Im writing a lot and trying to tie several towns that my blood flows through into a series of stories Id like published in the Local newspapers connecting each town to myself. Heres my first shot at it, Please review it before i send it to the writers i have connections with. Abington’s Connection to the Salem Witch Trials When people think of Halloween no matter where they are Its New England that first comes to mind. We imagine the leaves falling from trees in dazzling colors, Pumpkins on porches and the hint of what the coming winter has in store for us. We begin to retreat indoors as the days grow shorter and colder and take refuge in the anticipation of Thanksgiving and Christmas. We only get so many of this holiday before we too are retired to the grave and as they slip by so does our memories of those that have past. Growing up in New England as a boy I remember my Grandmother who was originally from Marblehead Massachusetts telling me we had several Connections to the Salem witch trials. She never told me their stories just that one was Rebecca Nurse and that she was hung for witchcraft. As a young man one can imagine that the Great Big world drowned out many of the tales my grandparents told me. They were lost in a world that was overwhelmingly new and Bright with buttons and knobs, computers and of course video games. These stories were for the most part Lost to my generation (generation x), left behind as if discarded to a dusty old attic. It’s only recently that the same technology that nearly made obsolete these tales has once again made them available to us all and even connected us to them on a personal level. Our world has become so small, we are all connected economically and socially so much so that if one Nation suffers we all suffer. Our political affiliations have become tribes of sorts, we fight back and forth for control of resources and how we use them. I guess my purpose of these stories will be to show you that WE are all connected somehow. We have a vested interest in the success and health of our neighbor, local government and Religious organizations. Should our neighbor, government church become sick we know all too well how it ends, here in New England it was usually in the Death of Innocent men women and children. I’ll begin my tale by first letting you know that I intend to interject my knowledge of Human nature into the story. I refuse to just read what other authors have written without interpreting the Feeling that must have been associated with these events. It turns out that I am directly descended from 2 women who were hung for witchcraft in Salem. Rebecca Towne Nurse and Susannah Martin both my 9th Great grandmothers were hung July 19th 1692. Both women were innocent and even later pardoned by the Catholic Church (in Modern times)as they were also ex communicated. These events were nothing more than a land/power grab by men of power who saw opportunity and took it. The Minister who presided over the Trials was none other than Reverend Nicholas Noyes my 9th great granduncle. Noyes graduated at Harvard in 1667, and, after preaching thirteen years in Haddam CT., moved in 1683 to Salem, where he was pastor until his death. He spent time as the chaplain with troops in Connecticut during King Phillips war in 1675-76. Before the execution of Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin and Sarah Good on July 19, 1692, Rev. Noyes asked Sarah to confess. Her famous last words were, “You are a liar! I am no more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you take away my life God will give you blood to drink.” Ironically, twenty-five years later, Noyes died of a hemorrhage and literally did choke on his own blood. On September 22, 1692, Rev. Nicholas Noyes officiated as clergyman at the final hangings of those accused Mary Parker of witchcraft. It is reported that he turned toward the suspended bodies of the victims and said, “What a sad thing it is to see eight firebrands of hell hanging there. He afterward retracted his opinions, and publicly confessed his error with respect to the witchcraft persecutions. I can only imagine the horror being at the end of the hangman’s noose. Knowing one’s self to be innocent and praying to god that your neighbor doesn’t sit idle by and watch your murder. I personally couldn’t stand by as my mother, sister and yes even wife was murdered in front of the whole town. But back then where could they run, certainly not to the Indians for help. It did appear that some powers in Boston had their doubts about the hysteria but back then they really had nowhere to run. Here is how Abington connects to these events. Rev, Nicholas had a brother John who had a son named Nicholas Noyes my 9th great grandfather. Nicholas was the nephew of Rev Nicholas Noyes of Salem. He married a Miss Sarah Lunt in Newbury Ma in 1695. In those days it must have been nerve wracking for the residents of Abington to have a neighbor with the name Noyes. Nicholas and Sarah had 6 children none were given the name Nicholas. Perhaps this was because of the reputation that followed the name. It was very common to name at least one child after yourself. Abington has seen its share of tragedy throughout the years. Madness has a way of migrating, often sleeping for several generations before it awakens once again to claim more souls. The entertainment value or morbid curiosity keeps us fixed on these stories perhaps to remind us that next time it could be us. I like to believe that it reminds us that there is a little bit of the devil in all of us and if we don’t keep vigilant it may catch us at a weak moment and we will be the Characters in the stories written by authors 100 years from now. My Hope is that Nicholas Noyes got a fresh start moving far away from the terror he moved so many miles away from. As for the victims of the trials I pray that at the moment of their death they were not afraid. They knew suffering far greater than we do today. They lost children and other loved ones to smallpox, to the Indian wars, starvation and more. They lived without any comfort and each day was spent trying to see the next. I hope that whatever god they prayed to was with them at that moment. The story I told you today has connected Abington to a moment in history that I hope you’ll research and read about. Let’s keep history from repeating itself, Salem had its share of boogey men and today we still collectively demonize groups of people. We create our own monsters and unfortunately often become them. My name is Kristian Pedersen and I’m producing and starring in a TV pilot called “The Descendant”. The show is about my family tree and the connections to major moments in American history. But more than that it’s about how I’ve found we are all somehow connected. Genetic diversity is the key to the survival of all creatures including ourselves. In a polarized world I think its important to encourage people to know where they came from because they’ll find that its from more than one place. Almost every religion believes we began as one people, we need to remember that if not cherish it. Happy Halloween everyone, May the spirits guide you.
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 22:07:52 +0000
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