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| Mary and Sarah Eastey From the monument in Salem |
The story of the Towne sisters and the Salem witchcraft trials has been told and re-told. It is a story of corruption, power, politics, jealousy and religious fanaticism. It is a story about how easy it is for a community to turn on itself by appealing to the worst parts of human beings. And it happened over and over again – 20 people killed in towns around the Colony between 1692 and 1693 – all of whom were later acquitted and their families compensated.
It was a return to the Dark Ages, a hysteria taking hold due to the religious fanaticism of 17th century New England – where it was easier to believe satanic possession than it was to try and find a medical reason behind the seizures of two young girls. Our ancestor, Mary Towne Estey became a victim as a result of her brave effort to save her sister, but by this time this madness has taken hold of the whole colony.
Mary Towne was born in 1634 in England to parents William Towne and Joanna Blessing. William and Joanna had seven children, four of them girls. Mary’s sisters included Rebecca, who married Francis Nurse, and Sarah, who married a man named Cloyce. All of the girls were born in Suffolk England, and lived in Topsfield just outside Salem.
At the age of 21 Mary Towne married Isaac Estey in New England. Together they had nine children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. By all accounts, Mary was intelligent, pious and graceful. She was known as a stalwart citizen, and a believer in the Puritan spirit of the Colony.
By the time of the Salem witch trials, the sisters were well into their 60s. These were elderly women who had given their lives to their families and communities. Rebecca Nurse was the first to fall victim to the hysteria – and was found guilty of witchcraft. Mary and Sarah saw through the behaviour of their fellows and spoke out against this brutality and injustice. Both went to churches in neighbouring villages, refusing to be collegial with those who had accused their sister or turned their backs on her suffering.
Soon both Sarah and Mary were also accused. By all accounts Mary kept her head and argued her case with reverence for her religion and thoughtful purpose. All but one of her accusers recanted – but one was enough. Mary was briefly released, but her accuser went into fits and Mary was blamed. She was imprisoned again on May 18, and on September 8 Mary Towne Estey was convicted of being a witch.
It is hard to imagine the terror and inevitability of a community that has turned its back on you and found you guilty for crimes that you yourself know never took place. Ill and weak, Mary Towne Estey still took the opportunity on the day of her hanging to beseech her community to find a new path:
The Lord above knows my innocency then...as on the great day will be known to men and angels. I petition your honours...if it be possible, that no more innocent blood be shed, which undoubtedly cannot be avoided in the way and course you go in. I question not, but your honors do to the utmost of your powers in the discovery and detecting of witchcraft and witches, and would not be guilt of innocent blood for the world; but by my own innocency, I know you are in the wrong way. The Lord in His infinite mercy direct you in this great work, if it be his blessed will, that innocent blood be not shed...
Mary Towne Eastey died by hanging on September 22, 1692. Her sister Sarah was later released and it wasn’t long afterwards that the persecutions came to an end. I like to think that Mary's words and her courage while facing her accusers, formerly her community, had something to do with the Colony finally seeing reason.
I have always considered this moment in history in Salem to be a warning that the Dark Ages are always chasing us at the edge of our imaginations – ready to re-awaken at the first sign of the unexplainable, the hated, the accused. It is too easy to seek the enemy in the shadows and to seek the shadows to accuse our enemies. Salem will always be, for me, a warning against religious fanaticism, political power, and the irrationality of hatred in all its forms.
Until recently I was not aware of my ancestral connection to the Salem witchcraft trials. While it makes the story more personally meaningful, the tragedy is not greater because of this relationship. It doesn’t take much to look around today and see the warning signs of similar behaviour – whether it’s about religion or race. Salem will always serve as a warning of what we can become – and I am deeply saddened that one of our ancestors was the victim of that basest form of humanity. We can be proud, however, of Mary’s strength in facing her enemies, and her desire to teach them the error of their ways - literally to her last breath.
