Rebecca Eames

Rebecca Blake Eames was among those accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials of 1692.

According to Essex County Mass. regional historian Sidney Perley ("Dwellings of Boxford, Essex County, Mass.", Published by Essex Institute, 1893) "...Rebecca was the witch of that name who was condemned to death for the crime of witchcraft in the memorable year of 1692. She was taken from the court room to the ancient gaol in Salem and confined there awaiting execution until the general delivery of the prisoners who were held there under sentence for the crime whereof she was condemned. Though she was not as pure-minded and of such a heroic nature as were some of the others of those who suffered at that time, yet her husband felt the trial through which they had passed, and died the next year. But she survived all her tribulations and did not die until 1721, when she was more than eighty years old. The family were poor in those times, but in the course of the next three-quarters of a century became affluent."

Born in February 1641 in Gloucester, Mass. Married Robert Eames, an immigrant from Bristol or Boxford England, in 1661 in Andover, Essex, Mass. Died May 8, 1721 in Boxford, Essex, Mass.

Children:

• Hannah Eames, b 18 Dec 1661, d 8 Jul 1731, at Andover, Essex, Mass.
• Daniel Eames, b 7 Apr 1663, d AFT 1695
• Robert Eames, b 28 Feb 1667/68, d AFT 1698
• John Eames, b 11 Oct 1670, d 24 Jul 1726 at Groto, Middlesex, Mass.
• Dorothy Eames, b 20 Dec 1674
• Jacob Eames, b 20 Jul 1677, d AFT 1700
• Joseph Eames, b 9 Oct 1681, d 27 Dec 1753 at Boxford, Essex, Mass
• Nathaniel Eames, b 19 Nov 1685, d 11 Jan 1765 at Boxford, Essex, Mass

The family lived on a farm south of what is now West Boxford near Stiles Pond.

Further reading

Upham, Charles (1980). Salem Witchcraft. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. v 2 pp. 324, 480.