After Toil and Trouble, 'Witch' Is Cleared

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"I am well acquainted with Mrs. Nash," Kevin Hall, a spokesman for Kaine, said in a diplomatic tone. "At one point, on Friday, she was threatening to call every two hours to have some word from this office."

Grace Sherwood's problems with her neighbors started as such spats typically do. In the 1680s, Sherwood inherited nearly 200 acres from her father. Nash suspects Sherwood's neighbors were envious not only of her acquisition, but also of her ability to harvest crops so successfully when they could not.

Neighbors took her to court, accusing her of blighting their cotton and killing a bull. One woman claimed that Sherwood transformed into a cat and slipped in through the keyhole of her home "with fangs and claws and leapt on her back."

Nash said she was quoting from church vestry records.

Sherwood beat back most of the accusations -- she was hauled into court at least 12 times -- but what finally did her in was the discovery of two moles on her upper body. "This was evidence that she was in league with the devil," Nash said. "So she agreed to be tried by water."

Authorities took Sherwood out to the river, tied her up and threw her in the water. They tied a 13-pound Bible around her neck. But, according to Nash, she ripped off the ropes underwater and floated back up.

Her husband died in 1701, before the witch ducking, but she and her children continued to tend her land, even after her release. Throughout her life, she served as a midwife. Records show that children considered her a friend and that she healed sick animals, Nash said. Mysteriously, she said, Sherwood also "worked with herbs."

Her pardon may still not be enough, though, to convince Pungonians of her innocence. Nash reports that a church turned down her offer to put a statue being built in Sherwood's honor outside its property.

For other locals, the problem comes down to this: What do we call her? Joe Burroughs, 73, a Pungo farmer, thought of one solution: "I reckon now it would be Honorary Pardoned Witch of Pungo."