Genealogical notes of Barnstable families - citizen hylbom blog

GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 101
Phenomena which Science now enables us to explain in
accordance with the laws which govern the Universe, were
inexplicable to them, and without iflaputing to them wrong
notions, or being influenced by a superstitious fear, we may
safely admit that their conclusions were honest. All diseases
which aflTected both the mind and the body, including
diseases of the nervous system, epilepsy, monomania, &c.,
were classed in ancient times under the general head of being
"possessed of an evil spirit." Without entering upon this
inquiry, it is sufficient to say that our fathers believed that
the devil had something to do with persons thus afflicted. I
am, however, satisfied that nineteen-twentieths of the witch
stories told, originated in dream-land. All that are told of
Liza Towerhill are of this class. Some were proved to be
so during the life-time of the parties. The case of Mr.
Wood of West Barnstable is an illustration. He charged
Liza with putting a bridle and saddle on him and riding him
many times to Plum Pudding Pond in Plymouth, where the
witches held their nightly orgies. Though Mr. Wood had
palpable evidence of the falsity of the charge, yet for many
years he continued to relate the story, and evidently believed
he was telling the truth. This case, if it proves anything,
proves that Mr. Wood was a monomaniac.
Another question arises, how it happened that a woman
who sustained the good character of Elizabeth Blachford,
should be made the scape-goat of the flock, and be charged
with being in league with the devil, and as a witch, persecuted
for more than half a century. Some of the reasons may
be found that induced the belief; but none that will justify
her persecution. Her father's house was in the forest, two
miles from a neighbor. At that time wolves and other wild
animals abounded ; Indians were constantly scouring the for-
ests for game, and their great "trail" from Yarmouth to
Hyarmis, now visible, passed near Mr. Lewis' house. The
solitariness of the residence, and the associations of ravenous
beasts, and of more cruel Indians therewith, inspired
awe, and led the popular mind into the belief that the family
must be connected with evil spirits, or they could not
live in such a wild place in safety. Elizabeth's husband
built a house a mile west of her father's, on the borders of
Half-Way Pond. She was only sixteen and one-half years
old, and that a young woman should have the courage to live