Grace Sherwood

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Grace White Sherwood (* about 1660 , † ca. 1740 ), known as Witch of Pungo ( witch was of Pungo) a farmer , healer and midwife , in the colony of Virginia was accused of witchcraft. In 1706 she was the last known person to be convicted as a witch after a water test as a divine judgment in Virginia .

Princess Anne County on a map of Virginia from 1895

Sherwood lived in Pungo , in what was then Princess Anne County, now part of Virginia Beach . She married James Sherwood, a small farmer, at Lynnhaven's Episcopal Church in 1680. As a wedding present, they received 20 hectares of land from their father, John White . After White's death in 1681, they inherited the remaining 59 hectares of his farm. The couple had three sons: John, James and Richard. Sherwood worked on the farm, where she also grew medicinal herbs that she used to heal people and livestock. She also helped as a midwife. Sherwood was widowed in 1701 and did not remarry.

Her neighbors had reported her several times since 1697, stating that she had turned into a cat, damaged crops and caused the death of cattle. There are no pictures of Sherwood, but contemporary reports describe them as attractive, large, and humorous. The fact that she grew medicinal herbs and wore trousers to work made her suspicious. Belinda Nash, who researched her story and wrote a biography, suspects that her neighbors tried to get her country with the witchcraft ads. In the last case, which resulted in trial in 1706, they accused Luke Hill and his wife Elizabeth of causing a miscarriage. The court ordered that Sherwood's guilt or innocence by " water sample (English:" Witch Duck ") with cold water" is to be determined. The trial drew a large crowd on July 10, 1706. Sherwood was cross-tied and thrown into the water on the Lynnhaven River, at what is now known as Witchduck Point. If it went under, it was innocent. When she reappeared, she was weighed down with the weight of a Bible. Still, she managed to break free and reappear. This "proved" her guilt, and she was likely to spend several years in prison before she was released in 1715. She wrote a will in 1733, which was carried out in 1740.

Street names are reminiscent of Grace Sherwood

The Grace Sherwood case was little known until 1973, when Virginia Beach historian and writer Louisa Venable Kyle published a book entitled The Witch of Pungo , which treated seven historically based stories of the early settlers. Sherwood's case was adapted for a mock court scene, Cry Witch , in Colonial Williamsburg , the restored former capital of Colony Virginia . Belinda Nash wrote a biography about Sherwood and ran her acquittal. On July 10, 2006, the 300th anniversary of her conviction, Governor Tim Kaine restored her honor by recognizing the verdict as a miscarriage of justice. She was honored with a statue near a hospital showing her with a basket full of medicinal herbs.

Web links

Commons : Grace Sherwood  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Beverly Campbell: When Virginia Ducked Milady Witch (English) . In: Richmond Times-Dispatch , December 30, 1934. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2013. 
  2. ↑ Alpheus J. Chewning: Haunted Virginia Beach ( English ). History Press, Charleston, SC 2006, ISBN 978-1-59629-188-1 , pp. 83-92.
  3. ↑ a b c d The Witch of Pungo: 300 Years After Her Conviction, Governor Restores Grace Sherwood's Good Name ( English ) Virginia Historical Society. 2006. Archived from the original on November 13, 2012. Retrieved on August 17, 2013.
  4. ↑ a b Grace Sherwood - the Witch of Pungo (1660-1740) ( English ) Old Donation Episcopal Church. 2010. Archived from the original on April 12, 2012. Retrieved on August 15, 2013.
  5. ↑ George Lincoln Burr: Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases 1648-1706 ( English ). Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1914. Archived from the original on October 27, 2014.
  6. ↑ a b Sonja Barisic: Va. Gov. Gives Informal Pardon to Witch (English) . In: The Washington Post , July 10, 2006. Retrieved August 5, 2013. 
  7. ↑ a b c Va. Woman Seeks To Clear Witch of Pungo . In: USA Today , July 9, 2006. Retrieved August 5, 2013. 
  8. ↑ a b Bob Ruegsegger: Virginia's 'Witch of Pungo': Accused Remembered as Colony's Joan of Arc (English) , The Free-Lance Star. October 30, 1999. Retrieved August 20, 2013. 
  9. ^ Louisa Venable Kyle: The Witch of Pungo, and Other Historical Stories of the Early Colonies . Four O'Clock Farms, Virginia Beach, VA November 1973, ISBN 978-0-927044-00-4 .
  10. ^ Ian Shapira: After Toil and Trouble, 'Witch' Is Cleared (English) . In: The Washington Post , July 12, 2006. Retrieved August 10, 2013. 
  11. ↑ Old witch rightly pardoned . German American Law Journal. July 13, 2006. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Sherwood, Grace
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sherwood, Grace White (full name); Witch of Pungo (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Farmer, healer and midwife
DATE OF BIRTH around 1660
DATE OF DEATH around 1740