Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-04
SOUTHERN SUPERSTITION.
Some of the Beliefs Of south Carolina
Negroes.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
RALEIGH, n. c., November 20. 1893.
IL is really remarkable how deep is the
undercurrent of superstition in the nature of
tne negro. This is made manifest in the
most surprising ways, and very little about
the matter ever gets into print But a few
days ago an old negro woman here remarked
with a snifr of contempt, DE perleece
needn' think dey kin git dem Niger chicken
stealers, fur dey alus carries black cats
bones. This led to inquiry not only OF the
ole NANNY" in question, but of other
negroes 1t was found that there is a wide
spread belief among negroes who are super
sutlous that particular bone in the tail of
perfectly black cat, when carried by any
person, renders him or her invisible The
bone must be procured from a cat entirely
free OF any white hairs and the animal must
be placed i'm a pot alive and boiled This
much was found from the negroes them
selves. Confirmation came in a strange wsv
A white man. member of the local @. A
X. camp. was a stonecutter and was dis
abled by blast while at a quarry. lust
before he returned to work he was at the
quarry on a Sunday and there found one of
the laborers, negro ex-convict, cooking
something In a covered pot. The negro
pulled some bones out of a mass of bones
hesh ana hair In the pot and tasted several
or the bones. The much disguised specta tor
found that the fellow was cooking a cat
which ne had selected from several black
ones brought to him, In order to get a certain
bone OF the tail. He Acknowledged that he
mad placed the cat alive in the pot
Gay or TWO since the writer passed by a
negro house where there was quite pile
Vi wooo' near which was a savage-looking
bulldog. In the background was a chicken
coop, tenantless. The owner of the premises
Was present and was asked IL his dog kept
away wood thieves He replied thai he ala
SO very We'll, but was mo good" as 10 cb,ck
en- thieves, as they were invisible He added
mat the latter class of marauders had visited
ms place the previous night and had taken
away all his fowls. He laughed at the idea
Oh the police ever seeing, much less catching
any properly equipped chicken thief
1. negro cemetery is visited, some queer
sights wiil be seen. Graves covered with
pits OF glass, or shells, are by no means
uncommon. Some of children have on the
mound many former toys. In some cases
medicine bottles abound as ornaments and
IN one cemetery in a city in this state a
grave Is covered with bottles which once
contained lung balsam or medicine of thar
character >~'
Recently a negro woman was arrested I'm
fiednlont county, in North Carolina for liv-
ing uniawfuily with a negro man III turned
out when the case came to court that she
mad a husband in South Carolina When
before the superior court she was convicted
ai,a "neI asked II she had anything to say.
addressed the judge most earnestly, saving:
oidn know I'd done no harm ledge I
dion know You airs ways I'D here This
woman had belief that persons might mar
ry IN the various states without fear of any
trouble. This. no doubt. grows ont of ths
Iact that In slavery days not few negroes
sold to persons I'm other states Remarked
On a court house door in the western part
OF the state negro posted the following:
"Notus. 1 do hear for Did enev RoSv 81
takin In my wife Jaen-and sheltren Her
fur she stold sl195c. of my mony and she
mas been a running ever sence and If eney
man takes her In 1 will handle him with the !
law this the 70 day of Oct" The man who
wife back" mas
The superstitious fear of "cunyrers' is
more widespread than most people know or
than the believers will admit In the east
ern or coast counties this is greater than
elsewhere. 1t is said that this is due to the
taet .nat .he last slaves brought from Afri-
ca were taken to that section. The bottles
hlied with dried toads. lizards and Other
unpleasant things buried in the center OF
gateways or in paths are more numerous
than people not superstitious have any idea
of. Cases have occurred where snch hin
were buried on all four sides of a house
frequently left by its owner, and the fact
was duly made known to the neighbors. and
that the place was never entered save nv
the owner until the latter removed the small
VI course, the great mass OF the negroes
are too intelligent to believe sny of these
Things. and they are doing a vast deal. as
beliefs ~ Aoo'eh
The belief in de rabbits foot. IS unite
generally known and with not a few persons
Is most sincere Persons who Outlines |
would be ashamed to confess IN carry a |
raooits foot Last year a Winston wag
sent Adlai f. Stevenson, then a candidate
TOT Vice President what was alleged to be
Since that time there has been n demana
from many places north of Mason and Dix-
on line for these queer charms An Old negro
mere when told that Mr. Stevenson carried
him good. Dey can't nuthin' stan e;,st a.
rabbit foot" To his mind Adlai was marked
for a winner neu
The 'hoodoo" is. or rather has come to he. |
IT Is most commonly "dey nut de f6ins ns
MIN; the thing being a polite term for
iuo'oo, Inc meaning is some sort of a |
spell which prevents success.
among other superstitions are thosa r,.b,ch
make II most unfayorable thing 70 600 . |
piack cat crossing ones path or n tu-n
PACK without making a cross i'm the s,raa, |
road or path. The belief in witches is ner.
haps more general than any other and an
tells of a case in this So
ton within the past thirty wears in which
witch was killed I'm a very s,ranca
lashion' A negro called on a witch doctor I" |
d very OLD woman and was told that the
cause OF the trouble was a witch ana ,ha.
she must be killed: that the only way nos
sipie TO thus put her out of the way was 70
~ INTO the woods and cut the figure of a |
person on the bark of a big pine tree. mary
y cross on the body and shoot this with a |
SlVer ballet. the cross representing the
wtch's heart. The shooting was duiy dona
-, "e presence OF quite number of per-
sons This occurred in the northern ma OF
.his county Cedar halls arc carried In
, ne pocket as protection against witches.
ne negro belief in these is certainly f,,,lv
Matched by that Of white men who carry
m their pockets buckeyes" and Irish no
!atoes. or who wear thick iron rings on
tism. vi fheuma-