Probably the last instance in Massachusetts when this "ordeal of touch" was inflicted, occurred in a little old meetinghouse in the parish of West Boxford, in Essex County, one July day in the year 1769. The previous December, Jonathan Ames had married Ruth, the eldest daughter of the widow Ruth Perley. He took his bride to the house of his parents, some five miles distant, and lived there. As in some instances since that time, the mother-in-law soon proved to be not in full sympathy with the young bride living under her roof. In May a child was born and a few days after the young mother died under circumstances which caused suspicion in the neighborhood. The body was hastily buried, none of the neighbors were invited to be present, and soon, about the parish, were flying rumors, which a month later crystalized into a direct accusation and a coroner's inquest. It was held in the meetinghouse that formerly stood in the sandy pasture near the old cemetery. The Salem newspaper records that the building was "much thronged by a promiscuous multitude of people." The court opened with prayer, the coroners then gave the jury "their solemn charge" and then the entire company proceeded, "with decency and good order," over the winding roadway up the hill to the burying ground, where for five weeks had lain the body of the young bride. During the exhumation the crowd surged around the grave so eagerly that they were only held in check by the promise that all should have an opportunity to inspect the remains. The autopsy at the meetinghouse resulted in a report from the jury that Ruth Ames "came to her death by Felony (that is to say by poison) given to her by a Person or Persons to us unknown which murder is against the Peace of our said Lord the King, his Crown and Dignity." When it was found that no sufficient evidence could be adduced to hold either the husband of the murdered girl, or his mother, then was demanded an exhibition of that almost forgotten "ordeal of touch." The body was laid upon a table with a sheet over it and Jonathan and his mother were invited to prove their innocence by this gruesome test. The superstition required the suspected party to touch the neck of the deceased with the index finger of the left hand. Blood would immediately follow the touch of the guilty hand, the whiteness of the sheet of course making it plainly visible. Both mother and son refused to accept the ordeal. Whether or no they believed in the superstition, we never shall learn. Fear may have held them motionless before the accusing eyes. Certainly the nervous tension at such a time must have been very great.