Mercy Lewis Accuses George Burroughs of Torture: May 7, 1692

Mercy Lewis Faces George Burroughs’ SpecterWe’re on May 7, 1692, as Mercy Lewis reports a terrifying encounter with the apparition of former Salem Village minister George Burroughs—her past pastor, employer, and landlord in Falmouth, Maine. Our story follows her claim that his specter brutally tortured her and pressed her to sign “his book,” then produced a different book said to have been kept in his study, boasting of hidden volumes she’d never seen. We track the chilling accusations Mercy attributes to him: that he could raise the devil, that the devil served him as a weapon, that he bewitched Mr. Shepard’s daughter after his May 4 imprisonment, and that he made Abigail Hobbs a witch—along with unnamed recruits. Mercy’s refusal, even under death threats, drives the tension to the end.00:00 Welcome and Hosts00:10 Date and Context00:14 Burroughs Apparition Appears00:36 The Mysterious Book00:59 Claims of Dark Powers01:14 Threats and Torture01:21 Recruiting Other Witches01:43 Refusing to Sign01:56 Closing DefianceLinks:Salem Witch Trials History YouTube⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub⁠The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under SiegeHigh Quality Scans of Original Court Documents - Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection