The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-01
A LAND OF WITCHES STILL.
MIXTURE OF QUALITIES IN THE PENN
sYLVINIA GERMANS.

Ahty oeilSNo IN "IICuCTbtNs htep EoTtuue
in Old Stockings and Coffee Pots, Are Ad
herents of Gen. jackson, Practiced tn,
Boycott LonE Ago, and Are Happy, Pros
porous, Contented and Religious.
ITO one who has never lived or been much
among that odd and interesting people known
as the Pennsylvania Dutcn." said a resident
OF this city who Ia himself OF Pennsylvania
German ancestry. tho story in TIRE U the
other day about Pennsylvania witchcraft may
seem incredible. but any one who has enjoyed
the confidence Of these people. which is not
readily given TO a stranger. knows that there
are facts abundant in any Of the counties
where the Pennsylvania Dutch population pre-
dominates to provide material for even much
stranger illustrations OF the still prevalent
belief In witchcraft. / can remember the
bundle OF hazel switches my good old grand
mother kept always at hand to lash her churn
with when the butter wat tardy about COM
Ing. The hardness was ascribed to the fact
that the churn was bewitched, and the casti-
cation with the hazel switches was to drive
the witches away from the churn. hazel pos
sessing a spell the witches could not with
stand. That was many years ago. but / can
20 to-day to a score OF farmhouses In that To-
cality where the hazel switch 10 kept for the
same purpose, the witches being Just as pestif-
srous now as they were in my grandmother's
day. and the charm OF the hazel switch being
Just as potent. At least. so the superstitious
f~afrners' wives and daughters firmly believe.
Just as their grandmothers and great-grand-
mothers believed.
Il oan remember the unbounded 10y OF that
same good old grandmother OF mine when a
friend OF hers. who was charged with being q
witch. stood the. tests the church ordered her
to undergo. and was proved innocent. A
member Of the church had been suddenly
Frustrated with illness OF a kind to which tho
rude doctors OF that isolated locality could not
give q name. and IL was at last decided that
the patient was bewiiched. The patient was
a woman. For some reason she declared her
belief. that this friend Of my grandmother.
who was an old woman. and a member Of the
same church. was the witch that had put the
evil spell upon her. The church was OF a de-
nomination known as the Christians. and at a
meeting OF its officers 1t was decided that the
woman accused Of witchcraft should submit to
two tests. which It was believed were infallible.
One was to step over a broomstick. which it
was said no witch could do. The other was to
place the accused In one side OF a pair Of scales
with . Bible in the other side: II she were n
witch the Bible would overbalance her weight.
The accused woman stepped over the broom
stick easily. She was then taken to the old
gristmillsand put to the test Of her weigh
against the Bible. and IT. resulted emphatical-
ly In her favor. Thus. her innocence being
clearly established. tine charge against her
was dismissed by the church. This. to be
sure. was more than fifty years ago. You might
say such an exhibition Of medieval s~upersti-
tion would not be: possible in an enlightened
community to-day. but 1 know better. For
instance. what would you think OF a man
bringing suit against his mother to recover
damages for a dog, which he charged her with
having killed by witchcraft. and not only
bringing suit. but getting a judgment from a
Justice OF the Peace? That very thing came
to pass. not more than ten years ago. not far
from Reinholdsville. in Lancaster county. The
man was a well-to-do farmer. His mother
was a woman over 20. and had the reputation
OF being a witch. a reputation that had caused
her family to abandon her. She lived alone in a
small cabin. Her sonscharged in his complaint
before the Justice that she had placed his dog
nader a spell and refused to emove it unless
he paid her So. He refused to pay. and the
dog ran about in a circle until it died.
at the trial Of the lawsuit a large number
of witnesses testified as to their experience |
with witchcraft, and only one said he had
never had a friend or relative bewitohed. One
witness for the plaintiff swore that he had re-
fused to comply with the defendants request
not to be a witness for her son. and since then |
his well had run dry. his cows gave bloody
milk and his. three-months- old baby. which
had been fat and healthy. had grown so puny
that 1t was feared 1t would soon die. The
mother of the plaintiff. seeing the strong case
against her. confessed that she had bewitched
the dog and the Justice awarded the son So
and the costs Of the suit.
THAT instance is hardly so Incredible as the
case Of William Kildey's daughter and Mrs.
Boyer. which is so recent that children in the
raDoap,har a. ,-oI o.
Dauphin county. where the capital city OF the
Keystone State is situated. and not many miles
from that city. in the Stony Creek Valley. Will
liam Kildey was a well-known Susquehanna
River pilot and he believed in Witchcraft. His
Emma fell Ill. She had commissions,
during which she barked like a dog. made
noises like cats fighting and talked high Ger
man. n language she knew nothing about in
her natural state. For three years physicians
tried to cure her without success. Then one
day. during a rational interval. she told her
iather that the day she was taken Ill she had
to let a young man. whom she named.
go home with her from Sunday school. The
refusal had angered him and he swore that
he would give her over to old Mrs. Boyer and
she would die. That night her strange illness
upon her.
old Mrs. Boyer vas the wife OF an indus
and respectable German OF the neigh
where they had lived many years.
When Kildey heard his daughters story he at
,nce consulted a witch doctor named Wolf,
Who p~owwowed over the girl and declared
hat she was bewitched. A half: sister OF the
yiri declared that Wolf showed her a likeness
the witch in a basin of water and 1t was that
II old Mrs, Boyer. Kildey then consulted
Arm strong McClain. a travelling witch doctor
for these gentry find plenty Of custom
Imong the Pennsylvania Dutch farmers. Nc
lain burned some hair on a shovel and told
zildey that If he did not meet q trindle COW
m his way home his daughter would be re-
ieyed OF the witch's spell by slndown. He
aid the witch was Mrs. Boyer. Kildey did
lot meet a brindle cow.and he reported that
lis daughter got better at shutdown. She was
veil for some time. but had occasional re-
apses, which were charged to the tormenting
old Mrs. Boyer. After a while the girl be-
anne worse than ever. McClain was sent for
o como and lay the witch, He came. He
laced a quantity OF roots and herbs In a bottle,
prinkled a white powder on them and filed