Background

She was the daughter of William and Joanna Towne, who had emigrated to Salem from Great Yarmouth in England about 1630. Sarah, who was probably the youngest of their eight children, married firstly to Edmund Bridges, by whom she had six children, and secondly to Peter Cloys/Cloyce (later Cloys/Cloyes), a widower, by whom she had three more children.[citation needed]

Salem Witch Trials

On Sacrament Day in the spring of 1692, covenanted church member Sarah Cloys/Cloyce (Sister #11) walked out of the Salem Village meetinghouse soon after the pastor Samuel Parris (Brother #1) announced that the Biblical text would be John Chapter 6 verse 70, "Have not I chosen you twelve, and one is a devil." Sarah reportedly allowed the door to slam behind her. Her departure was interpreted by some as an overt act of protest and solidarity with her sister, Rebecca Nurse (a covenanted member of another church near the harbor in Salem Town), who had recently been accused of witchcraft and committed to jail. 

Sarah's husband and fellow covenanted church member Peter Cloys/Cloyce had signed an early statement of support for Rebecca Nurse.

Soon, Cloys/Cloyce's name began to surface among the accusers including Abigail Williams, the 11-year-old niece of Parris, and 16-year-old Mary Walcott. An official complaint on behalf of the accusers was filed by Parris's close neighbors Jonathan Walcott and Nathaniel Ingersoll (Brother #6). Ingersoll was a senior deacon of the church; the other was Edward Putnam.[4]

On April 11, 1692, Sarah Cloys/Cloyce was interrogated in public and maintained her innocence. The first accuser questioned that day was an enslaved person owned by Parris and referred to as John Indian: "When did I hurt thee?" Sarah asked. "A great many times," he said."Oh you are a grievous liar", Sarah responded. Abigail Williams was also questioned. Sarah was committed to jail without bail and soon transferred to Boston prison until June 19 when she was transferred back to a jail in Ipswich. Another sister Mary Eastey was also accused and arrested. Sarah and her sisters repeatedly petitioned the court for an opportunity to present evidence which supported her innocence, and to exclude spectral evidence (testimony that the spirit of someone did something).

Rebecca Nurse was executed in July and Mary Eastey was executed in September, so that of the three sisters, only Sarah Cloys/Cloyce managed to survive until the witch trials were ended by Governor Phips in 1693. In September, there was an additional accusation against Sarah coming from her niece, Rebecca Towne, daughter of Cloyce's late brother, Edmund Towne. On September 9, 1692, an indictment was made out against Sarah, "for certain detestable arts called witchcraft and sorceries, wickedly, maliciously and feloniously hath used practiced and exercised... in, upon and against one Rebecca Towne of Topsfield...and also for sundry other acts of witchcraft.

Sarah spent the last years of her life trying to clear her sisters' names. After her death, her two sisters were eventually cleared of all charges. In 1706, Ann Putnam Jr. confessed to having falsely accused Sarah Cloys/Cloyce and her sisters. And particularly, as I was a chief instrument of accusing Goodwife Nurse and her two sisters, I desire to lie in the dust, and to be humbled for it, in that I was a cause, with others, of so sad a calamity to them and their families; for which cause I desire to lie in the dust, and earnestly beg forgiveness of God, and from all those unto whom I have given just cause of sorrow and offense, whose relations were taken away or accused.