Private tour in Boston Donald F
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Donald F.
4.8
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24
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Hello, I'm Donald. In the 16 years I've lived in Salem, I have shown the city to hundreds of people—personal friends, college classes, teacher enrichment programs, Historic Salem, Inc. special events. Although I had known Salem as a Boston native, a summer visitor to the North Shore, and a historian of colonial America, I turned familiarity to intimacy by walking every street in the city of Salem to observe its historic waterfront, its urban development, most interesting buildings from the 17th century to the 21st, and the special character that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. I will be happy to show you the Salem that I now know well. Let me tell you a bit about myself—born in Boston (19 miles from Salem), educated at the Boston Latin School (founded in 1635), Brown University (A. B. ) and University of Pennsylvania (Ph. D. ), college teacher, museum director, lecturer, tour planner and guide for several institutions, and longtime President of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Honorary Trustee of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, appointed member of the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and Director Emeritus of Historic Deerfield, a museum of New England history and life. A.B., American Civilization, Brown University Ph.D., American Civilization, University of Pennsylvania Appointed member, Massachusetts Historical Commission Fellow, Massachusetts Historical Society Elected member, American Antiquarian Society past President, Colonial Society of Massachusetts Licensed guide, City of Salem I find that walking tours are the most effective way to see a city or town.
Have a question or want to customize this tour? Message Donald F.
Our tour focuses on one witchcraft victim, Mary (Towne) Easty of Topsfield, among the last eight convicted witches hanged at Proctor's Ledge in Salem on September 22, 1692, after an eloquent plea to end the hysteria that had taken 12 innocent lives. Mary's sister, Rebecca Nurse, had already been executed, while her sister Sarah Cloyce, still languishing in prison, was ultimately spared. At the rural town of Topsfield, north of Salem, where these Towne sisters were raised we see the sites of their farms and the 400-year-old gnarled white oak tree that they knew. We go on to the 1678 home of Rebecca Nurse in Salem Village and replica of the 1672 Puritan meeting house, used for worship, but also for taking the testimony of those accusing their neighbors of familiarity with the devil. We tour the 1675 home of Judge Jonathan Curwen, where testimony was also heard, and conclude with a walk to the site of the gallows at Proctor's Ledge, where jeering crowds taunted those about to die.
Monument on Topsfield Town Common to Mary Easty and two other women executed for witchcraft Towne family farm, Topsfield, where Mary Easty spent her childhood Family farm of Isaac and Mary Easty White oak tree, now 400 years old, that Mary Easty knew Rebecca Nurse Homestead (1678), where Mary Easty's sister, also executed for witchcraft, lived Salem Village Meetinghouse (1672, 1985 replica), where testimony in witchcraft trials was taken Judge Jonathan Curwen House (before 1675), Salem, where testimony in witchcraft trials was taken Proctor's Ledge, where Mary Easty and 7 others were hanged on September 22, 1692
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Approximately one hour will be walking; the balance will be traveling longer distances in the guide's automobile, which can transport three passengers comfortably. Groups up to ten can make arrangements to use their own vehicles. Please contact guide for details.
93 Washington Street, Salem, Massachusetts 01970, USA
Airport: ,Cruise: ,ByGuide: In front of Salem City Hall, 93 Washington Street, Salem, Massachusetts 01970
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