Rebecca Towne Nurse (February 21, 1621 – July 19, 1692) was executed for witchcraft by the government of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England in 1692, during the Salem witch trials

Salem witch trials

The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...

. She was the wife of Francis Nurse, with several children and grandchildren, and a well-respected member of the community. Although there was no credible evidence against her, she was hanged as a witch on July 19, 1692.