OHIO'S ONLY WITCHCRAFT CASE
BY ALBERT DOUGLAS
The following report of a quaint and
amusing case,
tried some one hundred years ago in
Gallia County, was
originally published in the Scioto
Gazette, of Chillicothe.
The young lawyers who opposed one
another in the trial
afterwards became distinguished in the
legal and po-
litical annals of Ohio.
Samuel F. Vinton, the then Prosecuting
Attorney of
Gallia County, was born of
Revolutionary stock at Lynn,
Massachusetts, September 25, 1792; was
graduated at
Williams College, 1814; admitted to the
bar of Connec-
ticut, 1816; came west soon after and
located at Gal-
lipolis. In 1824, the year after this
trial, he was elected
to Congress as a Whig, and served there
with much dis-
tinction for fourteen years. Meanwhile
he continued to
practice his profession with ever
increasing prestige.
His argument in the case which
determined the boun-
dary between Ohio and Virginia is a monument
to his
legal learning. In 1851 he was the Whig
candidate
for Governor. In 1854 he removed to
Washington,
D. C., and died there in 1862.
Richard Douglas, also of Revolutionary
parentage,
was born at New London, Connecticut,
September 10,
1785, and died at his home in
Chillicothe, 1852. Some
account of his life and characteristics
appeared in the
July number, 1913, of the QUARTERLY, in
connection
with the quaint and forceful speech he
delivered before
(205)
206 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
the great Whig convention of February
22, 1836, at
Columbus.
Senator Thomas Ewing was the first
Secretary of
the Interior, a department created by a
bill introduced
in Congress by Vinton. Ewing in his Diary,
published in
the QUARTERLY January, 1913, speaks of
Vinton as "a
wise, sagacious statesman, almost
unerring in his per-
ception of right * * *
with a large control over
the mind of those with whom he
acted;" and of "Dick
Douglas our wit par excellence."
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS FOR
GALLIA COUNTY.
MAY TERM, 1823.
State of Ohio vs. Abigail Church.
The defendant was indicted under the
tenth section of the
act for the punishment of certain
offenses therein specified; for
that she, under the false pretense of
foreknowing future events,
and of telling the fortune of George
Badgley, did obtain from
said George twenty-five cents, with
intent him, the said George
Badgley, to cheat and defraud.
Plea, "Not guilty."
Vinton, for the prosecution; Douglas, for the defendant.
George Badgley stated that he had heard
of the reputation
of Mrs. Church in the neighborhood, for
telling fortunes, and
had understood her common charge to be
twenty-five cents;
that with a view of getting his fortune
told, he went to her
house; that she sat beside him, and
after shuffling some cards,
uttering some mystical words, and
examining closely the palm of
his hand, commenced the thread of his
fortune, and ran through
the whole tale of his life; that he paid
her twenty-five cents
willingly, came away well pleased, and
was perfectly satisfied;
that much of what she told him was true,
but sufficient time
had not elapsed to determine as to all.
The defendant's counsel
wish the witness to relate all that
she did tell him, but this,
from delicate motives, he declined, and
the court and counsel
forbore to press it; but it was plain,
from the manner of the
witness, "a bonnie braw
laddie," that it was concerning an af-
fair of a very tender nature. Witness
believed, from report,
that much of what the defendant was in
the habit of telling
Ohio's Only Witchcraft Case 207
actually came to pass; and that her
reputation stood high in
the neighborhood as a correct
fortune-teller.
Jesse Dutton stated he used the
employment of a boatman
up and down the Ohio river; that he had
lost his pocket-book,
containing all his bills and most
valuable papers; that, after a
long and useless search, he was advised
to apply to the de-
fendant; that, after going through the
ceremonies of dark say-
ings, anxious looks and shuffling of
cards, she told him that he
might rest perfectly assured that
neither his pocketbook, nor any
of its contents would be eventually lost
to him, although some
time must necesarily elapse before he
could possibly obtain it;
but that within certain dates a very
dark complexioned man, or
negro, would bring him the pocket-book with its contents; that
he willingly paid the usual fee of
twenty-five cents and retired.
Witness stated that, within the period
mentioned, a NEGRO
MAN came to him with the pocket-book,
containing all he had
lost. As to whether any disturbances had
been created by
reason of her doings, he stated he had
once heard that she fore-
told a dark complexioned man on
Chickamauga would cheat
and defraud his neighbors; and that a
person who suspected
that himself was intended, had
manifested some ill blood upon
the occasion.
