From roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Tue Jul 11 08:03:32 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k6BE3Wjb017084; Tue, 11 Jul 2006 08:03:32 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l.rootsweb.com [66.43.16.22]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k6BE3Ts2000717 for ; Tue, 11 Jul 2006 08:03:29 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l [127.0.0.1]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with ESMTP id k6BBPrFI026690 for ; Tue, 11 Jul 2006 07:25:53 -0400 Received: (from roots-in@localhost) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.8/Submit) id k6BBPrPN026689 for roots-approved@rootsweb.com; Tue, 11 Jul 2006 07:25:53 -0400 Received: from lists5.rootsweb.com (lists5.rootsweb.com [66.43.27.41]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with SMTP id k6B9VjFI026427 for ; Tue, 11 Jul 2006 05:31:45 -0400 Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists5.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) id k6BC98I8020071 for roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com; Tue, 11 Jul 2006 06:09:08 -0600 X-Envelope-From: MaeMay510@aol.com Tue Jul 11 06:09:08 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k6BC98jb020060 for ; Tue, 11 Jul 2006 06:09:08 -0600 Received: from imo-m17.mx.aol.com (imo-m17.mx.aol.com [64.12.138.207]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k6BC945B011865 for ; Tue, 11 Jul 2006 06:09:05 -0600 Received: from MaeMay510@aol.com by imo-m17.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v38_r7.5.) id e.53d.30ec214 (63000) for ; Tue, 11 Jul 2006 08:08:58 -0400 (EDT) From: MaeMay510@aol.com Message-ID: <53d.30ec214.31e4eeda@aol.com> Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 08:08:58 EDT To: ROOTS-L@rootsweb.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" X-Mailer: 9.0 Security Edition for Windows sub 5319 X-Spam-Flag: NO X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 Sender: roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Subject: [ROOTS-L] SHERWOOD--Witch of Pungo pardoned Grace Sherwood, the only convicted witch in Virginia, was informally pardoned by Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine, in a letter read at the annual ceremony at the rural Pungo neighborhood in Virginia Beach, Monday 10 July 2006. Mrs. Sherwood was a noted midwife and healer (and, according to one account, an attractive and flirtatious woman)* who frequently was accused of witchcraft and in the courts sued her accusers of slander. At age 46, she was finally brought to trial on 10 July 1706 and subjected to the trial by water deemed appropriate for suspected witches at that time. If she drowned she was innocent, if she floated she was a witch. At what became Witchduck Road in the Pungo neighborhood of Lynnhaven River, she was bound and put in the water. As she was lowered into the river she said "I be not a witch. I be a healer." She did not drown and thus was proven to be a witch. Little is heard of her after that until 1714 when she paid back taxes and with the assistance of Governor Alexander Spotswood reclaimed her property. She continued to live quietly on her property until she died at age 80. *"Gateway to the New World: A History of Princess Anne County Virginia 1607-1824." Abstracted from The Daily Press, Hampton, VA, 11 July 2006. Sonja Barsic of the Associated Press, writer. Shirley Maynard Hampton, VA