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."
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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/
"Frankly, I've never heard either called a British case. I just thought Ansel12 was making the point that it was a British case since we were still under British rule at the time. That would apply to the Salem witch trials also. Perhaps Ansel is just trying to point that fact out since most people don't place these things in their original context of history."
I do think of British things as British, and Spanish things as Spanish.
With liberals I found myself defending all types of things in history, finally in the last 20 yrs or so I've starting responding with answers such as, that is French history or Spanish history, U.S. history doesn't start until we came into existence.
And on another note. My hubby is of Spanish descent...not from Mexico but from Spain. I am so tired of "dumb" people who have no clue that there is even a country of Spain full of Spanish people. Which leads me back to not being surprised when they have no context of who ruled who when.
"My hubby is of Spanish descent...not from Mexico but from Spain. I am so tired of "dumb" people who have no clue that there is even a country of Spain full of Spanish people."
I really like your description of the issue, and as far as your husband being Spanish, I'll bet there are many times when he groans internally, knowing he is going to have the same conversation, and have to give the same explanation for the umpteenth time, to someone that really should know better.
Sometimes I think the average person in America has only been taught enough history, in such a way, as to instill a hatred of western civilization and little more.
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