The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1880-01-31
NO. ~.
Negro Witcheraft.

The superstition of Southern negroes
is proverbial; but that it has sensibly de
clined in recent years is evident enough
to those who have seen much of the race
since the war. This fact is the strongest
sort of evidence to my mind of that
| capacity on the part of the colored peo-
| pie for permanent improvement and pro-
| gression. which has been so strenuouslv
! denied them by those who triumphantly
| cite Hayti and Jamaica in confirmation of
their theory. Race superstition is diff
cult thing to control or modify, much
! less to eradicate, and too often it becomes
| fixed In the popular character, perrna-
nent taint in the blood of q race or na-
| ton, retarding civilization and paralyzinp
the most enthusiastic advocates and be-
! lieyers in progress In the Holy
Russia" of our day, for instance, we have
| in the witch-burnings reported not long
ago, a conspicuous example of the tenac-
| ity with which an ignorant peasantry
clings to an ancient delusion in spite of
vigorous efforts on the part of the Gov
ernment to suppress their more violent
manifestations rs well as to educate the
people out of them altogether.
In the South American countries. too.
in the islands of the Caribbean sea. in
Mexico, and even in Spain and Italy.
witchcraft is by no means obsolete. On
! the contrary, we occasionally hear of wild
outbursts of popular fanaticism on the
subject in those countries, accompanied
sometimes by loss of life. The signs,
therefore, of very marked improvement
in this particular among the negroes of
II. Il
we find that In countries where slavery
does not exist at all similar superstitions
are still fourishing. Much of this i'm
provement is due to the mania which
seized upon the Southern negroes soon
after the war for sending their children
to school. No matter how poor q negro.
family was, the boys and girls were sent
regularly TO school for at least portion
of the year, their parents gladly subject
ing themselves to every form of priyation
in order that their children might be
educated" The learning" thus OBJ
tanned has not, of course, banished super
stition altogether, or even in great part,
but it has certainly had sensible infiu-
ence for good not only upon the chill
dren, but upon their parents.
Religion, too, has done much for the
colored people, and it is a significant fact
that the negro churches as rule are
much more prosperous and better attend
ed now than they were in slavery times.
Freedom, in itself, has done more for
them than religion and education put to-
gether, for it has forced them to shift for
themselves, giving them but little time to
dream of ghosts.
There is still, however, great deal of
superstition among them, especially
among the negroes of the far South,
where Voudooism rises almost to the
dignity of a religion. In his story, .aThe
Grandissimes, now running in Sc5.ibneT.,
George W. Cable gives vivid picture of
the Louisiana Voudoo woman In the per-
son Of Palmyre Philosophe, whose s.pale,
yellow forehead, low and shapely, with
the Jet hair above it, the heavily -penciled
eyebrows and long lashes below, the
faint, red tinge that blushed with kind
of cold passion through the clear, yellow
skin Of the cheek, the fullness of the red,
voluptuous lips and the rounslness of the
perfect neck gave her bar
barrie and magnetic beauty that startled
the beholder like an unexpected drawing
out of q ieweled sword. This woman
practiced regularly in New Orleans the
less baleful rites" of the Voudoos, along
with the business of hair-dresser. Pal
myre is a more pleasing type of witrl,
| than the antiquated, toothless crone oil
tradition, but the average Southern witch
is apt to be an old woman. whose very
infirmities, instead of attracting pity, ex-
cite adherence and suspicion. Occa-
sionally, but not often, the "witeh" is a
man.
/ remember once an old negro
| hunchback who lived in my neighbor-
hood, who was regarded By his people
for miles around as q .conjurer' be
cause of his extreme ugiiness and Wis.
cious temper. His name was used in
every negro household to scare refrac
| tory children into submission. II
Hayti, where Voudooism is still prac
tised in its most horrible forms, some
impression has been made upon thu
negroes by the Catholic missionarie.
and by Protestant ministers under
Bishop Holly. In the rural districts
however, it fiourishes almost undis
turbed. Voudooism. coniuring, witch
craft, etc., are not by any means con
fined to the more southern localities
Even in large cities of the north. ne
l
seventh sons, are consulted eagerly b,
a class of negroes, who, one would sup
pose, were too intelligent to be dupes
by them. Probably the most astonish
ing manifestation of superstition eve
brought to light in this country, occuret
within the past year in Cecil county
Maryland, not many miles from Masol
and Dixon's line. refer to the case O
negro woman who is serving term il
the Maryland penitentiary, who shot an,
killed an old negro because he had icon
iured" her, In this case, the testimon
adduced in court, showed that the wo
man, who was in bad health, firmly be
heyed that the old man had tburied boi
ties, n order to injure her, and unIes
she found these bottles, or shot hir
with silver bullet, she could never re
cover her health. Unable to find tn
bottles, she laid in wait for the man an
killed him.
remember, as boy, listening nigh
after night, to the stories of witchcrai
which were told by the negroes in fror
of the quarter fire. Some of them wer
undoubtedly the production of idl
boasters or of the stronger minds anon
the slaves, who took delight in frighter
ing their more crednlous companion
In the majority of cases. however. the
were traditions handed down from fathe
to son, and were accepted by the fasci1
ated auditors as literally true. OF VIII
: ter evenings, when all the negroes wei
assembled indoors, I often stole frol
the house to the quarter, and, percl
4 ed upon stool in one quarter of th
hearth, IN which blazed q roaring fire {
pine knots and hickory logs, listene
with rapt attention to Uncle Perry G
|, some other accomplished racontenr, /
! he related the most narrowing tales. o
these occasions the banjo was hushed,
} being an article OF the superstitious n,
groe's creed that the sound Of the banj
while these stories were being told, was
sort of invocation to the devil to grac
the entertainment with his presenc.
} The negroes invariably crowded aroun
the story teller and listened with ash
l faces and staring eyes. Among thes
stories was q number of local tradition
, connected with the estate. Thus it va
: asserted eonfidentially, that blue hams
? had been seen to issue from the gray.
yard at night, and that one occasion
. wicked negro named Cesar, while seate
, on grave picking banjo, was startle
by the apparition of an enormous dog
: which rose from the grave and chase
him all the way to the house. A negI
IL = a Il.