George Burroughs, Salem

Having left Rebecca Nurse’s Homestead, my mind drifted, pondering the villagers’ patterns of behaviour, when my thoughts turned to George Burroughs. A Harvard graduate in ministerial studies—a rare achievement in the colonies—he became the only minister ever charged with witchcraft and executed and was often accused of being the ringleader of the witches. 

Leaving England with his mother while still a child, George grew up to serve as a pastor, until a Native American raid in 1676 forced him to flee with his wife and children to Casco Bay, Maine, alongside the infant Mercy Lewis and her family. Years later, after another attack claimed her parents’ lives, Mercy was taken in briefly by the Burroughs family before entering the Putnam household as a servant. She would later be one of the “afflicted girls” who would accuse George of witchcraft. The twist of fate was bitter: the man who once sheltered her would become the target of her spectral accusations.

But before we get into that, let’s follow George’s life and how he became embroiled in Salem’s witchcraft mayhem. In 1680, George accepted an invitation to serve as minister in Salem Village. The village was divided, with one faction remaining loyal to the former minister, James Bayley, whose devoted supporters lingered well after his departure. George, stepping into his new role, immediately became entangled in parish politics. Old rivalries flared, and disputes over church lands, parish finances, and records created constant tension. To make matters worse, the village’s records were poorly kept, and the parish often neglected to pay him.

As the first year passed, George found himself a widower with three children to raise. With his wife’s passing and irregular income, George was forced to borrow money from the Putnams to pay for the funeral. In 1683, disillusioned, frustrated with all the bitter disputes and ongoing factionalism, and unable to repay his debt, George left the village and returned to Maine, having served less than three years as a minister. Sidenote: Samuel Parris stepped into this role in 1689.

Nearly a decade later, in 1692, the parish summoned George back to Salem to settle an old debt. Unaware of the fear and hysteria gripping the village, he returned in good faith, ready to resolve his affairs. But it was like stepping into a lion’s den. Thomas Putnam and Jonathan Walcott lodged a complaint against him for “sundry acts of witchcraft”—a deliberately vague charge that could cover anything from curses and illness to spells and other malicious acts. Ann Putnam, Mary Walcott, and Mercy Lewis, among others, each claimed that George appeared to them in spectral form, causing them harm.

George was arrested, tried, and convicted. On 19 August 1692, he faced the gallows alongside Martha Carrier, a mother of eight accused of being a witch for decades; John Willard, the constable who had dared question the trials; and George Jacobs and John Proctor (more on them later), fellow villagers caught in the hysteria. Witnesses remembered George reciting the Lord’s Prayer flawlessly, an act many believe proved his innocence. Yet old grudges and a climate of fear had turned this once-respected minister into a condemned man. He was buried along with others near the gallows in an unmarked grave.