The record here given of the trial of Grace Sherwood for witchcraft, was presented by the late J. P. Cushing, president of Hampden Sydney College, to the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society, and published in their collections. While it throws some light on the state of society of that time, it evinces that persecution for witchcraft was not alone in our country confined to the Puritans of New England. There, it will be recollected, was shown a noble example of the strength of moral principle on the part of the accused, for they had only to declare themselves guilty and their lives were spared. Rather than do this, many suffered death. Grace Sherwood met a milder fate. The place where she was ducked is a beautiful inlet making up from Lynnhaven Bay, which to this day is called "Witch's Duck.'

99

RECORD OF THE TRIAL OF GRACE SHERWOOD, IN 1705, PRINCESS ANNE COUNTY, FOR

Princess Anne ss.

WITCHCRAFT.

At a Court held ye: 3d. of Janry: 170 p. Gent: Mr. Beno: Burro: Collo: Moseley, Mr. John Cornick Capt: Hancock, Capt: Chapman Justices

Whereas Luke Hill & uxor somd Grace Sherwood to this Court in suspetion of witchcraft & she fayling to apear it is therefore ordr. yt: attachmt. to ye: Sherr do Issue to attach her body to ansr. ye. sd: som next Court.

Princess Anne ss.

At a Court held ye. 6th: ffebry: 1705 p: Esent. Colo. Moseley, Collo. Adam Thorrowgood Capt: Chapman, Capt. Hancocke Mr. John Cornick, Mr. Richason, Came late

Justices

Suite for suspition of Witchcraft brought by Luke Hill agt: Grace Sherwood is ordr: to be referr till to morro:

Princess Ann ss.

At a Court held ye: 7th ffebry: 170 p. Gent. Collo: Moseley Left: Collo: Thorrowgood Mr. John Richason, Mr. John Cornick Capt. Chapman, Capt:

Hancock

Justices

Whereas a Complt: was brought agt: Grace Sherwood upon suspition of witchcraft by Luke Hill &c. & ye: matter being after a long time debated & ordr. yt: ye: sd. Hill pay all fees of this Complt: & yt: ye: sd. Grace be here next Court to be Searched according to ye: Complt: by a Jury of women to decide ye: sd: Differr: and ye. Sherr: is Likewise ordr. to som an able Jury accordingly.

Princess Ann ss.

At a Court held ye. 7th March 170 Col: Edward Moseley, Lieut: Adam Thorrow good, Majr. Henry Sprat-Captn: Horatio Woodhouse, Mr. John Cornick Capt: Heury Chapman, Mr. Wm. Smith, Mr. Jno Richason Captn. Geo. Hendcock

Justices

Whereas a Complaint have been to this Duq Court by Luke Hill & his wife yt. one Grace Sherwood of ye. County was and have been a long time suspected of witchcraft & have been as such represented wherefore ye. Sherr. at ye. last court was ordr: som a Jury of women to ye. Court to serch her on ye. sd. suspicion she assenting to ye. same -and after ye. Jury was impannelled and sworn & sent out to make due inquirery & inspection into all cercumstances after a mature consideration they bring in yr. verditt; were of ye. Jury have sercath: Grace Sherwood & have found two things like titts wth: severall other spotts-Eliza. Barnes, forewoman, Sarah Norris, Margt. Watkins, Hannah Dimis, Sarah Goodaerd, Mary Burgess, Sarah Sergeent, Winiford Davis, Ursula Henly, Ann Bridgts, Exable Waplies-Mary Cotle.

At a court held ye. 2nd. May 1706 Present Mr. Jno. Richason, Maj. Henrey Spratt Mr. John Cornick, Capt: Henry Chapman, Mr. Wm Smyth Justices

Whereas a former Complt. was brought agt Grace Sherwood for suspicion of Witchcraft, wth. by ye. attorny Genll: report to his Excly. in Council was to Generall and not charging her with any perticular act therefore represented to yem: yt. Princess Ann Court might if they thought fitt have her examined de novo & ye. Court being of opinion yt. there is great cause of suspicion doe therefore ordr. yt. ye. Sherr. take ye. said Grace into his safe costody untill she shall give bond & security for her appearance to ye. next Court to be examined De novo & yt. ye. Constable of yt. pr sinkt goe with ye. Sherr: & serch ye. said Graces house & all suspicious places carefully for all Images & such like things as may any way strengthen the suspicion & it is likewise ordered yt. ye Sherr: som an able Jury of women also all evidences as cann give in any thing agt: her in evidence in behalf of our Sovereign Lady ye. Qeen to attend ye. next Court accordingly. Princess Ann ss.

