Burroughs was the second Salem Village minister until he left because of a salary dispute. A father of five and a widower three times over, Burroughs was reumored to have abused his wives. During his trial, they brought up the fact that one of his children had never been baptized. Also during his trial, villages testified that Burroughs' dead wives had told the villagers in dreams that Burroughs had killed them. The "afflicted" girls accused him of being the leader of a coven of witches. When he was arrested for witchcraft, his current wife sold off anything of value and took off with her own daughter, leaving the rest of his children to by themselves. Burroughs repeated the Lord's Prayer without flaw at his execution on August 19, 1692.