By Sarah Fertsch
Staff Writer
You don’t have to travel all the way to Salem, Mass., to hear stories about witches this Halloween. According to Ben Franklin’s newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, witches roamed South Jersey.
In the paper’s Oct. 22, 1730 edition, locals in Mount Holly, Burlington County, feared that a woman and a man (suspected of being a wizard) were tapping into dark magic because of their ability to “control animals.” Franklin’s paper wrote that the pair had influenced a neighbor’s sheep to dance on their hindlegs and hogs to sing psalms.
Since animal connection was considered a sure sign of witchcraft, a rowdy mob of 300 townsfolk rounded up the suspects and forced them to undergo trials to test their devotion to the dark arts. To ensure fairness, two neighbors proved their innocence by trying the tests themselves, serving as a controlled variable in this sociological experiment.
The first test required that the suspects weigh themselves against the Holy Bible. If the two were lighter than God’s Word, they would be deemed satanic and immediately put to death. Each person was stripped down and searched to make sure they weren’t hiding any heavy objects on their bodies. All four people passed the first trial.
Second, the people in question were bound by their hands and feet and taken to a nearby pond. If the person floated to the top of the pond, they were considered a witch or wizard. If they sank, they were God-fearing and honorable. The Gazette noted that only one member of the community sank, who was known as a member of the mob.
The two floated to the top, causing a riot amongst the townspeople. The woman shouted that she must have been cursed by witches. The story ends with the crowd roaring in bafflement, and doesn’t give any other information on whether the pair were put to death.
WeirdNJ Magazine notes that Franklin was well-known for writing satire pieces as pranks and social commentary, and this case may fit that description. According to the National Archives, there is no clear understanding as to how much of the above story is a hoax, and whether he wrote it himself. Franklin was known for publishing satirical accounts using multiple pen names.
Franklin, an enlightened thinker, may have been commenting on strange folk beliefs and the dangers of groupthink. Philadelphians often poked fun at rural South Jersey, priding themselves for being ahead of their time technologically and philosophically.
Mount Holly is known for its connections to the paranormal. A place called “The Mount,” a large hill in the middle of the woods, has an altar nearby believed to have served as a judgment table for witches, with gallows standing eerily nearby. How many innocent lives have been taken at this very spot?
Next to the Mount, brave souls will notice a brick and stone building also known as the Witches’ Well. Rumor tells us that the first witch to ever be accused in Mount Holly was thrown down the well to her death. She didn’t die instantly and instead banged her hands against the walls, begging for help for hours. Some town residents say you can still hear the ghost of the witch knocking on the well.
Not only does Mount Holly have connections to witches, it may also hold the soul of the Jersey Devil.
In the Mount Holly Cemetery, you’ll come across an altar inscribed with “Holy Holy Holy.” Children say that the Jersey Devil was captured in the late 19th century and held captive inside the stone case, which drops all the way to the pits of hell. If you stick your ear against the altar, legend has it that you can hear the devil rattle his chains.
Officially, Mount Holly got its name from its hills covered with holly trees. But could it be from the Holy, Holy, Holy and the Mount?
What do you think? Are these stories a bunch of hogwash, or true tales of history?
Visit Mount Holly this Halloween and find out.