At a Court held ye. 6th. June 1706. Present Mr. Jno. Richason: Capt Horatio Woodhouse Mr. John Cornick, Capt Henry Chapman, Capt: Wm Smith, Capt: Geo: Hancock

Justices

Whereas Grace Sherwood, of ye. County have been Complained of as a person suspected of witchcraft & now being brought before this Court in Crde: for examinacon ye. have therefore requested Mr. Maxmt: Bonsh to present informacon agt her as Councill in behalf of our sovereign lady ye. Qeen in order to her being brought to a regular triall. Whereas an Information in behalf of her Mage. was presented by Luke Hill to ye. Court in pursuance to Mr. Genell. Attey's Tomson report on his Excellcy: ordr. in Councill ye. 16th Aprill last about Grace Sherwood being suspected of Witchcraft have thereupon sworn severall evidences agt. her by wth. it doth very likely appear. Princess Anne ss

At a Court held the 7th: of June 1706. Mr. Jno. Richason, Majr. Henry Spratt Mr. John Cornick, Captn: Chapman Captn. Wm Smyth, Capt: Geo: Hancock

Justices

Whereas at the last Court an ordr. was past yt: ye. Sherr: should sommons an able Jury of women to serch Grace Sherwood on suspicion of witchcraft wch: although ye. same was performed by ye. Sherr: yet they refused, and did not appear it is therefore Ordr. yt. ye. same persons be again somd. by ye. Sherr: for their contempt to be dealt wth: according to ye. utmost severity of ye. law, & yt. a new Jury of women be by him somd. to appear next Court to serch her on ye. aforesd. suspicion & yt. He likewise som all evidences yt. he shall be informed of as materiall in ye. Complaint & yt. She continue in ye. Sherr: Costody unless she give good bond and security for her appearance at ye. next Court and yt. she be of good behaviour towards her Majesty & all her leidge people in ye. meantime.

Princess Anne ss

At a Court held ye. 5th. July Anno Dom: 1706. Present Mr Jno Richason, Captn. Jno Moseley Captn. Henry Chapman, Captn Wm: Smyth

Justices

Whereas for this severall Courts ye. bussiness between Luke Hill & Grace Sherwood on suspicion of Witchcraft have been for severall things omitted particularly for want of a Jury to serch her & ye. Court being doubtfull that they should not get one ys. Court & being willing to have all means possible tryed either to acquit her or to give more strength to ye. suspicion yt. she might be dealt with as deserved therefore It was Ordr. yt. ys. day by her own consent to be tryed in ye. water by ducking, but ye. weather being very rainy, & bad soe yt. possibly it might endanger her health it is therefore ordr. yt. ye. Sherr. request ye. Justices p e. essvly to appear on Wednessday next by tenn of ye. Clock at ye. Court-house & yt. he secure the body of ye. sd. Grace ye. time to be forthcoming yn. to be dealt wth. as aforesd.

till

Princess Ann 88

At a Court held ye. 10th: July 1706. Present: Col: Moseley, Captn Moseley Capt: Woodhouse, Mr John Cornick, Capt Chapman Capt: Wm SmythMr. Richason-came late

Justices

Whereas Grace Sherrwood being suspected of Witchcraft have a long time waited for a ffit upportunity ffor a ffurther examinacon & by her consent & approbacon of ye. Court it is ordr. yt. ye. Sherr: take all such convenient assistance of boats and men as shall be by him thought fit to meet at Jpo. Harpers plantacon in orde. to take ye. sd. Grace forthwith & but her into above mans debth & try her how she swims therein, alwayes having care of her life to pe serve her from drowning & as soon as she comes out yt. he request as many antient & knowing women as possible he cann to serch her carefully for all teats, Spotts & marks about her body not usuall on others & yt. as they find ye. same to make report on oath to ye. truth thereof to ye. Court & further it is ordr. yt. som women be requested to shift & serch her before she goe into ye. water yt. she carry nothing about her to cause any ffurther serspicion.

