The Only Witch Trial in Ohio
All in all, I tend to think of Ohio as a relatively boring state, but every once in a while I find something interesting hidden under the veneer of mundanity my home state likes to paint over itself.
Ohio has a grand total of 1 trial for witchcraft to its name. Surprisingly, the Hildebrand-Evans case didn’t occur until 1805, about a century after most American witch trials had already been consigned to the darker annals of our country’s history.
It started out much like the Salem witch trials: with a couple of bored teenage girls and an outcast old lady.
Nancy Evans was an elderly woman who lived alone in a small cottage, at a cross roads, with her black cat. Very little is known about her or the trial, only that the Hildebrandt daughters, who are unnamed in the records, showed signs of being possessed. They and their family all accused Evans of the crime. According to the daughters, the cat could talk and would torture them psychically.
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Members of the community began to shun the old woman, who understandably thought the entire thing was ridiculous. Finally a magistrate stepped in. After a bit of research, the community decided the “witch’s chair” was the best way to settle the case.
There are two different versions of the “witch’s chair”: The first involves a long pole suspended over a body of water with a swing on the end. When weighed against a Bible, the accused will either weigh less than the book (a witch) or weight more and thus be dunked into the water. This usually resulted in drowning as most people didn’t know how to swim and weren’t provided with an athletic swim suit, instead the (mostly) women were stuck in layer upon layer of petticoats, boots, stockings, stays or corsets, and whatever outer garments they had on. Physically restrained by the layers and lacings, they tended to suck up water like a sponge, pulling them down to the bottom of whatever lake or pond was used. If, for some reason, she was found to be lighter than the Bible, the person operating the chair could shake her off the swing where she would drown.
The second is essentially the same but without the water. A set of human-sized scales are constructed, and a book is placed on one end the accused sits on the other. Again, the book should be lighter than the person if they are really innocent.
Once the chair was constructed, Mrs. Evans was brought to trial. A Bible was placed on one side, and the accused brought forward, still not really taking the proceedings seriously.
Mrs. Evans plunked her ass down on the chair. Not a slight woman, the book went flying, thus proclaiming her innocence.
Honestly, this is probably the most ridiculous case of witchcraft I’ve ever come across, and I think it was very smart of the court to choose this method of “investigation.” Most methods of testing witches involved attempted murder that would only fail if the person possessed magical powers. Unsurprisingly, this is how many accused of witchcraft died, rather than through hanging or burning. Witchcraft accusations were a double edged sword, frequently involving torture as a means of interrogation. If a person confessed, they would be found guilty and, oddly, often survive–but only if they named others in their “coven”. Those who faced torture with a stiff upper lip were found guilty by default, because clearly they had the protection of the devil.
I guess if there’s one thing that can be said for the Buckeye state, it’s that superstition generally doesn’t go over too well.
