Mary Towne Eastey (also spelled Esty, Easty, Estey, Eastick, Eastie, or Estye) ( bap. August 24, 1634 – September 22, 1692) was a defendant in the

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...

in colonial Massachusetts. She was executed by hanging in

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

in 1692.

Early life

Mary Eastey was born Mary Towne to William Towne and Joanna Towne (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Blessing) in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

, Norfolk,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. She was one of eight children, among them her sisters and fellow Salem defendants

Rebecca Nurse Rebecca Nurse (February 13, 1621 – July 19, 1692) was a woman who was accused of witchcraft and executed by hanging in New England during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. She was fully exonerated fewer than twenty years later. She was the wif ...

and

Sarah Cloyce Sarah Cloyce (alt. Cloyes; Towne; c. 1641 – 1703) was among the many accused during Salem Witch Trials including two of her older sisters, Rebecca Nurse and Mary Eastey, who were both executed. Cloyce was about 50-years-old at the time and w ...

. Mary Towne and her family moved to America around 1640. She married Isaac Estey, a farmer and barrel-maker, in 1655 in Topsfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony. Isaac was born in England on November 27, 1627; the couple had eleven children: Joseph (1657–1739), Sarah (1660–1749), John, Isaac (1662–1714), Hannah, Benjamin, Samuel, Jacob, Joshua, Jeffrey, and Isaac.

Accusation and trial

Like her sister Rebecca Nurse, Eastey was a pious and respected citizen of Salem, and her accusation came as a surprise. During the examination on April 22, 1692, when Eastey clasped her hands together, Mercy Lewis, one of the afflicted, imitated the gesture and claimed to be unable to release her hands until Eastey released her own. Again, when Eastey inclined her head, the afflicted girls accused her of trying to break their necks. Mercy claimed that Eastey's spectre had climbed into her bed and laid her hand upon her breasts. In the face of such public hysteria, Mary Eastey defended herself with remarkable eloquence: when she was asked by the magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin how far she had complied with Satan, she replied, "Sir, I never complyed with Satan but prayed against him all my dayes, I have no complyance with Satan, in this ... I will say it, if it is my last time, I am clear of this sin." Hathorne, showing a momentary doubt about her guilt, went so far as to ask the girls if they were quite sure that Mary Eastey was the woman who afflicted them. For reasons unknown, Eastey was released from prison on May 18 after two months. However, on May 20, Mercy Lewis claimed that Eastey's spectre was afflicting her, a claim which other girls supported. A second warrant was issued that night for Eastey's arrest. She was taken from her bed and returned to the prison; Lewis ceased her fits after Eastey was chained. Eastey was tried and condemned to death on September 9.

Robert Calef Robert Calef (baptized 2 November 1648 – 13 April 1719) was a cloth merchant in colonial Boston. He was the author o''More Wonders of the Invisible World'' a book composed throughout the mid-1690s denouncing the recent Salem witch trials of 1692 ...

, in ''More Wonders of the Invisible World'', described Eastey's parting words to her family "as serious, religious, distinct, and affectionate as could be expressed, drawing tears from the eyes of almost all present". She was hanged on September 22, along with Martha Corey,

Ann Pudeator Ann Pudeator (November 13, 1621 – , 1692) was a wealthy septuagenarian widow who was accused of and convicted of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials in colonial Massachusetts. She was executed by hanging. Personal life Ann's maiden name is not ...

, Alice Parker, Mary Parker, Wilmot Redd, Margaret Scott, and Samuel Wardwell: Cotton Mather, to his later embarrassment, denounced them as "eight firebrands of Hell". On the

gallows A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...

she prayed for an end to the witch hunt. Of her two sisters, likewise charged with witchcraft,

was hanged on July 19, 1692, but

was released in January 1693. Calef also published Mary Eastey's last petition to the Court, of which it has been said that no more moving document has ever been addressed to any judge. Mary pleaded not for her own life but for those of the others falsely accused: "I petition your honours not for my own life for I know I must die and my appointed time is set but the Lord he knows it is that no more innocent blood be shed.....the Lord above that is the searcher of all hearts knows that as I shall answer at the Tribunal seat I never knew the least thing of witchcraft". In November, after Eastey had been put to death, Mary Herrick gave testimony about Eastey. Herrick testified that she was visited by Eastey's ghost, who told her she had been put to death wrongfully and was innocent of witchcraft, and that she had come to vindicate her cause. Eastey's family was compensated with 20 pounds from the government in 1711 for her wrongful execution.

In popular culture

* Mary Eastey was referred to as a witch in the 2013 horror movie '' The Conjuring'', as was her supposed relative, Bathsheba, who possessed those who lived on her land. * Mary Eastey was mentioned to be a witch in Season 1 Episode 2 of the TV series '' Charmed''. * In the 1985 PBS drama ''Three Sovereigns for Sarah'' she was played by

Kim Hunter Kim Hunter (born Janet Cole; November 11, 1922 – September 11, 2002) was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' ''A Streetcar N ...

. * In '' The Crucible'', by Arthur Miller, Mary Eastey does not appear on stage, but is named in Act IV, like her sister Rebecca Nurse, as one of those alleged witches whose execution, due to their blameless lives, may cause a backlash against the witchcraft trials. The hero, John Proctor, is pressed hard to name her as a witch, but refuses to do so. * The Primate Fiasco released the song "Mary Towne Estey 1692" in 2017. The lead singer and songwriter of The Primate Fiasco, Dave Russo, claims descent from Mary Towne Estey.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

References

Sources

* Upham, Charles (1980). ''Salem Witchcraft''. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 2 vv., v. 2 pp. 60, 128, 137, 200–205, 324–327, 480.

External links

Famous American Trials - Mary Easty

Examination of Mary Easty
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastey, Mary 1634 births 1692 deaths People executed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony 17th-century executions of American people Executed English women Kingdom of England emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony People of the Salem witch trials American people executed for witchcraft People executed by the Province of Massachusetts Bay People from Great Yarmouth Executed people from Norfolk People executed by the Thirteen Colonies by hanging People executed by Massachusetts by hanging