Grace Sherwood lived around the turn of the 18th century is known for being the first (if not only) woman charged with being a witch in the state of Virginia. Most historians claim that her trial was the result of a less enlightened age, but there are some claims that support the charge of Grace Sherwood being a witch. Was an innocent woman convicted of witchcraft? Or did the powers she possess protect her from death?
To the mountain people of western North Carolina, superstitions are as natural as breathing. Whether it’s believing thathanging the skullover a murders head will make them tell the truth, or thatangels sing on a mountainafter a rainstorm. They believe as they do anything else, with all their hearts. This plays heavily into this story where a murderer would’ve gotten away scot-free if it wasn’t for a dream…
In the 1800s Brookgreen Plantation was the largest rice plantation of its kind in the Georgetown area. Owned by Josh and Bess Ward it was a very successful business for them mainly because of the overseer Fraser. Fraser was an especially cruel man who delighted in punishing the slaves. He would go so far as to punish the family of a slave who, in his eyes had done wrong. His favorite punishment was to take a slave into the barn, tie him or her down, and whip them. And that is the basis for our story…
The area known as “The Devil’s Stairs” has more than its share of ghosts. In this weeks story, I tell the tale of a few ghosts that seem to want to get away from the stairs.. Or maybe they want to keep you there…
The area known as “The Devils Stairs” is on NC 194 about six miles north of West Jefferson in Ashe County. Near the junction of SR 1507 (or Stanley road) is a bridge that spans Buffalo Creek. To the left of the bridge is a rock formation of four near perfect stairs, each nearly twelve feet high. The formation was man made in the early 1900’s for a railway. But the number of hauntings in the area goes back farther than we know.
