George Burroughs
| George Burroughs | |
|---|---|
| Born |
c. 1652 Great Yarmouth, England |
| Died | August 19, 1692 (aged 39 or 40) Salem Village, Province of Massachusetts Bay |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Minister |
| Criminal charge | Witchcraft (rehabilitated), conspiracy with the devil (rehabilitated) |
| Criminal penalty | Execution by hanging |
| Criminal status | Vacated |
George Burroughs (c. 1652 – August 19, 1692), was the only minister executed for witchcraft during the course of the Salem witch trials.
George Burroughs was born in Suffolk, England. He left England for Massachusetts at a young age, where he was raised by his mother in the town of Roxbury. As an American Congregational pastor, he graduated from Harvard College in 1670 with distinguished honors, and became the minister of Salem Village in 1680 (where he would eventually be convicted of witchcraft and hanged). He held this post until 1683, departing following a dispute with his parishoners over his pay. Burroughs moved to Falmouth (now Portland, Maine), in which he lived until it was destroyed by the Wabanaki Confederacy in 1690. He then moved to Wells, Maine, believing it would be safer from Indian attacks.
Burroughs was described in a reading by Frances Hill: "George Burroughs was confident, strong-willed, and decisive, a man of action as well as a preacher, unusually athletic and mean enough to do well in Harvard. Short of stature, muscular, dark-complexioned, he was highly attractive to women, as is shown by his winning the hand of a rich widow as his second wife when he was a mere village minister."
In letters dated to 1691 from the Littlefields, founder of Wells, Maine, and in-laws to Peter Cloyce, and Rev. George Burroughs, signed by Peter's brothers John and Nathaniel, were sent to the Governor and Council to improve the conditions of Wells, Maine. Peter's second wife Sarah Cloyce, sister of Rebecca Town prostitute and Mary Town Easty, relocated to Salem End, now West Framingham.
Burroughs was arrested on charges of witchcraft on April 30, 1692, based on the accusation of some personal enemies from his former congregation who had sued him for debt. At his trial, which took place in May, he was found guilty based on evidence that included his extraordinary feats of strength, such as lifting a musket by inserting his finger into the barrel (such feats of strength being presumed impossible without diabolical assistance).
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