SLIG 2016 Report III: Very and Towne

The History of Salem, Massachusetts: Vol. III, 1671-1716;                                         Sidney Perley; Sidney Perley, Salem, MA, 1928

VERY: Edward Giles married widow Bridget Very and came to Salem with their children about 1634. Bridget’s children by her first husband were Samuel, Mary and Thomas Very. Mary married Thomas Cutler of Reading in 1659. Thomas married his step-sister Hannah Giles on 6 July 1650 and lived in Gloucester. Thomas died there on 28 March 1694 and Mary on 25 August 1693. Samuel Very was a mariner and lived on Fox Hill in what became Peabody. [p. 1-5]

Samuel Very married Alice Woodis. He died in the winter of 1683-4. Alice was a widow as late as 1716. Children: (1) Samuel married Abigail Archer. Abigail was a widow in 1697. (2) Thomas Very* married Elizabeth Proctor on 28 March 1681. He died in 1717, she in 1736. (3) John Very married Hannah Nurse on 31 October 1709 and died in 1720. (4) Elizabeth Very married John Nurse. (5) Sarah Very married James Cooke of Boston and _____ Stover. (6) Jonathan Very was born 1 May 1659. (7) Joseph Very was born 25 June 1661 and died 6 August 1663. (8) Isaac Very [14 June 1663 – 1717]. (9) Joseph Very [13 November 1664 – 1694]. (10) Hannah Very was born 22 January 1666/7 and married William Beans on 6 February 1695/6. (11) Mary Very was born 21 March 1668/9 and married Jonathan Marsh on 24 May 1697. (12) Benjamin Very was born after 1663. [p. 1]

TOWNE/BLESSING: William Towne was baptized in the parish church at St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, Norfolkshire, England on 18 March 1598/9. He was the son of John and Elizabeth Towne. William married Joanna Blessing at St. Nicholas Parish Church on 25 April 1620. They settle in Salem about 1640. The Townes removed to Topsfield in 1652. William died in 1673. Children: (1) Rebecca Towne [bp. 21 February 1621; married Francis Nurse.^ (2) John Towne [bp. 16 February 1623/4]. (3) Susanna Towne [bp. 20 October 1625]. (4) Edmund Towne [bp. 28 June 1628 and arrived in America at age nine, as apprentice to Henry Skerry of Salem, aboard the Rose in 1637. He lived in Topsfield, married Mary Browning, died in 1678. She died in 1717.  (5) Jacob Towne [bp. 11 March 1632], husbandman, married Catherine Symonds on 26 June 1657 and died 27 November 1704. (6) Mary Towne [bp. 24 August 1634], married Isaac Esty. (7) Sarah Towne [bp. 3 September 1648] married Edmund Bridges and Peter Cloyes. (8) Joseph Towne [bp. 3 September 1648] lived in Topsfield, married Phebe Perkins. He died in 1713. (Baptismal dates for Sarah and Joseph were probably several years after their births.) [p. 5]

*Thomas and Elizabeth were the couple charged with pre-marital fornication.

^Rebecca and Francis were central figures in the Salem Witch Trials. Rebecca was one of the last to be hanged.