The Boy Who Wouldn’t Behave
Stephen Burroughs was born in 1765 in Connecticut and raised in Hanover, New Hampshire, where he quickly earned a reputation as the worst boy in town. Known for stealing, pranks, and general mischief, he described his childhood antics in his later memoirs with pride and detail.
His father, a strict Presbyterian preacher, sent him to Dartmouth at age 16, but he was expelled for yet another watermelon-related prank. That setback didn’t slow him. At 17, he talked his way onto a privateer ship by posing as a doctor, despite having no medical training beyond conversations with an old medicine man. He wrote of performing surgery at sea and engaging with a British gunship—accounts that, while dramatic, trace back to records of his maritime activities.
From Pulpit to Prison
After returning to land, Burroughs stole his father’s sermons and traveled New England pretending to be a minister. He led several congregations before being exposed and chased out. His next move was counterfeiting currency—at the time a common crime due to the lack of a standardized national currency.
A counterfeit $1 bill he signed as “cashier” of the Union Bank of Boston in 1807 is preserved and displayed today by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. He was caught and imprisoned, escaped, and continued his deceptions, becoming a schoolteacher. After being convicted of seducing a teenage student, he was sentenced to the public whipping post but escaped once more.
The Man Behind the Memoirs
By 1790, Burroughs had become notorious. In one well-documented anecdote, a Boston lawyer shared a coach with a stranger and began ranting about a criminal named Burroughs, listing a catalog of crimes. The stranger turned out to be Burroughs himself, who quietly listened to the account of his own life.
Around this time, Burroughs began writing his autobiography. Memoirs of the Notorious Stephen Burroughs first appeared in the late 18th century and has since been reprinted in over 30 editions. The memoir describes his adventures with wit, providing insight into early American life and criminal enterprise.
A Counterfeiter’s Quiet Finale
After fleeing New York, Burroughs moved to Quebec, where he lived under relatively stable conditions for the rest of his life. He converted to Catholicism and reportedly worked as a farmer, though he also resumed counterfeiting and was convicted yet again.
Despite this, he lived out his days peacefully, dying in 1840. His memoir continues to circulate, cited by scholars and admired by literary figures like Robert Frost. Every incident he described was tied to real events, arrests, or verified schemes, earning him a place among the most remarkable—and elusive—figures in early American history.
Stephen Burroughs ran off to join the army three times by age 14, posed as a doctor on a warship at 17, preached using stolen sermons, forged money, escaped prison repeatedly, and published a bestselling memoir.
Every step was real. And he wasn’t done yet…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/3UHOiAkRm8
— Detective Tiger's Stories (@TigerDetective) June 14, 2025