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| 1711 Attainder for George Burroughs & Others |
At age 42, Burroughs stood before his former congregation and many other spectators at Proctor’s Ledge with a noose around his neck. He proclaimed his innocence on the charges of witchcraft, then perfectly recited the “Lord’s Prayer.” A sense of unease apparently swept through the crowd afterwards but Rev. Cotton Mather, sitting on horseback, declared it was a “righteous sentence.” Burroughs and four other victims of the Salem witch trials were hanged on 19 August 1692.
Incorporating Corrections to the Burroughs Tree
Over the last 65 years, various researchers have discovered new details about George Burroughs’ family and printed corrections,
most notably in articles published in The
American Genealogist. Yet we still see the same misinformation being
repeated online and in print. I’ve compiled all that data so George can be properly placed with his parents, wives, and children.
Burrough of Wickhambrook
Born about 1650, George was the son of Nathaniel Burrough and
his wife Rebecca Stiles. Nathaniel was a merchant/mariner, son of Rev. George
Burrough (1579-1653), rector of Pettaugh and Gosbeck in Suffolk, England, and a member
of the Burrough family of Wickhambrook. During his son’s childhood, records
document Nathaniel’s travels between Maryland and Massachusetts Bay. Records also show in 1657 Rebecca joined the church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and was dismissed in 1674 to return to
England. Rebecca (Stiles) Burrough was buried 26 March 1679 in Stepney,
Middlesex, England. Nathaniel was buried there 6 March 1682.
*In England, the surname most often was spelled Burrough without the S, but there were a dozen variations.
Marriage No. 1
The ill-fated minister George Burroughs
graduated from Harvard College in 1670. About 1673, he married Hannah
Fisher, born 19 January 1652/3 in Dedham, Massachusetts, to Lieut. Joshua
Fisher (1621-1672) and his first wife, Mary Aldis (d. 1653). George and Hannah had:
1. Rebecca Burroughs, baptized 12 April 1674 in Roxbury; died 27 January 1741/2, buried at Granary Burying Ground in Boston; married first, 1 December 1698 in Charlestown, Isaac Fowle; married second, 18 October 1716 in Boston, Ebenezer Tolman.
2. George Burroughs, baptized 25 November 1675 in Roxbury; died young.
3. Hannah Burroughs, born 27 April 1680 in Salisbury; died 5 August 1746 in Woburn, buried at First Burial Ground, Woburn; married 8 March 1705 in Boston, Jabez Fox (1684-1736).
4. Elizabeth Burroughs, born in 1681, baptized 4 June 1682 in Salem; died 1719, buried at Granary Burying Ground in Boston; married 2 November 1704 in Boston to Peter Thomas.
Hannah (Fisher) Burroughs died in September 1681, possibly
shortly after her fourth child was born. Her ghost appeared in the Salem witch trials records.
Marriage No. 2
About 1683, George married Sarah Ruck, born 12 August 1656
in Salem, died about 1689/90, daughter of John Ruck (1627-1697) and his first
wife Hannah Spooner (d. 29 January 1660/1) of Salem. Sarah was the widow of Capt. William Hathorne (1646-1678), son of Major William Hathorne (1606?-1681) and wife Ann of Salem. She had two Hathorne children who died in their minority. The proof of this earlier marriage is in a 1728 deed where her son Charles Burroughs, as his mother's heir, sells Capt. Hathorne's lands in Groton, Mass. Her ghost also appeared in the Salem witch trials records.
On 6 June 1693, John Ruck became guardian of George and Sarah’s four orphans (but not 1st wife Hannah’s children), and in the same month, Ruck had three of them baptized. In his 1697 will, he bequeathed land to his four Burroughs grandchildren:
On 6 June 1693, John Ruck became guardian of George and Sarah’s four orphans (but not 1st wife Hannah’s children), and in the same month, Ruck had three of them baptized. In his 1697 will, he bequeathed land to his four Burroughs grandchildren:
5. Charles Burroughs, born about 1684, baptized June 1693 in Salem; married first, 3 October 1706 in Salem, Elizabeth Marston (d. 1711); married second, 11 March 1711 in Marlborough, Rebecca Townsend of Charlestown.
6. George Burroughs, baptized April 1691 in Salem; published marriage intention 27 February 1713/4 in Ipswich to Sarah Scales.
7. Jeremiah Burroughs, baptized June 1693; died unmarried March 1752 in Ipswich.
8. Josiah Burroughs, baptized June 1693; died after 1701 when he chose Samuel Ruck as guardian and before 1712 restitution.
Marriage No. 3
About 1690, George married his third wife, Mary —, probably
in Maine. They had one child:
9. Mary Burroughs, born about 1690-1692 in Maine,
baptized 1 May 1698 in Cambridge, Massachusetts; married Joseph Tiffany probably years before they were
warned out of Norton in 1734. She was admitted to the church in Attleborough in
1736.
In her mid-20s when her husband George was hanged, Mary (—) Burroughs married second, 13 July 1693 in Boston, Michael Homer—just months after his first
wife Hannah (Dowse) died. In October 1694, Michael was taken to
court for spousal abuse before disappearing from the records. In January
1697/8, Mary Homer was admitted a member of the
Cambridge church and a few months later had her two daughters, Mary Burroughs
and Hannah Homer, baptized.
On 5 February 1699/1700, Mary (—) (Burroughs)
Homer married in Cambridge to Christopher Hall Jr. (d. 1711). They had two
children, Caleb (1700-1791) and Joshua Hall (1702-), born in Attleborough.
Sources for Burroughs’
Parents
“Nathaniel Burrough of Maryland, Massachusetts, and England”
by George Ely Russell, The American
Genealogist, Vol. 60, pp. 140-142, 1972. (TAG back issues are available to members at AmericanAncestors.org)
England Deaths and Burials 1538-1991, FamilySearch.org.
Sources for Burroughs’
Wives & Children
“Homer-Stevens Notes, Boston” by Winifred Lovering Holman in
The American Genealogist, Vol. 29, pp.
99-110, 1953.
“Mary (Burroughs) (Homer) (Hall) Tiffany” by Glade Ian
Nelson in The American Genealogist,
Vol. 48, pp. 140-146, 1972.
“The Third Wife of the Rev. George Burroughs” by David L.
Greene in The American Genealogist,
Vol. 56, pp. 43-45, 1980.
“Hannah Fisher, First Wife of the Rev. George Burroughs,
Executed for Witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692” by Neil D. Thompson, The American
Genealogist, Vol. 76, pp. 17-19, 2001.
“Sarah (Ruck) (Hathorne) Burroughs of Salem, Massachusetts” by Glade Isaac Nelson in The American Genealogist, Vol. 91, pp. 23-28, 2019.
Originally published 19 Sept. 2017, updated with Capt. Hathorne data.
“Sarah (Ruck) (Hathorne) Burroughs of Salem, Massachusetts” by Glade Isaac Nelson in The American Genealogist, Vol. 91, pp. 23-28, 2019.
Originally published 19 Sept. 2017, updated with Capt. Hathorne data.
