Life can begin as a curse. Mehitabel was born in 1652 to Richard Braybrooke and Alice Eliss in Ipswich, Massachusetts.  Joan, Richard’s wife likely wasn’t too pleased when she heard the news, but the town officials found out soon enough!  Richard was whipped severely at the village post for the sin of fornication and Alice was to be whipped when “her travail ended.”  As part of the sentence, the courts ordered Richard to raise his child.  Alice disappears from the town records but Richard,

As part of his punishment, the courts ordered Richard to raise his child.  Alice disappeared from the town records, but Richard, Joan, and Mehitabel are found in many more town entries as the years progress.  Mehitabel was Richard and Joan’s only child.

In the Shadow of Salem: The Redemption of Mehitabel Braybrooke, was released in June 2018 by Heritage Beacon, an imprint of Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas and is the first story ever written about this real-life Puritan woman.