Society Saturday- The Witch of Pungo

The annual meeting of the National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Plants was held jointly with the Sons and Daughters of Colonial and Antebellum Bench and Bar.  

Our Speaker this year was Hon. Richard Bender Abell, former Assistant Attorney General.  He spoke about the trial of Grace Sherwood, also known as the Witch of Pungo.  During his talk, he compared the attitudes of the Virginia colonists with thos of the Massachusetts colonists.  For example, there were 20 executions during the Salem witch panic of 1692 compared with a total of 20 accusations in Virginia between 1607-1730.  The harshest punishment meted out in Virginia was a lashing.  Part of this was because in Virginia, the accuser bore the burden of proof.  If the accused witch was convicted, they could then sue their accuser of slander (this also happened in Massachusetts, but much less frequently).

Grace White Sherwood was known as a midwife and herbalist.  In fact, she was known as the person who introduced the herb rosemary to the colony of Virginia.   

Her travails first began in 1697, when she was accused of casting spells on a neighbor's bull.  She brought a defamation suit and won.

The following year,  another neighbor accused her of enchanting his hogs.  She lost the defamation suit against him.

She continued to function as a member of the community until 1706 when her neighbors the Hills accused her of witchcraft through causing a miscarriage of Elizabeth Hill.  This accusation was taken more seriously and a trial ensued.  First, she was examined for "witch's marks" which were apparently found.  Next, she underwent a trial by ducking.  The magistrate and sheriff we easy to pull her back up by a rope but she popped up anyway.  Despite the outcome of these two tests which "proved" she was a witch, no further punishment ensued.  She remained on her farm in Virginia until her death in 1740.

She was pardoned by the Virginia legislature on July 10, 2006, exactly 300 years after her trial by ducking.

www.antebellumplanters.com

Society Saturday - Thomas Worthington

Kathy Styer, Executive Director of Adena Mansion in Ohio, was the speaker for the joint meeting of the National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters and the Descendants of Colonial and Antebellum Bench and Bar.

She spoke about Thomas Worthington, the Father of Ohio Statehood.  He was born 16 July 1773 in Charles Town, (West) Virginia, the son of Robert and Margaret (Matthews) Worthington.    Robert was disowned by the Quaker faith of his childhood when he married outside the faith in 1759.  Robert died in 1779 and Margaret died in 1780, leaving six-year old Thomas and his five older siblings.  

Thomas was raised by his older brother Ephraim, and Colonel Darke, a family friend.  He spent two years as a sailor aboard the Brittania sailing from Scotland to Cuba and Jamaica.  After returning from the sea, he served in the militia along the Virginia frontier, achieving the rank of Captain of an artillery company.  He received, and purchased, a number of Virginia military land warrants along the Ohio River and set out on horseback to claim them on 20 June 1796.  He returned home that fall and married Eleanor Swearingen on 13 December 1796.  The following May, he returned to the area with his brother-in-law Edward Tiffin and settled in Chillicothe, Ohio.  At that time, he claimed 7600 acres in the area.  He returned for good in 1798 with his wife, young daughter, and several other family members.

One driving force for him to relocate to Ohio was that he despised the institution of slavery and wanted to leave it behind in Virginia.  Once in Chillicothe, Worthington spent a good deal of time in land speculation, as well as building a life for himself.Between 1805-1807, he commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe to build a permanent stone house for his family on a hilltop overlooking the Scioto River.  This mansion was called the “most magnificent mansion west of the Alleghenies”.  He named his house “Adena”, a term descriptive of delightful places that he read in an ancient history book.  

Worthington was active in the politics of his new home.  He was major of the local militia, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and Register of the Land Office at Chillicothe.  He was a delegate to the Federal Government to lobby for Ohio statehood.  He was primarily responsible for the selection of Chillicothe as the territorial capitol, as well as Ohio’s first state capitol.  He was also one of the framers of Ohio’s Constitution.

Worthington was elected one of the first senators from Ohio in 1803.  While in that office he worked tirelessly for internal improvements which ultimately resulted in the building of the Cumberland Road, and the acquisition of school lands in Ohio.  He was thought of as an authority on western lands, and introduced a bill that resulted in the formation of the General Land Office.  He had earned the trust of native Americans and hosted Indian leaders such as Tecumseh at his home.  He also hosted other dignitaries such as President James Monroe at him home.

Worthington was elected sixth Governor of Ohio in 1814.  During his four years in that office, he continued to strive for internal improvements, such as better roads and water routes, and establishment of a public school system.  He also purchased the first 500 books of the Ohio State Library.