General Holcomb was called as to the
character of the
defendant, and her setting "folks
together by the ears" in the
neighborhood. The General stated that he
lived a near neigh-
bor to Mrs. Church; that she was an
industrious woman; that
her husband was an old revolutionary
soldier, and that what
she obtained, together with his pension,
afforded a subsistence
for themselves and family; that he had
heard much of her
telling fortunes, and believed her house
was the full resort of
both Nymphs and Swains of the country
round, to get their
fortunes told; that he had seen and
conversed with many of
them; that all were pleased, and many
highly delighted with
the tender tales of love she had told
them; that he knew of no
disturbances in the neighborhood by
reason of what she had
told; he once, however, met a company of
young men return-
ing from defendant's house, and one was
swearing that his
money was as good as any one's else;
that he had been waiting
a long time, but now had to return home many miles, and
wait
three or four days longer before it
would come to his turn.
Witness had conversed with the defendant
upon the subject
of her practice; she always told him
that whether or not she
could tell fortunes, she did not know;
but if people would have
it that she could, and would flock to
her house for the purpose,
she could not afford to lose her time for nothing, and
thought
208 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
twenty-five cents but a reasonable
compensation; she had, how-
ever, adopted one invariable rule: never
to take money from
either children or old fools.
The defendant offered no testimony.
Mr. Vinton, for the prosecution,
addressed the jury:
He urged that the present was an offense
clearly within
the letter of the statute, and intention
of the Legislature. All
wise governments (said he), in every age
of the world, have
made provision against offenses of this
nature. God, in his
Providence, for his own wise purposes,
and the peace of society,
has so ordained that the page of
futurity should be totally hid
from our view; indeed, the knowledge of
it would not only
tend to make a deadly breach upon the
harmony of society, but
hasten the work of our destruction. The
days of inspiration
have gone by. To teach man his true
nature and estate, to bring
about the great purposes of Heaven, and
to publish the glad
tidings of a happy restoration to lost
man, the Almighty saw
fit to communicate a portion of his will
to the Prophets and
Seers of old; but those ends are now
accomplished, and we
live under a more practical
dispensation, which addresses itself
to the heart and the life. The golden
rule is left for our com-
fort and monition; and our laws are all
in furtherance of that
Divine precept. Can it be pretended, gentlemen, that this
woman was divinely inspired? Is not even
the supposition
itself horribly impious? Is she not,
then, basely usurping an
attribute that belongs to God alone? And
that (let it not be
named) through the false and sorry
devices of the shuffling
cards, and inspecting the palm of the
hand! Are you pre-
pared, gentlemen, to say these devices are
true? that these pre-
tenses are not false? What, then, is the
simple scope of your
consideration? Has she not obtained
money from the witness,
Badgley, by these means and pretenses,
and are they not false.
If the defendant knew at the time that
she was not endowed
with the power of foretelling future
events, was it not a fraud
practiced upon the witness to obtain his
money? Was it not
with intent to cheat and defraud him in
the very words of the
statute? Again, gentlemen, the wisdom of
applying this statute
to such cases, is apparent from the one
before you. Have not
the doings of this woman tended to stir
up strife in this coun-
try, and to set peaceful neighbors at
odds and quarrels with
each other? Mr. Vinton concluded by
observing he had no doubt
but the jury, from the evidence before
them, would have no
hesitation in finding the defendant
guilty.
Mr. Douglas, for the defendant, could
not forbear com-
plimenting his young friend for the
clear and correct views he
Ohio's Only Witchcraft Case 209
had taken of the dispensation of
Providence, as applied to the
general state and condition of man; they
afforded an ample
testimonial not only of the ardor of his
thought and sound
structure of his mind, but also of the
purity of his principles.
But, gentlemen (said Mr. Douglas), I can
not agree with him,
either in the expediency of his appeal,
or the fitness of its
application. Those sublime truths are
too awful for the present
occasion, and were designed for a more
glorious purpose than
the aid of a prosecution so contemptible
and unsupported as the
present. There is something grand in our
appeals to Heaven,
when the subject calls for them; and
that orator is rarely happy
who has his sublime illusions present
for the furtherance of a
sublime design. The spear of Achilles,
or the bow of Ulysses,
were never wielded or drawn to make war
upon dwarfs; and
if Jove himself should thunder at the
murmuring of every pelt-
ing mortal, we should have "nothing
but thunder." Hence the
precept of the Roman critic:
"Never presume to make a god
appear,
But for a subject worthy of a
god."
