Our Witch Story

by Donna Swagerty Shreve

I have the good fortune to be joined in my genealogical search by my niece. She is researching a family line that has been ignored for years due to lack of interest or information. My mother’s mother left the family when my mother was only 6 years old. My niece now lives in Arkansas where this family lived for several generations. I spent a week in June visiting, with her, local small sites for information that is not available on-line. We both found ourselves going down “rabbit holes” because there were so many fascinating stories in the margins.

One of the stories that jumped out was about a relative who was accused and convicted of witchcraft. Thankfully the year was 1858 so the punishment was just banishment from the church instead of a death sentence. We know she is related but the direct line to us we can not prove with enough certainty The story seems appropriate for an October genealogy newsletter with Halloween coming up.

The article was written by Vance Randolph and is titled “A Witch Trial in Carroll County.” The source was from a person who witnessed the trial.

Mr. Rea is postmaster at Harrison, Arkansas. He was born near Harrison in 1909 and descended from a pioneer family. He was a lawyer, graduate of the University of Arkansas, president of Boone County Historical Society. I asked about the witch trial, and this is what he said:

“Sure, I’ll tell you all I know about it. I got the story from my grandfather, George W. Rea. Old Mrs. Inman was blind in one eye. She lived on Lick Branch, just east of Alpine, Arkansas. In 1858 or 1859 a young woman named Gaddy made a formal complaint to the church authorities, accusing Grandma Inman of witchcraft. A trial was held in the Primitive Baptist church at what is now called the Dunkard Community, south of Alpine. It was in Carroll County then, but is now a part of Boone County. The testimony was that the accused had come to the complainant’s house at night, saddled and bridled the complainant’s horse and rode her for miles over the hills and valleys of Carroll County. On at least one occasion the alleged witch rode Miss Gaddy into the neighbor’s barn and there bred her to a Spanish Jack. The jury found Mrs. Inman guilty of witchcraft and expelled her from the church. Grandfather always said that he was present at the trial but took no part in it.

My half-uncle Hugh D. Rea is about sixty years old. He heard grandfather tell the story many times. Hugh’s version is the same as mine, except that he thinks it was the Dunkards rather than the Primitive Baptists who put Grandma Inman out of the church. But my information is that the Dunkards did not arrive in the vicinity until after the Civil War. The Primitive Baptists were here in the 1850s.

So far as I can find out, the witch trial is not confirmed by any sort of documentation. But the fact that sober, educated responsible citizens accept it as true is not without significance.”

I am sure this tale was horrible for Grandma Inman but it makes a fascinating story for our generations in 2024. This story deserves more research and hopefully we can answer a few questions about this event. American history comes alive through our ancestors.

570 words

10/10/2024

Return to Stories

Return to Swagerty/Boone Stories