From roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Wed Jul 12 12:04:49 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 k6CI4njb019817; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 12:04:49 -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 k6CI4l5q028135 for ; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 12:04:47 -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 k6CFR8FI032168 for ; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 11:27:08 -0400 Received: (from roots-in@localhost) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.8/Submit) id k6CFR8ba032167 for roots-approved@rootsweb.com; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 11:27:08 -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 k6CDt4FI031938 for ; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 09:55:04 -0400 Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists5.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) id k6CGWVTA025065 for roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 10:32:31 -0600 X-Envelope-From: karen@mtpinos.com Wed Jul 12 10:32:31 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 k6CGWVjb025056 for ; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 10:32:31 -0600 Received: from bw-10.mtpinos.com (bw-10.mtpinos.com [63.173.235.138]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k6CGWQHA014201 for ; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 10:32:29 -0600 Received: from bw-10.mtpinos.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by bw-10.mtpinos.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 80A1337CA54 for ; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 09:32:26 -0700 (PDT) Delivery-Date: Wed Jul 12 09:07:15 2006 X-Original-To: karen@bw-10.mtpinos.com Delivered-To: karen@bw-10.mtpinos.com Received: from askin-67.linkpendium.com (askin-67.linkpendium.com [63.173.235.67]) by bw-10.mtpinos.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8075A37CAF6 for ; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 09:07:15 -0700 (PDT) Received: by askin-67.linkpendium.com (Postfix, from userid 503) id EBBFF24B17B; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 09:07:10 -0700 (PDT) X-Original-To: karen@mtpinos.com Delivered-To: karen@mtpinos.com Received: from lists5.rootsweb.com (lists5.rootsweb.com [66.43.27.41]) by askin-67.linkpendium.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9EEC124B177 for ; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 09:07:10 -0700 (PDT) Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists5.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) id k6CG79LE016555 for ROOTS-admin@lists5.rootsweb.com; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 10:07:09 -0600 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 10:07:09 -0600 X-From_: pjdennis@mindspring.com Wed Jul 12 10:07:08 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 k6CG78jb016493 for ; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 10:07:08 -0600 Received: from pop06.mail.atl.earthlink.net (pop06.mail.atl.earthlink.net [207.69.200.40]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k6CG73UP028384 for ; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 10:07:06 -0600 Received: from user-12hc44u.cable.mindspring.com ([69.22.16.158] helo=[192.168.0.102]) by pop06.mail.atl.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.36 #10) id 1G0hEt-0005aK-00 for ROOTS-L-request@rootsweb.com; Wed, 12 Jul 2006 12:07:03 -0400 Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v752.2) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed To: ROOTS-L-request@rootsweb.com From: pjdennis@mindspring.com Old-Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 11:07:01 -0500 X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.752.2) X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 X-Diagnostic: Already on the subscriber list X-Diagnostic: 3135 pjdennis@mindspring.com 32760 pjdennis@mindspring.com X-Envelope-To: ROOTS-L-request Resent-To: roots-l@rootsweb.com Resent-Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 09:32:26 -0700 Resent-From: Karen Isaacson Leverich Resent-Message-Id: <20060712163226.80A1337CA54@bw-10.mtpinos.com> Sender: roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Subject: [ROOTS-L] Grace Sherwood: The Witch of Virginia Beach Thank you Shirley Maynard: Google had some added info re "Amazing Grace". Grace Sherwood: The Witch of Virginia Beach Early court records tell the tale of Grace Sherwood, who was tried in 1706 as Virginia Beach's first witch. Unfortunately, there are no existing images of Grace. Her story is perhaps the most fascinating of the folklore in the history of Tidewater. Witchcraft was a very serious and real thing to the colonists. The cult was believed to be a threat to the Christian Church, and everyone during the early 1700's was on the lookout for witches, who could be recognized by so- called unusual or mysterious behaviors. Grace lived her entire life in the Pungo area of Virginia Beach (named for Indian chief Machiopungo), and married James Sherwood with whom she had three sons. She was said to be strikingly attractive, string-willed, and a non-conformist by nature. These traits were resented by her neighbors, who began spreading rumors about her witch- like behavior. She was accused of blighting gardens, causing livestock to die, and influencing the weather. After eight years of constant slander and bickering by her neighbors, Grace was formally charged with suspicions of witchcraft. A jury of women were ordered to search her body for suspicious or unusual markings, thought to be brands of the devil himself, and naturally the jury found, "marks not like theirs or like those of any other women." However, neither the local court nor the Attorney General in Williamsburg, would pass judgment on declaring her a witch. It was finally decided that Grace, "by her own consent, be tried in the water by Ducking, (dunking)." Water was considered to be the purest element and the theory was that it would reject anything of an evil nature. Based on this theory, the accused was tied up and thrown into the water. If the person drowned, he was declared innocent of witchcraft; if he could stay afloat until he could free himself, he was declared a witch. On July 10, 1706, Grace was marched from the jail (which located near the present day site of Old Donation Church) down the dirt road (now Witch Duck Road) to the Lynnhaven River. This portion of the river has since been named Witch Duck Bay in memory of the occasion. This being a big event, hoards of people from all over the colony flocked to the scene as news of the Ducking had spread throughout the Commonwealth. Grace Sherwood was tied crossbound with the thumb of her right hand to the big toe of her left foot, and the thumb of her left hand to the big toe of her right foot, and thrown into the water. As predicted by her accusers, Grace managed to stay afloat until she could free herself and swim to shore. She was jailed and awaiting trial for witchcraft for nearly eight years, when the charges against her were dropped due to the softening of her accusers hearts, and she was set free. She moved back to her Pungo home and lived there until her death at the age of 80. Many stories have been told and retold over the years about this most remarkable woman. One of the many tall tales that have been handed down from generation to generation has to do with the day of her ducking. When they led Grace Sherwood through the crowd that had turned out to see her put into the water she told them, "All right, all of you po' white trash, you've worn out your shoes traipsin' here to see me ducked, but before you'll get back home again you are goin' to get the duckin' of your life." When they put Grace into the water the sky was as bright blue as a bird's wing, but immediately afterward it grew pitch black, the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed all across the heavens. The terrified people started for home, only to be washed off the roads and into the ditches by a regular cloudburst.