Accusing the Unknown
George Burroughs decent into being accused of witchcraft began, on the surface, when those afflicted by witchcraft began naming persons they had never seen before. At one point in the Salem Witch Trials Deliverance Hobbs was ordered by John Hathorne to be brought to the meetinghouse. Without giving the woman's name, Hathorne asked Mercy Lewis and another afflicted girl if they knew her. Both girls were suddenly unable to speak. After a time Ann Putnam, Jr. gave the woman's correct name.
Deliverance Delivers Confession
At first Deliverance denied being a witch, but then said she had seen "animals and shapes." She believed that she, too, had been afflicted by witches. Through Hathorne's questioning she eventually admitted to having signed the devil's book. Then she confessed to "sticking pins in images and seeing 'a tall black man with an high-crowned hat." Throughout these confessions the bewitched girls performed their usual fits.
Burroughs is Minister to Witches
Hobbs even went so far as to admit that there was a witch's church in Salem Village. It held meetings that were "black parodies of proper church meetings" and were conducted in the pasture next to parsonage where the current minister, Samuel Parris,of Salem Village now lived. She said there were "deacons, who gave out red bread and wine." She went on to describe him in a devil-like manner. The deacons, she stated, at this meeting were Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Wildes. George Burroughs was the minister at this meeting of witches.
So now, Burroughs, a Harvard graduate and minister, living once more in Casco, Maine, had to be hauled back to Salem Villageto be tried for witchcraft.
Ann Putnam, Jr. Sees Burroughs Specter
Some days later, Ann Putnam, Jr., had the most terrifying vision yet. She said she saw a "minister of God who tortured her." He tired to force her to write in his book. He told her he was George Burroughs. He informed her that he had had three wives and had bewitched the first two of them to death. He confessed to killing another man's wife and child and many soldiers, and had made many others become witches.
Burroughs was eventually arrested, brought back to Salem Village, and underwent examination.
The Reverend George Burroughs: continues with: Burroughs Suspected of Murder: Dead Wives Rise Up to Accuse.
Previous: Burroughs' Debts Are Settled: But They Will Come Back to Haunt Him.
