The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1883-06-28
A vOUDOU DOCTOR.
Sent to tho Tennessee Penitentiary
for imposing On q Sick Negro

Sent to tho Tennessee Penitentiary
for imposing On q Sick Negro
Woman:
From the Nashville (Tenn. )American.
By far the most curious case that has
stirred up people in the precincts Of the
criminal court was that of Ed. Burley,
negro necromancer and voudou, tried
yesterday. The prisoner was squat
built, monkey faced. thick Tipped negro,
and a stronger argument than even the
late Col. Payne's Ariel, for the belief
that no pair of his species entered Noah's
ark. Leah Sharp, his prosecutor, was q
little bullet headed wizened faced negro
woman, whose physiognomy denoted
anything but high. degree of intelli-
gence. The exhibits in the case were
the dirtiest of home spun bags, about
three inches in diameter, containing
Burey's celebrated "luck battery" con-
sisting of loadstone, piece of steel wire,
and some red niger hair, a gold mount
ed brooch, a brass cameo ring, woman's
photograph, and several other tricks
and odds and ends that would puzzle
the witch OF Endor herself to describe.
Lean Sharp testified thvt she was lying
very i'll on the oath of February last,
when Ed. Burley, voudou doctor, called
to see her, and, standing beside her bed,
told her he could restore her to her
usual strength by means of his
'luckIbattery," which he had suspend
ed around his neck by string. But he
informed her this "luck battery" could
only be worked by means of two pieces
of gold or silver money and a photo
graph. He assured the foolish woman,
however, if he did get the two
pieces of gold or silver money, he would
endow her with no end of good luck for
the rest of her life, and she would al
ways afterward be able to find gold;
breastpin, ring and photograph, and he
and bit of wire out Of his pouch and
shoe picked up and held on to the wire.
about the ability Of the battery to per-
form the miracles claimed for it, were
swept away by the ability of the doctor
to endow little colts shoe (she called
it) with the power to pick up piece of
wire and hold on to it until it was taken
away. His victim then insisted that he
should perform the charm. This was
done by the voudou doctor put
ting the pieces of gold in
the bag with the ''luck battery" and
shaking them together. He then took
the loadstone, bit of wire, and red mig
ger hair out of the pouch, and sticking
the hair in the center of the loadstone,
attached the steel wire to the end of the
latter. Then taking the whole in his
left hand he waved It three times over
the woman's head, uttering at the same
time some sort of gibberish the woman
di not understand. Telling her that
she would be all right from tn at time on
and able to find gold, he replaced the
"luck battery" into the bag, hung the
latter around his neck, gathered up the
photograph, and walked out of the
house. Finding that she soon got worse
instead of better, tho woman reported
to the police that she had been
Burley was arrested, and
the gold brooch, ring and photograph
found ON his person, and the grand jury
found an indictment against him for get
ting property under false pretenses.
The jury that tried him yesterday as
sessed bis punishment at five years in
the penitentiary, and Leah Sharp had
her jewelry returned to her and went
on her way rejoicing. .