(Same Day & only one order between the above order & the following. I suppose the Court which was then held at the Ferry "Jno. Harper's plantation" & about one mile from witch duck, went to see this ceremony or trial made Clk:)

Whereas on complaint of Luke Hill in behalf of her Magesty yt. now is agt. Grace Sherrwood for a pe:son suspected of withcraft & having had sundey: evidences sworne agt: her proving many cercumstances & which she could not make any excuse or little or nothing to say in her own behalf only seemed to rely on wt. ye. Court should doe & thereupon consented to be tryed in ye. water & likewise to be serched againe wth. experimts: being tryed & she swiming Wn. therein & bound contrary to custom & ye. Judgts. of all the spectators & afterwards being serched by ffive antient weamen who have all declared on oath yt. she is not like ym: nor noe other woman yt. they knew of having two things like titts on her private parts of a Black coller being blacker yn: ye: rest of her body all wth: cercumstance ye. Court weighing in their consideracon doe therefore ordr. yt. ye. Sherr: take ye. sd. Grace into his costody & to comit her body to ye. common Joal of this County their to secure her by irons or otherwise there to remain till such time as he shall be otherwise directed in ordr. for her coming to ye. common goal of ye: Countey to be brought to a ffuture tryall there.

[Copy]*

J. J. BURROUGHS, C. C.

Prs. Anne County Clerk's Office, 15 Sept. 1832.

In the war of the revolution this county, in common with the country around Norfolk, suffered from the enemy. On the 16th of November, 1775, a skirmish took place between some militia of the county and the enemy, an account of which is subjoined from Girardin:

Hearing that about 200 men of the Princess Anne militia were on their march to join the troops destined for the protection of the lower country, Dunmore had proceeded from Norfolk at the head of a superior force, composed of regulars, fugitive slaves, and disaffected inhabitants, with a view to intercept that patriotic band. The latter, aware of no hostile design, advanced in incautious security to the place of their destination. They were unexpectedly attacked, and compelled to engage under the double disadvantage of an unfavorable ground and inferior numbers. Supported, however, by inherent courage, and warmed by the justice of a noble cause, they for some time fought with great bravery and execution. At last the combined disadvantages just mentioned compelled them to retreat, which they did in perfect order. John Ackiss, one of the minute. men, was killed on the spot. Col. Hutchings and a Mr. Williams, with seven others, were wounded and taken prisoners.t

In the summer of 1777, the counties of Princess Anne and Norfolk became a prey to the depredations of Josiah Philips and his tory-banditti. When pursued, they sought shelter among the disaffected, or fled into their secret haunts in the Dismal Swamp.

The copy of the Record in the above case seems to have been made out with great care by the clerk. The orthography, abbreviations, and other peculiarities of character, have been preserved in type with as much accuracy as possible; still, in some few instances, it has been found difficult to decipher

the copy.

See Virginia Gazette of this date.-Some of our documents relate this affair rather differently, and charge part of the militia with misconduct. Candor demands this remark.

He was finally taken, tried, and executed, in 1778. annexed are from Girardin:

The facts

A certain Josiah Philips, laborer, of the parish of Lynnhaven, in the county of Princess Anne, a man of daring and ferocious disposition, associating with other individuals of a similar cast, spread terror and desolation through the lower country, committing murders, burning houses, wasting farms, and perpetrating other enormities, at the bare mention of which humanity shudders. Every effort to apprehend him had proved abortive. Strong in the number of his ruffian confederates, or, where force would probably fail, resorting to stratagem and ambush, striking the deadly blow, or applying the fatal torch at the midnight hour, and in those places which their insulated situation left almost unprotected, he retired with impunity to his secret haunts, reeking with blood, and loaded with plunder. The inhabitants of the counties which were the theatre of his crimes, never secure a moment by day or by night, in their fields or their beds, sent representations of their distresses to the governor, claiming the public protection. He consulted with some members of the legislature then sitting, on the best method of proceeding against this atrocious offender. Too powerful to be arrested by the sheriff and his posse comitatus, it was not doubted that an armed force might be sent to hunt and destroy him and his accomplices, in their morasses and fastnesses, wherever found; but the proceeding concluded to be most consonant with the forms and principles of our government was, to pass, during the present session, an act giving him a reasonable, but limited day to surrender himself to justice, and to submit to a trial by his peers according to the laws of the land; to consider a refusal as a confession of guilt, and divesting him, as an outlaw, of the character of citizen, to pass on him the sentence prescribed by these laws; and the public officer being defied, to make every one his deputy, especially those whose safety hourly depended on the destruction of the daring ruffian. The case was laid before the legislature. The proofs were ample: his outrages no less notorious than those of the public enemy, and well known to the members of both houses from the lower countries. No one pretended then that the perpetrator of crimes, who could successfully resist the officers of justice, should be protected in the continuance of them by the privi leges of his citizenship; and that, when he baffled ordinary process, nothing extraordinary could be rightfully adopted to protect the citizens against him. No one doubted that society has a right to erase from the roll of its members any one who renders his own existence inconsistent with theirs-to withdraw from him the protection of their laws, and to remove him from among them by exile, or even by death, if necessary. An enemy in lawful war putting to death in cold blood the prisoner he has taken, authorizes retaliation, which would be inflicted with peculiar justice on the individual guilty of the deed were it to happen that he should be taken. And could the murders and robbery of a pirate or outlaw entitle him to more tenderness? The legislature passed the law, therefore, and without opposition. Philips did not come in before the day prescribed, continued his lawless outrages, was afterwards taken in arms, but delivered over to the ordinary justice of the country. The attorney-general for the commonwealth, the immediate agent of the government, waiving all appeal to the act of attainder, indicted him at the common law as a murderer and robber. He was arraigned on that indictment in the usual forms, before a jury of his vicinage, and no use whatever made of the act of attainder in any part of the proceedings. He pleaded that he was a British subject, authorized to bear arms by a commission from Lord Dunmore; that he was, therefore, a mere prisoner of war, and under the protection of the law of nations. The court being of opinion that a commission from an enemy could not protect a citizen in deeds of murder and robbery, overruled his plea. He was found guilty by his jury, sentenced by the court, and executed by the ordinary officer of justice; and all "according to the forms and rules of the common law."

