DANVERS - They are ancestors of Rebecca Nurse and Mary Estey, two victims of the Salem witch hysteria.

They number in the hundreds and live throughout the country. They get together every year, and this year they're returning to their roots. The Towne Family Association, descendents of William and Joanna Blessing Towne, is holding its reunion on the North Shore this September.

The family association formed in 1980. This fall's gathering, Sept. 13 to 15, is the first time its reunion has been held locally since 1992.

"It's always a big event when it's held here where the family started," said Arthur Towne, a descendant and reunion committee member.

The Townes came to Salem from Great Yarmouth, England, around 1635. Rebecca and Mary were two of their children.

"This family, more than any other family, was touched by the witchcraft hysteria," said Glenn Mairo, a volunteer with the Danvers Alarm List Company, which owns and operates the Rebecca Nurse Homestead.

In Danvers, formerly Salem Village, reunion participants will visit the Rebecca Nurse Homestead and lay a wreath at the Rebecca Nurse Memorial during a graveyard ceremony featuring a musket salute by the Danvers Alarm List Company and music by the Nurse Homestead Singers. They will also visit the Salem Village Witchcraft Victims' Memorial.

In Salem, participants will visit the Salem Witch Trials Memorial and lay flowers in honor of the victims. On Saturday night, a formal banquet will be held at the Marriott Hotel in Peabody. Mairo, chairman of the Northeast Chapter of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society, will give a presentation on the Nurse Homestead's preservation plans and ongoing archaeological dig.

Organizers expect more than 100 descendants to attend. Some of them will be descendants of Francis Nurse, a Danvers militiaman who responded to the Lexington Alarm of 1775. The public is welcome, as well.

"This is a real special event," Mairo said.

Want to go?

To register for the three-day reunion or just the Saturday evening banquet, visit www.townefamilyassociation.org or call Arthur Towne at 978-468-4064. The deadline to register is Aug. 15.