As we head into October and the year's "spooky season," many of us will begin to contemplate our Halloween costumes. No doubt a popular choice will be the timeless classic: witch. Unfortunately, witches, and the women who have been accused of being them, have a fraught history in the United States, as well as around the globe. Let's take a look at one such case highlighted by a film in Hagley's Cinecraft collection:
In this episode of The Ohio Story, host Nelson Olmsted narrates a reenactment of Ohio's only recorded witchcraft trial. In 1823, Abigail Church, a fortune-teller from Gallia County, was accused by the local community of using her observational talents to predict the future. According to the prosecution, fortune-telling was an "attribute belonging to God alone," and Church's actions were in direct violation of divine providence. Therefore, she must be a witch. Additionally, two of Church's neighbors forcefully weighed her against a Bible because, as we all know, "if you stack a witch against the Bible, she'll outweigh the Good Book."
Of course, like all witchcraft trials, the indictment of Abigail Church was complete nonsense. Her defense attorney, Richard Douglas, argued that Ohio must be a land of intelligence and fair-mindedness, and urged the jury to do the state proud and find Church not guilty of her supposed crimes. Thankfully, the jury agreed, and Abigail Church was acquitted.
While Church luckily escaped the violent fate so many women before her had to endure, her trial remains a fascinating look at early America and the development of the state of Ohio. As you finalize your costumes this October, take a moment to explore the rest of the Cinecraft collection, as well as numerous other collections, in the Digital Archives of Hagley Museum & Library.
Ona Coughlan is Hagley's Audiovisual Digitization Archivist