Part of our Boston trip in 2000 included a day trip to Marblehead and Salem. These two locations have ancestral ties. A sixth great-grandfather and Reynolds ancestor, named Nathaniel, was born in Marblehead in 1730 and ended up being swept off of his ship during a storm just off the coast of Marblehead in 1782. In between he led a very interesting life.
When he showed up for what was supposed to be his wedding to one woman, he didn’t take kindly to her sense of humor when she pretended that marrying him was not a big deal to her. So he left. He encountered another woman he knew on the way home and declared he would marry her instead. She agreed. They ended up having six children together — mostly in Nova Scotia, to where he had relocated when he went into being a ship’s captain for a career.
When the American Revolution came along, he was involved in an attack on Fort Cumberland which also concerned extracting families (including his own) from Nova Scotia and taking them to Maine. After that he became involved with privateering against loyalist ships. At one point he engaged with three of them at the same time. He was branded a pirate by the British and had a price of £100 on his head. But he carried on attacking and disrupting British shipping with his ship the Blackbird (and later the Hornet) throughout the Revolution — mainly around Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. I have always said that having him as an ancestor is why I never get seasick, even in very rocky seas.
A 5th great-grandmother, was Nathaniel’s daughter, Lydia, who was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, and married one of my Freeman ancestors, Elisha. The Freeman name came all the way down to my paternal grandmother.
Marblehead was first settled in 1629 as a fishing village. Several of the old homes from the 1700s (and even the late 1600s) still exist on narrow, crooked streets. We started out at the Abbot Hall, which houses the famous painting, The Spirit of ’76. Then we visited the harbor and Castle Rock (from which the citizens of Marblehead watched the action out at sea during the War of 1812). I can imagine my ancestor (whose body was never recovered from the sea) would have wanted to join the fray had he still been alive.
Marblehead had been an offshoot from Salem, which had been founded in 1626. Many of my ancestors, including my first colonial Freeman ancestor (Samuel, who arrived in 1630) came into the colonies through Salem. By the time the Witch Trials began in 1692, however, my ancestors seem to have moved off elsewhere. Probably a good thing. If they had been there at that time, they likely would have been involved in one way or another. But I don’t find any evidence of any ancestral name listed in any of the records regarding the Witch Trials. I’m very relieved they weren’t involved in any persecutions.
Most of the accused in the Witch Trials lived in Salem Village, which is now known as Danvers. There are several Witch Trials sites in and around Salem and Danvers. There are Witch Trial tours that will take you around and tell you the real stories about the real people involved. The Witch Museum also focuses on the history of the trials. They have a very good short film that explains what happened and exhibits including actual artifacts. The Old Burying Point cemetery has a memorial to the victims.
Right next door to the cemetery is a house that used to belong to the Peabody family. The eldest of the three sisters, Elizabeth, owned a very important and influential bookstore in Boston (the West Street Book Store) and was involved with the literary circles and educators of the day, including Bronson Alcott (Louisa May Alcott’s father) and Horace Mann. Elizabeth was one of the champions of having such a thing as kindergartens.
Elizabeth took an early interest in Nathaniel Hawthorne, which not only helped his career (especially by bringing him into the Emerson circle), but also introduced him to her sister, Sophia, who married him. Their sister, Mary, wed Horace Mann. I think it’s interesting how Elizabeth would make friends with these men who would then marry one of her sisters.
Nathaniel Hawthorne did have ties to the Salem Witch Trials and added a “w” to his name to try to distance himself from his ancestor, John Hathorne, who was one of the judges during the trials. His birthplace (he was born in 1804, the son of a ship’s captain) is in Salem, right next door to the House of Seven Gables. Both can be toured with a single ticket. His birthplace was not originally next door to the House of Seven Gables, but was moved there later, after he became a famous author.
The House of the Seven Gables was built in 1667 for a yet another ship’s captain. Hawthorne was related to the family and spent time in the house when he lived in Salem. At that time, the house had been remodeled several times and was down to three gables only. But Hawthorne was told the history of the house and shown the locations of the missing gables in the attic. He decided to write about the house as it once had been instead of as it was in his day. In the early 20th century, the house was purchased and restored to more closely match what Hawthorne had described in his novel.
Another connection to Hawthorne is located at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site on Derby Street. He worked there at the Custom House before his writing career really took off. There are a couple lovely old houses next to the Custom House plus other houses and buildings, a wharf and a tall ship that can also be toured. Throughout the town, there are houses of various centuries that can be visited as well as a Pirates Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum. There is a trolley system that links everything.
In 1692, being accused of witchcraft meant imprisonment, most likely a trial and very likely death. In 2000, several people were living in Salem who openly referred to themselves as witches, warlocks, Druids or Wiccans. Some had shops where amulets, potions and spells could be purchased. I was much more interested in the historic and human aspects of the Witch Trials of 1692 than in the modern shops, exhibits, and such. But plenty of both can be found. Also evening “haunted” tours.
I really liked Salem a lot. It is quite a nice town with historic connections to the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. There is a lot to see and do there. Half a day was definitely not enough. Next time I go to Boston, I plan to take the ferry to Salem and stay for two or three days.
