Today in Salem: Two women huddle over a table in the tavern. They’ve heard the rumors about George Burroughs. He fancies himself a minister, but his own children aren’t baptized. And he never takes communion. Him! a minister! And so cruel to his wives, two of them dead now, and who knows why or how.
One woman leans in. Her husband is in the militia, and his friend told him that Burroughs can lift and aim a heavy 7-foot gun with just a finger in the end of the gun. Oh, and he also lifted a large barrel of molasses from an unsteady canoe – alone – then carried it up a slippery river bank.
Obviously George Burroughs is no ordinary minister. If the rumors are correct – and of course they are – he’s the Devil’s minister. If the witches have a ringleader, it’s Burroughs.
The women sit up and signal the tavern owner’s wife. Burroughs will be in court tomorrow and they’re not going to miss it, not for anything. Time to pay up and get home so they can make an early night of it, and be ready in the morning.
LEARN MORE: What was the role of gossip in the Salem Witchcraft Trials?
There’s no doubt that the “grapevine” was a major source – sometimes the only source – of communication between the people of Salem. While newspapers and pamphlets were available, they were typically found only in the libraries of the elite. For more ordinary people, church sermons, town meetings, and talking were the only sources of information.
Then as now, gossip also served as a “social lubricant,” which could quickly become salacious. There was one life-threatening difference, though: Today, gossip and rumors rarely make it as far as a court case, and when they do, they’re inadmissible. During the Salem Witchcraft Trials, though, rumors were accepted as evidence. Even worse, the rumors were often about someone’s specter, which was also evidence.
Imagine standing in front of a judge. He assumes you’re guilty unless proven innocent (the opposite of today’s assumptions). Now imagine a witness saying they’d heard a rumor that your specter broke the law. There’s no way to defend yourself against that, never mind prove yourself innocent. It’s no wonder that people who were arrested immediately assumed they would die. Once you were in the system, it was almost impossible to get out.
Tomorrow in Salem: JAILED: the Devil’s partner George Burroughs