Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-09-11

Massachusetts,, or in the neigh boring
town OF RehobOth, early In the present /
century, man whose name / might call, !
who was believed to bepOssessed of super /
natural powers and was generally credit /
ed with having obtained them through q
compact made with the arch enemy of
mankind lie was in the early part of
his life deVOud member of the Christian
church and the owner Of q large farm.
He did not prosper in worldly affairs,
and became financially embarrassed AT
length he Withdrew from his connection
with the church, and almost simultane-
Ously his affairs took q favorable turn.
He became an avOWed enemy of religion,
so much so that he would not be present
at any religions service or ceremony
whatever. At the same time he had
gained a reputation as "cOnlurOr" one
who had made league with the devil.
On the occasion of a death in his family
his wife insisted upon religious services
at the 1nterment. He aCceded TO her
wishes, but would not be present at the
services, Withdrawing himselftO neigh
boring field and sitting down upon log.
/ He was observed sitting there by one OF
| the attendants, who nudged his neighbOr
and remarked to him, Whats that old
/ devil sitting down there on thatlog fOr?"
/ The subject had gone from his mind en-
I tirely, when, after the conclusion of the
ceremonies, the old man came up, and,
patting him on the shoulder, repeated
/ the very words he had uttered to the 9TH
/ er. At another time a man living IN q
remote part of the town from him, and
/ perfect stranger to him, had lost a COW,
and, being unable to find it, was directed
I by one of hig neighbOTs to the "cOnjurOr.'
/ He made a journey of eight miles to his
/ residence, knOckedat the door, when the
man he was seeking presented, and, be-
fore a word had been uttered, remarked
to him: "YOu may 90 home again; your
COW is found, but she is spoiled" Such
incidents as these made and sustained
| the reputation of the man as a "cOnjurOr."
Stories of the existence of "WitChcTaft"
| in the towns of Swansea and RehObOth
during the middle of the last century
were, as 1 remarked before, quite COM
mon. In one instance the whole milk
/ ing of a family would sour Immediately
on being brought in the house. This be-
/ ing repeated at every milking for con
/ siderable time, a way was suggested to
/ the farmer to put stop to 1t. According
| ly, the next milking he brought IN, a
/ bright fire was burning in the fireplace,
and he dashed the whole milking behind
/ the black log. There was no further
/ trouble with the milk, but an old bag IN
/ the neighbOrhOOd, who had been regard
ed by the neighbOrs as a witch, was no
/ ticed to have a very sore mouth about
/ that time.
! In another instance a farmer went to
/ his hog pen in the morning and found
an iron band fitted tightly around one Of
/ his pOrkers, with q riVet on every place
! visible where it was joined together, and
| the only way it could be removed was
with a file.
A whole family was disturbed night
after night with the sound of spinning
wheel in operation in the garnet, and on
going up there the noise would cease to
! recommence Immediately on their with
! drawal.
! One of the pastimes of young people
in "ye oldenne TYNE" was trying tricks"
! When-tWO or three had come together Of
an evening. One of these frOlics, as 1
used to hear old people tell it, came to a
tragic ending. Three young ladies had
met together in the house of another,
and resolved to "try a trick" the result
| of which would be that there would ap-
pear to each Of them herfuture husband.
The conditions having been performed,
the noise of a carriage approaching the
house was heard, directly the sound as
of box being brought up stairs, which
was brought into the room by three men
and laid upon the table. One of the
! Young ladies looking IN saw the image
! of herself there, and the story went that
! she died IN SIX weeks from that time.
Christian men and women in the rural
districts of Massachusetts, and Rhode
! Island would sit whole evenings around
the Preside of a Winter night, rehearsing
such blood-curdling stories of events
either witnessed by themselves or told
them by their ancestors, and many a
night have 1 gone to bed, in my early
| bOyhoOd, after listing to them, shivering
with fear lest I should encounter one of
the "spokes," to the tales of whose pre-
vious existence I had been listening.
I give these tales to the reader more
as showing the belief in the supernatural,
which prevailed three or four generations
ago, than as a narrative Of actual facts.
/ That the stories were religiously beiev-
ed by those who told them, as remark
ed before, I have not the least doubt,
but as to the foundation Of that belief, I
am not so certain.