The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-10-17
VOODOOISM OF TO-DAY.
Tho Mysterious Power Exercised
by q Kentucky Negro.
In the Eyes OF His Ignorant Fellows He
II Possessed Of Divine Attributes and
Understands tho Mystery
of Life.

| 1O0o6So0u
| Understands tho Mystsry
| of Life.
About the close Of the war power
fully-built negro calling himself Elisha
Broadeaux made his appearance in the
vicinity of Russellville, Ky. At that
time, says the st. Louis Globe-Demo-
crat, he appeared to be about seventy
years old, though vigorous cs mule.
He established himself in the small
log hut which he has occupied contin-
uously since. The new arrival imme-
diately became man of prominence in
a peculiar way among the negroes of
! this entire section of the country.
| They were unable to pronounce the
old negroes name, and it was corrupted
into "'Lige Broad Ak" Before the
old man had resided in the vicinity
year miraculous powers were attrib-
uted to him by the ignorant negroes.
A few of the colored people were too
intelligent to be deceived, but his in
fuence with the majority was SO
great that those better informed were
not anxious to assert their skepticism.
To some 'Lige Broad AK was voodoo
doctor and controlled life and death;
to others he was the high priest of
black magic and in league with the
devil, communing at will with demons
and departed spirits. To all his race.
with few exceptions, he was the en-
bodiment of good and evil as he pre-
ferred to exercise his influence, aad
terror generally. Even to the white
population uncle 'Lige," as he was
commonly known, was always an
enigma. In their presence he was
universally polite and humble, though
among his colored acquaintances ar
rogant and commanding. To the white
children the aged negro was never
known to DO otherwise than kind,
though the fear he inspired among the
negroes by his reputation as voodoo
doctor was shared in an exaggerated
form by them. He was known to do a
heavy traffic in charms, amulets, etc,
among the negroes. The purchase was
supposed to carry good luck or impart
misfortune, as the old voodoo priest
dictated. They did not doubt his power
to trick" anyone who had incurred
his displeasure, though when ques-
toned by white person as to the
miraculous powers attributed to him
by the negroes the old negro always
hastily denied such claims and vehe-
mently protested that they were merely
the inventions of his enemies. To the
negroes, however, old 'Lige would de-
nv that he had ever told the white
folks" that he was not a high priest of
voodooism, possessed of divine attri-
butes and familiar with the mystery
of human existence.
For the past quarter of century the
locality has been disturbed periodically
by accusations against the old wizard
by members of his race who believed
that they had been placed under
''spell'' for some fancied slight or be-
cause he was paid to do so by their
enemy. These complaints were OF
various forms In one case the victim
of the old Negroes pretensions alleged
that he had forced him to swallow a
piece of corn knife in his sleep. He
could feel the point cutting it's way
through his flesh. He was examined
by physicians and appeared to be suf-
fering all the torments incident to the
introduction of a metallic substance in
the human stomach. After lingering
several days in awful delirium, in
which he repeatedly claimed that he
had been ''tricked" by old 'Lige Broad
Ak, the victim died. A post-mortem
investigation was made. Tho stomach
was frightfully swollen and inflamcd,
but if, as was believed, the negro had
been poisoned, the drug used was SO
subtle as to defy surgical skill to de-
tect its presence. This only served to
convince the negroes moro thoroughly
of the voodoo doctors knowledge of
the black art.
The old voodoo doctors influence
lucky has increased of late years. This |
is partially attributed to the fact that |
though he has resided here more than !
a quarter of a century, he has not per-
ceptibly aged since that time. He is
almost as vigorous now as when he i
made his appearance in this locality. |
The best authorities agree that the |
old negro is more than one hundred |
years old. He is not positive as to his |
age. Familiarity with events early in
the present century indicates that he !
was probably born in the last decade |!
of the eighteenth century. He was |
brought to New Orleans in 1909 by a |
French planter who LETT Cuba at the |
outbreak of the war between France |!
and Spain. The old voodoo priest pre-
fers to be silent on this subject. as he |
desires to impress his race with the |
fact of his great age. He declares |
that he is one hundred and forty years |
of age. and that he will never die, hav-
ing discovered the elixir of immortal |
ity. Many of these negroes assert |
that the secret of his longevity is that |
he occasionally takes the form of
vampire and repairs his shattered
constitution with the blood of his |
younger victims. The power of old |
'Lige to inha bit the body of animals at
viii is not questioned by many Of
those under his influence.
a