Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-12-27
THE HEx's DAUGHTER
A Weird Tale OF Modern wischcr~rs In Penn
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From the New York Sun.
Il was on = business trip through central
Pennsylvania recently" said New York travel
ing man. and stopped one night in a quiet
little old Pennsyivania Dutch town. An old
woman hsd died in the place that day and
wherever went about the village her death
seemed to be the leading topic. finally asked
the landlord OF the hotel where stopped who
or what the woman had been.
3" oh. she WAS hex. the landlord replied
Not having the least suspicion o. what in
the world hex might be pushed inquiry and
learned that great many people in that vicin-
ity and. in fact, throughout that entire part Of
the state were still firm believers in
witchcraft and in the power of certain per-
sons, by ridiculous lamentations, ceremonies.
and prescriptions, known under the generic
name Of 'pow-wowing,' to drive the witches
away from persons. animals, wells. croTs
whatever had fallen under the ban. These
witch doctors were usually women and were
known in Pennsylvania Dutch a. heNes. They
were held in great respect and the death Of
one was regarded as calamity by the believers
IN witches. The woman who had Just died had
been n particularly successful hex and her death
was an event OF no little importance in the vii
lage.
THE LANDLORDS STORY.
'ssNow, I don't believe in witches myself or
In the power of hex, said the landlord. but
would be obliged to some one who could ex-
plain to me an occurrence with which this
woman who has just died WAS concerned and
which came under my personal observation.
1t was certainly the strangest thing | ever read
or heard of. even in this locality where super
stitious belief and credulity find neyer-endiug
weird and wonderful things to tell.
~ don't know how old the hex WAS who
M lrnu te,,ss
ago she was an old woman. She was the widow
of q well-known Pennsylvania Dutch farmer.
Jacob Freitcher, who died a quarter of CEN
fury ago. Although she left wealthy her
daughter went out to service. rs is the custom.
with the girls OF PENNSYLVANIA Dutch
parentage, although they rnay be prospective
heiresses TO thousands. This girl, then about
twenty years of age. worked at this very hotel.
Her name was Barbara. and she is today the
wife OF one of the richest farmers in the county.
The landlord at that time was a leading man in
this county and usually joyial sort of fellow.
Ills name was Joseph Boyer. For some reason
he never could explain be took an intense dis
like to the old hex's daughter. who worked for
him. have often heard him saw that when he
was near the girl or she was in his presence. lie
could scarcely restrain himself from doing her
personal injury. and was constantly. against his
will, wishing that he or some one else might
make her suffer. II was a most singular feeling.
for the girl WAS honest and industrious and. as
~
ever had in his house.
SHE WAS rEwrTcHEp.
"Boyer's unaccountable hatred Of the hex's
| daughter was not the only strange fact con-
nected with the two. The girls fear of her
| employer amounted to terror. She tremblcd
vlslbly when he was in sight. and that she
| suffered greatly could be seen by the ex-
preston of her face. At times she fell into
fainting fits after Boyer had left her
% l,,l. H.. 4.
Guilty. Another singular thing was that the
girl Quit the landlords employ several times.
but after an absence OF a few DAYS invariably
| came back and re-entered his service. She
| told his wife that she had such pains while she
| was away that she was forced to come back for
relief.
1t seemed that Barbara. who was a seusi-
| BILE girl and not inclined to the superstitions
her mother was believed to hold the charms
| against, did not make known TO her mother the
! peculiar sensations and suferings she expert
enced and endured until nearly year after
they trss appeared. Then. finding that they
got no better. she confided in her mother, who
| told her at once that she was bewitched.
But who would want to bewitch me,
| mother?' she asked.
q. ~ don't know" replied her mother; but
will find out"
1.-The old hex took piece Of black paper.
took down her witch book, something every
hex has. copied something from 4 on the paper
daughter a hammer and a sharp nail and
told her that at IL O'Clock ON the first
| night Of the first new moon she must
| take the paper, the hammer and the nail
with her to an ash tree that stood at
the cross roads mile beyond the village She
must place the paper against the tree. and with
one blow of the hammer send the nail home
through the paper. That. the hex said would
not only destroy the witch, but would discover
the person or thing that the witch had acted
| through.
HER EMPLOYER DIED.
"T remember it was o night in early fall
| that Boyer, three others and myself sat down
in the back room yonder to play few gamss of
encher. Just before we sat down the landlord
glanced out the window there.
"Hullo. new moon, and saw il over
my left shoulder. / won't have any luck to-
night"
1--WE played along until it got to be almost
midnight, and we dealt for the last game. As
the clock struck II Boyer picked up his cards.
The next second he sprang to his feet with
! look Of terror l shall never forget. He cried
| out, almost shrieked, the name of the hex's
| daughter and fell back in his chair dead.
"Of course. We were all paralyzed with hor-
| ror for q moment. but, recovering, We hustled
about to do what we could. We summoned
| a doctor at once, but he was of no use.
The landlord was dead--dead. undoubtedly, of
| heart disease, the doctor said.
|
mates of house half mile up the road yonder.
| toward the cross roads, were aroused BY some
one knocking violently at the door. The per-
son who was knocking proved to be Barbara,
, the heNs daughter. She was pale as q ghost
and, as soon as she could find her voice she
startled the family by exclaiming:
| '''"I have killed Mr.. Boyerr
Thinking the girl was out Of her mind the
family tried to soothe her, but she declared
that she had seen him fall dead as she drove a
/ nail into paper at the ash tree to Law a witch
/ according to her mothers instructions at JUS,
u O'Clock that night. She told what Bower was
doing when she saw him drop dead in his chair
He was playing cords, she said.
| ""As soon as struck the nail saw him. He
| called out my name so that it rings in my ears
yet! Then he fell dead"
| "'Al this came ont at the inquest. which
was held the next day. The post norton
showed conclusively that BOYER had died of
disease of the heart, but Barbara and her
| mother declared then and ever after that
the witch was in Boyer's heart, and that the
! nail Barbara drove had been buried there.
There were few people in the place !, but
what shared in that same belief and the popu-
lar verdict was that Boyer's death was Just
And Hex Frei.cher became a greater hex uhan
ever. That is why her death has made 80 pro-
| found an impression in the village.
How do you explain that strange occur
renee? There is no doubt Barbara saw Joe
Boyer rs she said she did. Did Joe see her
! when she struck the nail, and know his fateY