't like sleeping alone right now. Whatever he needs right now.
😂😂 You're an awesome Grammy... I only let my daughter sleep with me one time...she kept flailing about, guiding her teeth, and I got ZERO sleep. 😂
grinding! Not guiding!! 🤦♀️
Susan Niemann: So much to think of here.
What is remarkable is that the Puritans/Pilgrims were Calvinists, who, for religious freedom, migrated through The Netherlands -- dominated by the Reformed Church (Calvinism).
Essentially, the Calvinists (see the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms) taught that God is Love, gives grace, that none of us deserve His grace, that He is Sovereign, and He predestines the Blessed and . . . er . . . passes over (predestines NEGATIVELY!!) THE DAMNED.
The Puritans/Pilgrims, religious minorities in England, enjoyed religious freedom in the remarkably advanced and enlightened Netherlands.
But they missed the English culture.
So, in migrating to Massachusetts, they stopped, having run out of beer. So they stopped, brewed beer, and stayed.
But the Puritan faith is, well, . . . PURE.
So, having been persecuted by Anglicans, Puritans now took to persecuting others.
Judge John Hathorne was among the learned judges who performed inquisition upon the "witches."
His descendant added a "w", namely, Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote much about the evil doings of his ancestor.
The great Robert Lowell of Massachusetts, one of our greatest poets, retells some of the Hawthorne tales about the witch-trial era.
And your ancestress was a victim but is now honored.
And you make exactly the right connection to our monstrous Trump/ICE-era.
You are one of my favorites, very sincerely.
Your posts reveal so much about your inner self, and it is inner beauty you share, that we, your friends, cherish.
I must say discovering Margaret was a shock. And thank you for the back story of the Puritans...as well as Nathaniel Hawthorne, who I remember reading in school. I took a quick glance on Robert Lowell and am now intrigued to read his work! He passed far too early in his life and sounds like a fascinating person. As always, THANK YOU for reading and sharing your kind words. It means the world to me. ❤️
You have quite the family history Susan! Heartbreaking but amazing post. It doesn’t seem to matter how far we seem to progress it’s only to digress. Anger, bigotry, all still in full display.
I guess thats why my grandmother didn't want to reply to my questions about past relatives! "Leave the nuts on the family tree". 🤣🤣 Why can't we see as a species how this behavior is not getting us anywhere? It only hurts us all. Sorry for the deep question! HA! It all just blows my mind!
Well it blows my mind too Susan! I just can’t wrap my head around it!
Love your history find and glad you took the time to explore this tragedy.
The sadly ironic thing about that is the Puritans that founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony fled England to escape religious persecution. Then they fell into their own persecutory madness. When Cromwell and his Roundheads ruled England, they tried to exterminate Catholics. They invaded Ireland for that purpose and got their asses kicked. The more things change, the more they stay the same. You're a fine history detective. I can't wait for your next adventure.😃😘
Fascinating how you were able to research this barbaric chapter and find your link to your ancestors as well. I envy your freedom to follow your path and the amazing discoveries along the way.
Oh Susan, such a heartbreaking story. Women in that period had to be very careful or those “in charge” could accuse them of being a witch.
Looking around, women today also have to be very careful or can be accused of being “woke”, and the patriarchy doesn’t like that. Imho, the patriarchy is the oppressor of women in so many situations. Their idea of a ‘trad’ wife is certainly not the way women should behave. We are intelligent, educated, and know more about compassion than men ever did. Empathy is considered a flaw rather than a quality, and that is a disaster for civilization.
"Empathy is considered a flaw rather than a quality, and that is a disaster for civilization."
👏👏👏👏👏👏 Spot on, Sharon. I just cant understand how, after 300+ years, we can't be a better, kinder, more civil society. It was a big genealogical discovery, one I had to follow up on since I'm this close!
HUGS!!!
Love ya Lady! I’m looking forward to our next lunch outing. 🥰
Me too!!!
I live just a couple of towns over from Rowley, Mass and grew up here in the area. The Salem Witch Trials are very much a part of our real history here. I wish I had known you were to be here!
OH! Me too! I would have loved to meet you! I enjoyed Rowley-especially the library. They were very kind.
This whole area is fascinating and beautiful. It’s also an interesting time for history as Massachusetts is celebrating “The Road to Revolution,” the 250th anniversary of the Revolution starting here.
Very cool. Perhaps it will be the location of the next revolution!! It really is a beautiful area. :)
What a horrific and chilling story, Susan. And to think there are parallels in the behavior of the powerful today.
And wow! Thanks for the shout out! It was wonderful to meet you. Glad you made it to Maine and sorry you got stuck in traffic! P.S. I left a VM for Susan Collins excoriating her and her vote to advance the budget bill. A betrayal to the people of Maine that will result in needless suffering and death was the primary message. That, and to lose the expression, “I’m concerned.” It’s an embarrassment!
