Evening star., 1911-08-08
First Witchcraft Cases.

MED the charge with Indignation. and her
husband Goodman Holmes. brought suit
against Goodwife Sylvester for slander
After hearing the case in a thorough and
dignifed manner. the magistrates found
Dame sylvester guilty. and sentenced her
to be whipped in public. 10 pay Goodwlfs
Holmes E5 damages and the costs OF the
suit. and to publicly confess her sin. This
penalty silenced the backbiters for six
teen years. until Mehitable Woodward ac-
cused Mary Ingham of having bewitched
her ''by aid Of the devil and in "A way "
witchcraft or sorcery." Goodwife IrI-
ham was tried by jury of freemen pre-
sided over by Gov. Josiah Winslow. whose
tomb may be seen at Marshhed beside
that OF Daniel Webster. and found not
guilty There were other cases from
time TO time along the coast, who !
In the light OF the present age seem to
have been caused by hysteria and other
disorders OF the nervous system
l have been told many queer things that
people have done and are doing even to-
day in this enlightened ag For exam.
pie. in farmhouse in this neighborhood
there is woman more tnan eighty years
old who according TO the neighbors. has
not left her room for sixty-two wears.
One OF the best known characteristics OF
the Yankee race Is determination. out
when that virtue becomes too highly de-
veloped those who possess II are said TO
be 'sot in their ways" Mary Meekns.
the lady referred TO, has a chronic case.
The story goes that in the year 1si9,
when she was eighteen years old. she was
in love with and engaged to the most
promising young man in the village.
whose name cannot be mentioned be-
cause OF the prominent position he has
since occupied. VIII call him Joha
Smith.
One evening there was a quarrel over
some trifiing incident and the lovers parted
at the gate. in anger
Refused to Apologize.
Smith, feeling that he was the injured
party. kept away from the house and
Mary in her resentment sent him no
messages. Mutual friends attempted a
reconciliation and persuaded Smith TO call
at the house. Mary sent down word that
she would not leave her chamber until
he had apologize and Smith, feeling that
he had done nothing TO apologize FOR.
went away without seeing. her. He called
again and was given the same message.
He went third me and still the girl
refused to come down. declaring that she
would spend the rest of her life in her
room unless he confessed that she had
been wronged. and asked her pardon.
Smith refused TO comply with her de-
mands and Mary has punished herself
with sixty-two years OF Imprisonment as
the penalty OF her folly.
| She is now morethan fourscore, but is
said to be bright, cheerful and never
sick a day In her life She reads a great
Qcdl anu Is uOTOukNlS pOsI-u dDOut inc
events OF the day. She receives many
| visitors and keeps up with the gossip OF
the ntighborhood: she has a comfortable
| income and spends II freely: she sews
| and embroiders and for several years
painted a great deal Of china. Her princi-
| pal amusement is feeding the birds that
| come in 1ocks at certain hours of the
day to her window, where she has seed
and grain and bread crumbs to entertain
them. Her parents died long long ago:
q nf hnr SSad
away, and thu house Is now cared for by
the grandchildren OF her sister. Yet she
has never left her room since the dav
after the quarrel with her lover and 10
still convinced that she was right
I John Smith went west year or two
after the quarrel and became one OF the
most prominent men In his state He Cd
in 1905. full OF years and honors and left
large and prosperous family. He vsit-
ed Scituate occasionally, but never ALLUDED
70 Mary Meekins except in words Of sym
pathy. and often called her ''self-wil ed.
misguided woman
Home of Lincoln's Ancestor.
North of Scituate. near the Cohasset
line. on the principal street, is the old
Lincoln House. built in iTl7 by Nor
decai Lincoln. said to be the ancestor Of
Abraham Lincoln. II is quaint. story
and-a-half hip-roofed structure. with a
big chimney at either end. The walls
and roof are covered with shingles OF a
beautiful ripe gray tint and embroidered
with lichens along their edges. Ii Is
the oldest house north of Duxbury and
the most picturesque There are many
like II In the villages of England ana
Wales. but IL has no counterpart IN
America The eIms which shelter IL are
as old as the house and there are no
more beautiful trees in Christendom.
Mordecai Lincoln was a miller. ana
while the original mill is gone. the ste
, is pointed out. and it is on record that
by an ingenious contrvance of his dams
expansion power by which the same
water was used three times
At the southern end Of the town, in
what is called Greenbush. is the birth,
editor. who wrote that familiar old
song. The Old Oaken Bucket Which
Hung In the Well" What Is claimed
to be the original bucket is in mu-
still in use after 30 years. The or
chard. the meadow. the deep tangled
wildwood. the wide Spreading pond and
the mill that stood by it, are here
glass of cool water hoisted in a new
oaken bucket at the end Of long
sweep.
Samuel woodworth was born in the
ancient homestead beside the we'll and
according to tradition. was brilliant
and beloved boy. When he became OF
age he went to Boston. where he learn
ed the printers trade. and afterward DE-
came an editor From Boston he drill
ed to New York and spent the rest OF
his life there. Unable TO resist the
snares Of the devil, he became very dis
sipated, and was a member of famous
coterie of bohemian poets. authors ana
journalists who ruined their lives and
destroyed their minds by too much whisky
in that city seventy-five or eighty years
ago.
Inspiration for Poem.
According to tradition. Woodwork was
sitting around a table in a barroom In
New York one evening. and, after gulping
down a glass of coEnac. declared that IT
was the finest drink In the world
There you are mistaken" said one of
the party. Don't you remember the old
oaken bucket and the clear cold water or
the old well In the dooryard at homer
This remark revived in the memory or
the sot the picture of his boyhood home.
and after he staggered to his lodgings
that night he wrote the song that forms
his only claim TO remembrance
There is good fishing from the rocks and
from boats along the ledges that line the
shore There is smooth. hard beach for
bathing. and splendid surf There are
little coves. where fleets Of sailboats and
launches await the pleasure OF their
owners and every other attraction that
the seashore can Offer. Many city people.
not only from New England. hut from
the far west. find health and wholesome
recreation I'm this neighborhood duriny
the summer months. There is no physical
surf bathing. and II is found here at Its
has