03/19/2026
George Burroughs didn’t look like someone Salem should’ve been afraid of. He was a Harvard-trained minister who had once preached to the very people who later turned on him. But he’d left Salem years earlier after bitter disputes—especially with the Putnam family—and that history stuck. When accusations spread in 1692, his name came up fast. People began claiming he had unnatural strength, knew things he shouldn’t, and had been involved in the suspicious deaths of his wives. The story grew with every telling until he wasn’t just another accused man—he became one of the central figures the hysteria seemed to revolve around. By the time he was taken from Maine in chains, the outcome already felt decided.
At his trial, witnesses piled on with stories of specters, torment, and violence. None of it was grounded in solid evidence, but that didn’t matter anymore. On August 19, 1692, he was led to the gallows. Before the ex*****on, he stood calmly and recited the Lord’s Prayer without a single mistake—something many believed a witch couldn’t do. It shook the crowd, and for a moment people hesitated, unsure. But that doubt didn’t last. Officials pushed forward, and he was hanged along with the others. His body was thrown into a shallow grave nearby. Whether he was innocent stopped mattering the moment fear took over.