Just great finally meeting you too! I just loved talking to you… we could have gone on for hours! My traffic fiasco didnt happen till I left Boston. Good grief. BOTH sides of the highway, loaded and S L O W! 😂 Car crashes that reduced traffic flow to a crawl! But I made it!
GOOD for you to let Susan Collins know exactly how you feel. 🙄
Boston is famous for that.
🤣🤣🤣 sounds a lot like Toronto traffic!
Charlie! It was quite a shit show! 😂😂 I took 84 to get to the Tappan Zee Bridge (However you spell that) to avoid the George Washington bridge and get on the New Jersey turnpike. HOLY CRAP! So... I took a Spanish lesson in the car, caught up on some emails, all doing about 10 miles an hour. 😂
Ah the East Coast!😂😂
I was in Salem MA a few years ago and also have a picture of one of the benches. Not a relative but a man that was pressed to death because he wouldn’t testify against his wife who was accused a witch. She was hung as well. Truly sad for grandma. None of those people deserved such a fate.
Unreal what they did! In that cheesy presentation they portrayed the poor man who was pressed to death. Absolutely barbaric. I keep hoping modern America will get a grip on itself but I fear we’re going backwards, not forwards. Thanks for reading!!
Yep, we saw the cheesy presentation too. What got me was the little tour afterwards which showed the cells those women were confined to. Some you couldn’t even sit in let alone lay down, but had to remain standing or leaning.
Our tour guide was a young lad named Owen who talked SO FAST I only understood every other word! 😂. I missed the cells… I don’t think they were there for my tour.
I agree with you 100%! Btw, I have never been to Salem Massachusetts and the New England area region. I have been to upstate New York. The ancestors on my father’s side of the family arrived here in the USA in 1802 from England, Scotland and Ireland. They settled in the Philadelphia PA area. The ancestors on my mother’s side of the family arrived here in the USA in 1879 or 1880 from eastern Europe. They settled in the Detroit MI area and Ontario Canada. I found stuff when I was cleaning out my grandmother's, aunt and mother’s house.
Oh and my parents settled in the Phila suburbs where I grew up.
My ppl came from Scotland, England, and Ireland. Many went to Nova Scotia, Ontario,and BC. I have an ancestor who went to Massachusetts in 1630 on the Winthrop Fleet from England.
We could be related. 😉
I seriously wonder if we AREN'T related! Too many similarities!! 🥰
presumably there’s copious ‘Ships Lists - ie By Year - Port - Registered Owner - Crew - Passengers Lists & Origin .. even Occupation - Children
I’ve used this tactic successfully re Shipwrecks - Newfoundland - Grand Banks.. ‘Wreck of Despatch .. at that point - with some level of success - one gets into Church Records haha .. Baptisms & Funerals .. & THE CHURCH always a ‘righteous source haha - a veritable ‘hive of busybody manipulation with a keen talent for ‘grooming .. that i certainly took personal note of till age 12 or so
Oh, I’m sure you discovered lots of interesting things! I loved New England, but I had to keep the time there short and cram in as much as possible. It’s very expensive (in my view)….Spain was cheaper! 😂 But being able to learn more about Margaret was worth every cent. Plus that lobster roll! YUM!!!
Yes, I found old photo’s and papers that they wrote down or typed information. Here at my house I have 2 big plastic storage containers. I have one container has all the stuff on my father’s side of the family and the other container with my mother’s side of the family. I have been to the cemetaries in the Philadelphia PA area where my ancestors/relatives on my dad’s side. Some of them did not live long. Like only to a couple of years old, some in their teens and some in their early 20’s. Back then it was common because there was no vaccines and modern medicine like we have today.
Valuable family information. Yes, the flu (and other illnesses) took so many lives. :(
Well, I’m hoping we do not go back to those days. With the current toddler, his whole staff and whole cabinet in DC. Yeah, RFK Jr with his crazy wacko ideas.
Geez, FFS this is 2025! Not 1625! Yeah, the 🍊clown’s way of ending messages on his crappy app: Thank you for your attention to this matter. Him and his goons can F-OFF!
I'm with you! 👏👏👏👏👏👏
No matter where in the world it occurs, it's always women who take the brunt of men's failure.
We do make a mess of things, but always find a way to blame the women in our lives for it.
Shameless doesn't cover it.
.. ‘shameless deserves more Attention - recently read a Contemporary ‘Clinical perspective i might paraphrase loosely as - The ‘State of an individual Narcissist upon Accepting their Utter (fill in the blanks) & may go forward confident in their ‘utter shamelessness at who they’ve actually become ! I believe Sam Ray has the Clinical Cred re this level .. I just think of Alex Jones as benchmark Apex Shameless - Will Kill & Ruin Americans without Shame.. Did he get Pardoned ? 🦎🏴☠️🧨
It seems to happen over and over again, doesn't it? I hope humans eventually evolve. THANK YOU for being here, Ian. Appreciate it. ✌️