After retiring from public service, he continued to oversee his lands at Adena, which had increased to over 15000 acres, as well as several other business interests such as mills, meat packing and a distillery.  He died on 20 June 1827 while on a business trip to New York.

Reference: Alfred Byron Sears, Thomas Worthington: Father of Ohio Statehood, Ohio State University Press (Columbus, OH) 1998.

www.adenamansion.com

www.antebellumplanters.com

Society Saturday – Dedication at Adena Mansion

Every President General for National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters has chosen a project in keeping with the objects of the Society.  This term, I chose Adena Mansion in Chillicothe, Ohio as the recipient of our Society’s donations.

Adena mansion was built in 1807 by Thomas Worthington.  At one time it encompassed nearly 3000 acres of land.  Thomas Worthington commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe (architect of the U.S. Capitol) to build a permanent stone house for his family on a hilltop overlooking the Scioto River.  This mansion was called the “most magnificent mansion west of the Alleghenies”.  He named his house “Adena”, a term descriptive of delightful places that he read in an ancient history book. 

Worthington is known as the “Father of Ohio Statehood“.  He was a delegate to the Federal Government to lobby for Ohio statehood.  He was primarily responsible for the selection of Chillicothe as the territorial capitol, as well as Ohio’s first state capitol.  He was also one of the framers of Ohio’s Constitution.  Worthington was elected sixth Governor of Ohio in 1814.

The view from the front lawn of Adena mansion was the inspiration for the Ohio State Seal.  Adena mansion currently has a series of gardens that are recreated to be as historically accurate as possible.  NSSDAP is funding the construction of a natural barrier to keep deer out of these gardens.

We dedicated this project with a ceremony in the garden.  Three officers of NSSDAP traveled to Ohio and were joined by members of the Adena Mansion Board of Officers. 

www.antebellumplanters.com

Society Saturday - Planters and Lawyers and Quakers, Oh My!

The National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters and the National Society Sons and Daughters of Colonial and Antebellum Bench and Bar have a joint dinner meeting during Lineage Week.  It is a formal occasion at the Army Navy Club and is always well attended.

Membership in Antebellum Planters requires lineage from a "Planter" which is defined as someone who owned 500 acres or more of land in what is now the continental US.  It is not strictly "southern" as many people initially think.  In fact, my Planter ancestor was in Massachusetts.  We have some ancestors in our society from Texas and Illinois as well.

Membership in Bench & Bar requires lineage from a judge or a lawyer in the continental US sometime prior to 1861.

Our speaker this year was Dr. George Hill.  His talk was titled "Quakers, Plantations and Lawyers in Seventeenth Century Pennsylvania".  He was very skillful at combining the two societies in his presentation.  He spoke of land owners who also served in the legal profession.  Many colonial and even antebellum "farmers" served their communities in other capacities and he gave good examples of this.  In fact, several of his examples were coincidentally of the quaker faith.

www.antebellumplanters.com

www.benchbar.us

Society Saturday - Dining with the Washingtons

Alright, so I'm getting farther behind with my postings.  I still have a couple to post from Lineage Week, not to mention a few more national meetings since then.

The National Society, Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters, 1607-1861 met on Friday of Lineage Week.   They joined the Descendants of Bench and Bar for a black tie dinner at the Army Navy Club.  Both groups have quite a few members that overlap, so it makes sense to have a joint meeting.

In addition to the usual business consisting of a few reports, appointing a nominating committee for Bench & Bar, and installing new officers for Planters, we had an interesting program.

Stephen McLeod, from Mount Vernon entertained us with his program on "Dining with the Washingtons".  He was quite knowledgeable about all of the social events taking place at Mount Vernon when George and Martha lived there.  We learned a little about the interior design of the mansion, the types of food that was served, and how it was served, as well as some of the roles of the slaves who worked there.

This is one of the more enjoyable meetings of the week - not too much business, an interesting program, and, most importantly, good friends to socialize with.

www.antebellumplanters.com

Society Saturday - Antebellum Planters

The National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters had its first marking today at Stagville Plantation near Durham, NC.

The society members trace their lineage to a planter who owned more than 500 acres of land prior to 1861.

President General Carla Whitehurst Odom chose to mark Stagville because it was one of the largest plantations in North Carolina.  It is one of the NC state historic sites and has an active ongoing mission to preserve the physical structures, the community stories, and the genealogy of the people, both free and enslaved who live there.

www.antebellumplanters.com