"Fit the action to the word, and
the word to the action,"
is a precept of the most immortal of
bards, who, among his
other inimitable qualities, possessed
that of a rare special
pleader, and from which my friend, from
his known attach-
ment to that science, can not withhold
the meed of his approba-
tion and applause: concerning which
precept I have heard a
learned Judge, who lately adorned our
Supreme bench and
Gubernatorial chair, more than once
suggest as peculiarly
applicable to actions of slander, and
so designed both by
Shakespeare and Hamlet.
Nor can I agree that a case like the
present is either within
the meaning of the statute, or intention
of the Legislature.
Miserable, indeed, must be the
occupation of the legislative
body, who, in the boasted days of light
and truth, could sit
out their live-long time in making laws
having for their object
the punishment, with five hundred
dollars fine and six months
imprisonment of a poor, old, frail and
simple woman, who
should be guilty of the enormous crime
of taking twenty-five
cents from some love-lorn Strephon, for
telling him whether
or not his Urania would have a high chin, blue eyes or
pug
nose; or to beware of a mole on the left
breast, for it was the
unerring badge of a shrew or a
profligate. The times of such
legislation are long since out of mind.
Even in that country
Vol. XXXIII--14.
210
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
where they have made more use of
witchcraft and necromancy
than ever we republicans did, the
statutes of the wizard mon-
arch have long since been repealed, and
his book of Demonology
is only found in the libraries of the
curious, and would not
there be found, but from the
circumstance of its being written
by a king. It is only scarce because it
is not valuable; and
remains a memento of the extraordinary
paradox, that a wise
king may be a learned fool.
Even in the age that succeeded, when
"quite athwart went
all decorum;" when divination was
on tiptoe, and pervaded
everything; when profound statesmen were
moon-struck enough
to believe they were divine witnesses;
when, as the satirist ob-
serves,
"They'd search a planet's house to
know
Who broke or robb'd a house below;
And ask of Venus, or the moon,
Who stold a thimble or a spoon;"
When Praise-god Barebone's parliament
was asserted to be
the temple of the Highest; and even then
and there I say the
more wise and temperate did not hesitate
to declare that such
laws were a disgrace to the statute
book.
But to come nearer our own times and
bosoms, let me
ask you, gentlemen, whether you ever heard
the blue-laws (so
called) of Connecticut and Massachusetts
mentioned but to be
satirized? Those laws, which our pious
forefathers (for I be-
lieve you are mostly all my
countrymen--Yankees) very
gravely adopted as a substitute for the
laws of God. Their
wilder sons loved their buxom wives too
well to forego a kiss,
even upon the Sabbath; and the
scale-beam would kick in
favor of the ponderosity of some old
runnion of a witch, even
against the Bible, aided by the pious
discourses of a Mather or
a Mahugh. They found that a barrel sawed
asunder would
make two tubs in despite of blue-laws;
and the "confounded
big piece of timber" which, on
Saturday night,
"Fell down, slam-bang,
And killed poor John Lamb,"
ceased to be regarded as an instrument
of Divine vengeance, or
a judgment from Heaven, for his
profanation of that holy time.
Darby persisted in the love and
elopement of his darling Joan,
in spite of the penance of the
cart-tail, or the quick scourges
of the cat-o-nine. The truth is, the old
bedlam, nature, is the
same in all ages and under all laws. You
may tread her down,
Ohio's Only Witchcraft Case 211
but can not tread her out; when in a
frolicsome mood, she will
frolic. All laws ought to be
proportioned to the wants of that
society for which they are made; and
although some may, on
a slight view, be considered as
encroaching too far upon in-
dividual rights, yet are still'to be
tolerated in relation to the
object they have in view. Thus the law
of England, making
it penal to bury the dead in any other
commodity but woolen
cloth, may at first seem a trifle in the
dignity of legislation, but
is, nevertheless, said to be a wise law,
inasmuch as it en-
courages the staple of the kingdom. But
laws depriving men
of the liberty of kissing their wives,
or restraining all under
the degree of a Knight from wearing steel points upon
the toes
of their shoes, over a given length, are
foolish, contemptible,
and ridiculous. In fine, the more witch
laws, the more witches;
and all the acts of grave legislation
upon the matter, will serve
but as additional fuel for the charmed
cauldron. The greatest
legislative secret may be summed up in
the advice of the old
Quaker lady, "Let them alone, and they'll fall of
themselves."
Where, gentlemen, are the evils brought
upon society by
the doings of this old fortune-teller?
