photo by seantrue

This is the story of my 10x great grandmother Elizabeth Jackson Howe. Who was accused of witchcraft and hanged during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Elizabeth was born 1637 in Rowley England. She married James Howe Jr. April 13, 1658 in Ipswich Massachusetts. They had five children: Elizabeth, Mary, John, Abigail and my ancestor Deborah. At the time Elizabeth was accused by a neighbors teenage daugher, her husband James was blind. Incarcerated and waiting for trial, her daughters would bring their father to visit their mother at the jail in Salem. She had been arrested at her home in Topsfield Massachusetts and brought to the Salem jail after a warrent for her arrest was written by a judge. Her family brought her food and provisions. They never lost hope that Elizabeth would somehow be one of the lucky ones to be set free. But sadly, with five children, a blind husband and pleading from friends, neighbors and her family, the jury still hung her on Gallows Hill in Salem Massachusetts on July 19, 1692. Memorials are arrected around the town, large and small. Elizabeths name is included on several. In my opinion Elizabeth was an innocent hung in the witchcraft hysteria by superstitious, close minded, ignorant people. May my 10x great grandmother Elizabeth Jackson Howe rest in enternal peace.

salem.org/salem-witch-trials/

historyofmassachusetts.org/the-salem-witch-trials/