For the past few weeks, one of my coworkers and I have been looking through our individual family histories, because we’re quite sure we’re related based on surnames on my mother’s side and places our families lived. We both took advantage of Ancestry’s DNA test sale on Father’s Day to send in our DNA samples and are eagerly awaiting the results. I’ll update you when I know more.

While waiting for my results, I started to pore over the family history on my father’s side of the family. What’s interesting about that side is that we have centuries-old handwritten documentation gathered, typeset, and published into a volume by my great aunt, Phyllis Walker Johnson.

I was able to trace that family line back to Samuel Rich using that volume of work from Phyllis. Using historical records and other Ancestry members’ family trees, I was able to confirm that Samuel Rich’s grandmother was Priscilla Mary Warren, later known as Mary Greene.

At the bottom of this tree are Fenton and Florence, my great-great grandparents, shown here:

I sometimes think that I resemble the Johnson side of the family. What do you think?

Fenton was a carpenter and a preacher, and Florence was a teacher and artist. I share their passion for all things creative and spiritual.

ANYWAY! Mary (Warren) Greene is supposedly the sister of Sarah (Warren) Osborne. This is debated by some, but this is also the only Warren family that seems to make sense to be connected to Sarah during that time period in Salem.

Many Ancestry members connect her to our Warrens, but this is the only text I could find that suggests that possibility.

And, since that seems to make the most sense considering the name, location, and time period and the fact that it can be assumed that our Warrens may have distanced themselves from her for obvious reasons, I have formally adopted her as my 9th great-grand-aunt.

Besides, it’s likely that I’m also related to some of her descendants due to the proximity of the Warrens and Prince families throughout Salem history.

So, why did I so fiercely stake claim on this family member this weekend? I think it’s because my ancestors have suffered a lot of persecution in their lives, and she’s a representative of that.

Of course, she was not a witch. She was just a strong woman who was fighting for her independence. She never admitted to witchcraft nor accused others of it even when it may have benefited her to do so. She was noble.

Unlike other accused witches, she was never executed but only because she died in prison after months of suffering. Her name isn’t on the park memorial in Salem, and she isn’t often listed among the more well known victims even though it can be argued that she suffered one of the worst fates of the hysteria.

I’d like to work to get that changed and have her more openly recognized and honored for her sacrifice.

I can’t help but think about all the ancestors before me who suffered religious persecution (or complete nonsense persecution) so that I can have so many freedoms in my life.

I’m very aware and grateful for the privilege to be able to live on my own, have my own home, and practice my spirituality freely. And I have those privileges because of women like Sarah Osborne. I owe her so much.

I’ll be visiting Salem (again) this fall, before the October hype, and will report my findings. Though it’s private property, Sarah’s house still stands today, so I’d like to visit it:

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