Where the call for a
prosecution? Is it because she sets her
sage prognostications
at the enormous fee of 25 cents? I tell
you nay! it is gotten
up by some canting, monkish zealot, who
affects the alarm that
his craft is in danger. His motives may
be good, but his no-
tions and habiliments are better suited
to a disciple of James
Naylor or Jemima Wilkinson, than an
American grand-jury-
man. The prosecuting witness protests
before you that he is
not the voluntary complainant in the
business. He sought her
skill, heard the tale of his fortune,
paid the pittance, and is
satisfied. Is he defrauded? Has she
cheated him? If he be
deceived, he has sought the deception
himself. It is true he
will not, he can not tell us the one-half that was told him; but
sufficient is understood from the "villanous
trick of his eye, and
foolish language of his nether
lip," for good guessing of the
whole matter: he is content, nay,
delighted with his quid pro quo
-- a good Roland for his Oliver. His
future Dulcinea is, no
doubt, to be fairer skinned and sweeter
disposed than he even
anticipated before he visited Mrs.
Church. Some other inter-
loping Panza is to be routed from the
wind-mill; the lip upon
which he is fated to sigh is never to be
sighed on by another;
and she who is to "share his
pleasures and his heart" is to be
all his own. Dare I further trow,
gentlemen, I would jump at
the guess, from Badgley's phiz, that she
is to possess, withal, a
competent share of the smoother of
furrowed cheeks and sweet-
212 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
ner of boisterous tempers, that rare
commodity which, accord-
ing to the mood of the time,
"Like Aaron's serpent, swallows up
the rest."
The warning voice of this defendant
appears the astonish-
ment and delight of the country
round. Even the virtues
ascribed to love-in-idleness fade
away before the mystic wave
of the wand of Dame Church. Satyrs are
changed into lovers;
and the transformation of a Bottom is no
longer without a
parallel. By its unyielding magic, lost
pocket-books are restored,
and the ferae naturae reclaimed.
The people of Raccoon town-
ship may now lift up their voices and
rejoice at the coming of
that blessed prediction,
"When wolves and bears will learn
to browse,
And go to pasture with their cows."
Her house is not only the
"commodity, nay, it is the very staple"
of spring love and good fellowship.
Thither repair
"Tom, Dick, and Benny,
And Sal, and Kate, and Jenny,
All, all in merry glee."
There, "like elves and fairies in a
ring," they dance around
the modern Titania, who carelessly casts
her enchantments about
her, and dispenses happy fortunes with
the ease of a widow
Wunks, and the facility of a Robin
Goodfellow. "There is the
"boon laddie of Galla Water,"
"the bonnie lassie of Gretna
Green," or the "Roy's wife of
Aldivalloch," who could for-
bear to join this festive throng! Even
my young friend out
not to withhold his meed upon the joyful
occasion. -- Let him
gladden his heart that he has fallen on
these days, and "rather
pursue the triumph and partake the
gale," than attempt its
opposition by a criminal prosecution.
Who knows the good
that she may have in store for him? who
knows but the for-
tune of Lucrece, with the beauty of
Helen, now sighs in secret
for its destined approach? Ah! says he,
who will show me this
good? I answer, Abigail
Church.--"Shall I now realize this
unknown object of all my cares ?" I
reply--go to Mrs. Church;
she will tell you.
But we are told that some dark
complexioned person about
Chickamauga is in the habit of cheating
his neighbors; and
disturbances are reported to ensue. Ah!
gentlemen, in these
Ohio's Only Witchcraft Case 213
"coster-monger times," it
needs no "ghost come from the grave"
to tell us that Chickamauga is like unto
the places of the plains--
the one dark-complexioned countryman may
be healed by many
kindred light-blown spirits from the
"towered cities" of the
east. Haply for us if the rarity of
occurrences like these called
for the aid of fortune-tellers to point
them out.
"Beware the Ides of March,"
said the Roman augur to
Caesar. "Beware the month of
May," said the spectator to
his fair country-woman. Which of these
prognostics partook
of the greatest share of divination; the
one being the faith as
the other was the levity of his country.
