Rebecca Blake Eames (February 1, 1641 - May 8, 1721) was among those accused of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have u ...

during 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 ...

of 1692. Rebecca Eames was in the crowd at the August 19, 1692, hanging of witches in Salem when she was accused of causing a pinprick in the foot of another spectator. She was arrested. Eames later testified that the devil had appeared to her as a colt and had persuaded her to follow him. She testified that she had allowed her son Daniel (born 1663) to be baptized by the devil. She confessed to afflicting Timothy Swan. She was examined again on August 31, 1692 by

John Hathorne John Hathorne (August 1641 – May 10, 1717) was a merchant and magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Salem, Massachusetts. He is best known for his early and vocal role as one of the leading judges in the Salem witch trials. Hatho ...

and

Jonathan Corwin Jonathan Corwin (also Curwin or Corwen, November 14, 1640 – June 9, 1718) was a New England merchant, politician, and magistrate. He is best known as one of the judges involved in the Salem witch trials of 1692, although his later work als ...

. She repeated her confession and implication of her son Daniel as a wizard and her confession of afflicting Timothy Swan. She also implicated "Toothaker Widow" argaret Toothakerand Abigail Faulkner as fellow witches. Mary Walcott, Mary Warren and Ann Putnam Jr. gave testimony on September 15 that they had been afflicted by Rebecca Eames. She was tried and convicted on September 17, with nine others. They were all condemned to die. Four of those nine were executed on September 22. In October, the Court of Oyer and Terminer was dissolved. Rebecca Eames remained in Salem prison. On December 5, she submitted a petition to Governor Phips retracting her "false and untrue" confession, saying she had been "hurried out of my Senses" by Abigail Hobbs and Mary Lacey who had said she would be hanged if she did not confess. Her husband, Robert Eames, died on July 22, 1693, four months after his wife's release from prison.Biography
womenshistory.about.com; accessed September 9, 2015.

Life

Born in February 1641 in

Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and ...

, she married Robert Eames, an immigrant from England, in 1661 in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. An encyclopedia (American Engli ...

. She died on May 8, 1721 in

Boxford, Massachusetts Boxford is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town's population was 8,203 in 2020. The original town center of Boxford, along with East Boxford and other areas in the eastern part of t ...

. Children: *Hannah Eames, b December 18, 1661, d July 8, 1731, at Andover, Essex, Mass. *Daniel Eames, b April 7, 1663, d AFT 1695 *Robert Eames, b February 28, 1667/68, d AFT 1698 *John Eames, b October 11, 1670, d July 24, 1726 at Groton, Middlesex, Mass. *Dorothy Eames, b December 20, 1674 *Jacob Eames, b July 20, 1677, d AFT 1700 *Joseph Eames, b October 9, 1681, d December 27, 1753 at Boxford, Essex, Mass *Nathaniel Eames, b November 19, 1685, d January 11, 1765 at Boxford, Essex, Mass

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Eames, Rebecca 1641 births 1721 deaths People convicted of witchcraft People from Gloucester, Massachusetts People of the Salem witch trials

Life

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