GEORGE BURROUGHS

The Salem Witch Accusation of

Wagner GutierrezMs. DelGregoEnglish E.October 16, 2012

BIRTH / DEATH

Around 1652, George was born to a rather well family in Suffolk, England.

On August 19, 1692, he was hanged in Salem, Massachusetts.

CHILDHOOD

When George was very young, he, along with his colony, left England for Massachusetts; he was raised by his mother in the town of Roxbury.

George’s mother eventually left him to fend for himself.

FAMILY LIFE

For a very short time, George lived with his mom while his dad was on business in England; he had a small family.

He was soon left in Maine to live by himself.

EDUCATION

George attended Harvard College and he graduated in 1670.

With his time in Maine, he was very involved with the church.

He eventually became a minister/clergyman.

CAREER/RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

George started preaching in Falmouth until the town was attacked by Indians in 1676, forcing him to leave.

He was the minister of Salisbury for a few years and eventually, in 1680, he was called to Salem to be the new minister. When conflicts between him and the people arose, he was forced out of the town.

George went back to Maine and served in the church of Wells.

WIVES George married three times. His first wife, Hannah, died in Salem, 1681; by

1683, George soon married his second wife, who also died.

Mary was George’s third wife and with her, she had a daughter, Mary Tiffany.

After the Salem conflicts that arose with George, she left him and his sons to fend for themselves; she took her only daughter and took everything valuable in the house, sold his books, and loaned the money for interest.

INVOLVEMENT IN THE SALEM WITCH HYSTERIA

Conflicts with debts forced George to move back to Maine; for example, Thomas Putnam lent money to Burroughs and he was unable to pay it back. While in Maine, he served in the church of Wells.

George was also accused for having supernatural strength supposedly given to him by Satan/ the devil himself.

INVOLVEMENT IN THE SALEM WITCH HYSTERIA (CONTINUED)

People argued that George did not baptize his children; he also did not attend the Lord’s Suppers. At his trial, the people tried everything to expose his deviance from Puritan doctrines.

All of these events and accusations happened to George in about 2 years of him living in Salem.

TESTIMONIES FROM THE PEOPLE

On April 20, 1692, Ann Putnam said that an apparition of a minister had appeared to her and said that he was George Burroughs and he bewitched his first two wives to death.

On May 9, 1692, Susan Sheldon testified that Burroughs’s two wives appeared in their bed sheets and said a man had killed them; Burroughs had been living in Maine at the time and he was forced from his home to come to Salem and to be put on trial.

The afflicted girls identified George Burroughs as the “Black Minister”; everyone saw George as the “ring leader” for all the witches.

FINAL WORDS

George Burroughs was the only clergyman to be hanged on August 19, 1692.

The thing that stood out during his execution was that George recited the Lord’s Prayer flawlessly; the people were astonished because no witch should be able to do such a feat. Still, however, the jury had spoken and George Burroughs was hanged.

WORKS CITED "George Burroughs." UMKC School of Law. N.p.,n.d.

Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/>.

Nichols, Amy. "Salem Witch Trials: George Burroughs." The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/salem/people>.

"Salem Witch Trials Important Persons."The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/saxon-salem/servlet/SaxonServlet?source=salem/texts/bios.xml&style=salem/xsl/dynaxml.xsl&chunk.id=b3&clear-stylesheet-cache=yes>.