We ought not too
rashly to tax Roman credulity or
religion because we will not
believe that the wrong flight of birds
at Pharsalia and Cannae
predicted the fate of those great
battles. We doubt not the
virtue or learning of a Plutarch,
because he believed them; but
rather rejoice that he has recorded and
sent them down the
vista of time for our instruction and
reproof. Will the Epi-
curean cit, "with eager eye and
smacking lip," forbear the de-
licious morsel, because a Montauk Indian
tells him that south-
west moon makes bad oysters at Blue
Point? Even old Sir
John in the moanful days of villainy,
boasted his better ability
to take a purse when under the
governance of his chaste mis-
tress, that patroness of rogues, the
moon. Will you indict our
whole horde of almanac makers, for
foretelling the numerous
goods or ills of life that await us,
because our birth is under
the tail of "Charles' wain,"
or our crimes attributed to the in-
fluence of a star? Are they criminals
because they tell us that
when the moon is in her apogee, or Mars
in his perihelion, we
must expect more wars or falling weather
about that time?
I was reading in a newspaper the other
day that Isaiah
Thomas' apprentice, while composing the
almanac, came to his
master to know what he should put
opposite the 14th of June.
The master, being engaged, told him,
"anything." The boy put,
"rain, hail, snow and sleet."
It so happened that it both hailed
and snowed on that day. A large dose of
the Empirick's pills,
noted for their efficacy in recovering
strayed cattle, drove the
countryman aside from the road, where, to be sure, he
found the
ox. I doubt much if even in these days
and goings down of
the sun, either the quack or Mr. Thomas
would have been ad-
judged within the letter or spirit of
this statute -- the one for
the price of his pills, or the other for
the recipes of his almanacs.
But I have detained you too long in
telling what, in my
judgment, the statute does not intend. I
will detain you but a
few moments longer in stating what I
believe it does. It was
intended to detect high-handed swindling
in such instances as
214 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
the following: If a man should make his
appearance in your
town, in the guise of a merchant, and
should relate that he had
a large quantity of merchandise at
Pittsburgh or Wheeling, just
ready to descend the river, should show
false invoices or bills
of lading, and thereon induce one of
your citizens to loan him
a sum of money for his exigencies, until
he could pass on as
far as Louisville, on urgent business,
and thus make off with
the booty--or if he should feign the
name of heirship of a
large nonresident landholder in your
State, and exhibit false
deeds and vouchers, whereby he imposed
on the unwary, and
obtained money or property by means of
such false and fraudu-
lent pretenses--and, indeed, numerous
other cases which could
be mentioned. But to extend it to the
contemptible case of this
woman, would be giving a scope to
implied powers hitherto un-
precedented. If our Legislature really
think it is time to take
the alarm; that our liberties are
endangered, or our peace in-
vaded by the inroads of witches,
fortune-tellers and conjurors--
let them so express it. Let laws be
enacted with a punishment
consequent to each. -- Then, at least,
will the first object of a
criminal code for a free State be
obtained--that of having
crimes specific and punishments certain:
for of all things within
the circle of our jurisprudence, we
ought to be the most cautious
in extending criminal laws by
implication.
Mr. Douglas concluded, by observing that
he was equally
clear on his part, as the prosecuting
attorney was on his; and
that the jury must acquit the defendant.
The Court left it to the jury to say
whether they believed
the case within the statute, and if the
defendant obtained the
money with intent to cheat and defraud.
The jury, after re-
tiring a few minutes, returned a verdict
of "Not Guilty."
OHIO'S ONLY WITCHCRAFT CASE
BY ALBERT DOUGLAS
The following report of a quaint and
amusing case,
tried some one hundred years ago in
Gallia County, was
originally published in the Scioto
Gazette, of Chillicothe.
The young lawyers who opposed one
another in the trial
afterwards became distinguished in the
legal and po-
litical annals of Ohio.
Samuel F. Vinton, the then Prosecuting
Attorney of
Gallia County, was born of
Revolutionary stock at Lynn,
Massachusetts, September 25, 1792; was
graduated at
Williams College, 1814; admitted to the
bar of Connec-
ticut, 1816; came west soon after and
located at Gal-
lipolis. In 1824, the year after this
trial, he was elected
to Congress as a Whig, and served there
with much dis-
tinction for fourteen years. Meanwhile
he continued to
practice his profession with ever
increasing prestige.
His argument in the case which
determined the boun-
dary between Ohio and Virginia is a monument
to his
legal learning. In 1851 he was the Whig
candidate
for Governor. In 1854 he removed to
Washington,
D. C., and died there in 1862.
Richard Douglas, also of Revolutionary
parentage,
was born at New London, Connecticut,
September 10,
1785, and died at his home in
Chillicothe, 1852. Some
account of his life and characteristics
appeared in the
July number, 1913, of the QUARTERLY, in
connection
with the quaint and forceful speech he
delivered before
(205)