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Rebekah Hale


Rebekah Hale, wife of Reverend John Hale, was born in 1638. She, for the most part, was an ordinary woman who stood behind her husband and his work. Rev. John Hale was the first minister of Beverly and did a lot of work with the witch trials. He believed strongly in this and thought that the accused must be condemned. This was all fine until his wife, Rebekah Hale, was herself accused of witchcraft. Since a minister (or his wife) cannot be "taken" by the devil, he thought this was preposterous, so he and his wife helped put a stop to the witch trails. This stoppage saved the lives of many more sure deaths to come.

Uri LaFontant



 

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