A Boaz Squires Deal

In the small town of Alliance, N.C. is the tale of a folk hero to those in the area known as Boaz Squires. Boaz was a Scottish immigrant who came to what is now Pamlico county some time before the American revolution. It wasn’t long before the people of the area took a liking to the young man even though they knew he was a wizard. And through his powers, he was able to keep the Devil at bay.. for a little while at least.

The townspeople really like Boaz and felt he used his powers for good. They even believed he held some sort of power over the minions of Ol’ Scratch himself. Boaz used his wizardly powers to build boats to transport goods to market. Once, Boaz took the challenge from a man to complete a boat in half a day. None on the townspeople though Boaz could do it, even with his powers. Several hours later though, a new boat was floating in the harbour with Boaz relaxing on it’s deck.

Anxious to find out how he was doing all this, a few of the townsfolk ask for a boat and hid in the woods to see how Boaz would do it. Carefully Boaz laid out the tools needed. Then with a clap of thunder, an army of demons appeared and began to cut trees and saw lumber. Boaz, confident that the task was getting done, sat under a tree and began to smoke his pipe.

People in Alliance believed that Boaz would fight the devil on more than one occasion because the devil resented Boaz for making his demons perform manual labor. More than once, Boaz was called outside by a knock at the door. The sounds of a knock down drag out fight was heard but always Boaz returned dusting his hands off in victory.

The people in the town thought that Boaz had the devil licked, but Satan had one last trick. It seems that when he came from Scotland, Boaz had a trunk that he claimed should never be opened. For several years his wife resisted the temptation, but like Eve and the apple she finally gave in and opened it. A pair of demons in the shape of cats leaped from the chest. Boaz dropped dead that instant.

If you’re ever in Alliance in the fall, ask someone to show you the grave of Boaz Squires. If you’re lucky you may see the mist that bubbles from the grave sometimes to let us know that Boaz is still around…