PRINCE GEORGE.

PRINCE GEORGE was formed in 1702, from Charles City. Its average length is about 21, and its breadth about 11 miles. The James forms its NE., and the Appomattox its NW. boundary Pop.

in 1840, whites 2,692, slaves 4,004, free colored 469; total, 7,175. The C. H. is situated near the centre of the county, 28 miles southeasterly from Richmond.

City Point is on the James, at the junction of the Appomattox, and although a small village-containing 1 Episcopal and 1 Methodist church, and about 25 dwellings-is a place of considerable importance, being the outport of Richmond and Petersburg. City Point are several wharves projecting into the James, within a short distance of which ships of the largest class can float. "Not only is a large foreign shipping business done here, but the white sails of domestic commerce daily gladden the eye, as it passes and repasses this port, freighted, in its progress upwards, with the wealth, and productions, and exports of every clime, while its return carries to every port of our happy Union the produce of our soil and our mines." Besides the ordinary shipping, steam, freight, tow, and passage-boats stop here on their way up and down the river. City Point is a much better site for a commercial town than Richmond, and, it is said, would have been the seat of government, had not its owner, a Dutchman, refused to sell on any terms. A rail-road also connects this place with Petersburg. The Appomattox has latterly been discovered to be navigable for vessels of considerable size as far up as Waltham's Landing, half way to Petersburg, at which place there is a short branch rail-road, lately constructed, connecting with the Petersburg and Richmond rail-road.

John Randolph of Roanoke, there is good reason to suppose, was born at Cawson's, in this county, the family seat of his maternal grandfather, Theodorick Bland, Sen. The years of his boyhood were passed at Matoax, near Petersburg.

GEORGE KEITH TAYLOR was, we believe, a native of this county. He was a member of the legislature in '98 and '99, during the famous discussion of the alien and sedition laws, in the advocacy of which he bore a conspicuous part. He was a leader of the federal party, and a confederate of John Marshall, whose sister he married. As an advocate in criminal cases he was distinguished: his oratorical powers have been described as little inferior to those of Patrick Henry; and, like him, his manner on commencing was unprepossessing. In Gilmer's "Sketches and Essays" there is a note which says that "Mr. Taylor was one of the most eminent lawyers of his state-acute, profound, logical, and persuasive; of fine wit, of exquisite humor, of brilliant fancy, and of the most amiable disposition."

Col. THEODORICK BLAND, JUN., a worthy patriot and statesman, and a descendant of Pocahontas, was born in this county about the year 1742. In 1753, when about 11 years of age, he was sent to England to be educated, and in 1761 he repaired to Edinburgh to study medicine. He was among the first persons from Virginia that devoted themselves to the study of medicine-a profession in that day but little cultivated in the colony, and in the improvement of which, from his diligence, he is entitled to the merit of having been one of its earliest pioneers. After an absence of about 12 years from America, he returned to Virginia, and entered upon the practice of his profession. But he was not an indifferent spectator of the political commotions of the day. In December, 1774, in writing to a mercantile friend in England, he says, "I should have vested the small proceeds in goods, but the present political disputes between these colonies and the mother country, which threaten us with a deprivation of our liberties, forbid such a step,