Posted on 07/10/2006 1:53:00 PM PDT by freepatriot32
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The Witch of Pungo is no longer a witch. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Monday exonerated Grace Sherwood, who 300 years ago became Virginia's only woman convicted as a witch tried by water.
"I am pleased to officially restore the good name of Grace Sherwood," Kaine wrote in a letter Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf read aloud before a re-enactment of Sherwood's being dropped into the river.
"With 300 years of hindsight, we all certainly can agree that trial by water is an injustice," Kaine wrote. "We also can celebrate the fact that a woman's equality is constitutionally protected today, and women have the freedom to pursue their hopes and dreams."
Sherwood, a midwife who at times wore men's clothes, lived in what today is the rural Pungo neighborhood, and later became known as "The Witch of Pungo." Her neighbors thought she was a witch who ruined crops, killed livestock and conjured storms, and she went to court a dozen times, either to fight witchcraft charges or to sue her accusers for slander.
She was 46 when she was accused in her final case of using her powers to cause a neighbor to miscarry.
On July 10, 1706, Sherwood was dropped into the Lynnhaven River and floated _ proof she was guilty because the pure water cast out her evil spirit, according to the belief system of the time. The theory behind the test was that if she sank, she was innocent, although she would also drown.
Sherwood may have been jailed until 1714, when records show she paid back taxes and with the help of then-Gov. Alexander Spotswood she was able to reclaim her property. She then lived quietly until her death at 80.
Belinda Nash, 59, has been researching Sherwood for years and asked for the governor to exonerate the woman. A group annually remembers Sherwood with a re-enactment in the river.
For Monday's ceremony attended by about 60 people, the re-enactment took place on land _ in front of the Ferry Plantation House, a historic home where Nash volunteers as director and, dressed in costume, tells visitors about Sherwood. The courthouse where part of Sherwood's trial took place was located on the old plantation property.
Nash's daughter, Danielle Sheets, was tied cross-bound, her thumbs to her toes, and placed in a small boat, just as Sherwood would have been.
"I be not a witch. I be a healer," Sheets shouted, in character. "Before this day be through, ye will all get a worse ducking than I."
___
On the Net:
Information about Grace Sherwood: http://carolshouse.com/witch/
Ferry Plantation House: http://www.virginiabeachhistory.org/ferryfarm.html
Virginia Historical Society: http://www.vahistorical.org/
Belinda Nash, a volunteer at the historic Ferry Plantation House in Virginia Beach, Va., is photographed at the site in this Thursday, June 29, 2006 file photo. Nash asked the governor to exonerate Grace Sherwood, Virginia's only convicted witch tried by water, and raised money to erect a bronze statue of her. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has since cleared the name of the 18th-century resident. (AP Photo/Gary C. Knapp)
Ah, the good ol' days!
""With 300 years of hindsight, we all certainly can agree that trial by water is an injustice," Kaine wrote. "We also can celebrate the fact that a woman's equality is constitutionally protected today, and women have the freedom to pursue their hopes and dreams.""
Cripes. More PC applied to local lore. Geez. I suppose the Witchduck exit on 64 will now be renamed because it is "insensitive."
Renamed to the "Tolerance for all Faiths and Practices" exit.
Don't tell me...
A witch duck..
"If she weighs the same as a duck, she's made of wood ... and therefore ... A WITCH!!!"
Can we burn 'er? She turned me into a newt!
Ya don't look like a newt ...
Will this remove the Ralph Sampson curse?
Has new evidence come to light to exonerate the lady?
Actually we have had witch trials as recently as the day care center rials from which Janet Reno is still using her influene to keep people in prison.In those trials claims were made and convictions were based upon events that are explainable only by witchcraft.
Trial by water? Sink , and die you are innocent. Float and live you are guilty and burn at the stake? Not good choices..at all.
My immediate thoughts exactly.
I think they should quit calling her a witch.
I'll tell you what's insensitive...sitting at that exit in 95 degree heat at 5:30 pm.
I guess Kaine can't deal with the traffic and roads issues.
Those Puritans were 300 years too early. The real Witch is going to be running for President in a couple of years.
Yeah it does appear to be a bit of a catch 22 doesnt it
"exonerate Grace Sherwood, Virginia's only convicted witch tried by water, and raised money to erect a bronze statue of her. "
Unless something new has surfaced, it seems arrogant, self righteous, and contemptuous of history to do this.
Digging up a 300 year old British case to make political points in present day American politics seems a little primitive and emotional to me.
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