The Tyler County Witch

Sistersville's Oakwood Cemetery
From Find-a-Grave user, Becky Doan

Today's Witchy Wednesday blog comes from the August 10, 1871 edition of the Wheeling Daily Register, and tells a tragic story of a young lady from Tyler County, WV, who believes she is being physically attacked by a witch. The story, which apparently originally showed up in the Wetzel Independent, unfortunately doesn't give the name of the girl, her physician, or provides any follow-up as to her condition.

But y'all know me and curiosity led me down a rabbit hole to see if I could find out who she could be. Unfortunately, that rabbit hole ended where so many of my little research trips do----nowhere, lol. But, I DID find only one death certificate on file online that could fit the scenario.  A fifteen year old girl from Tyler County named Susan B. Cotton passed away on August 21, 1871 from what was listed as 'lung fever.' Could Susan have been the young girl described in the article? If she was...was she really under a witch's spell, or was she suffering from some unknown medical condition?

Susan is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Sistersville, WV, which interestingly enough is home to one of West Virginia's creepiest cemetery legends, The Stocking Lady! But, whether or not Susan is the young lady in question, here is the tale of the Tyler Witch as it originally appeared in 1871:

There is a young lady in Tyler County, West Va., that claims to be bewitched by an old lady, a neighbor.  The first indications were discovered in the latter part of May.  She seems to be strangely affected, having spasms or fits, which come on her about once every two weeks, lasting from 8 o'clock in the evening until about 4 o'clock the next morning. She says that during her spells the witch sits on her headpost and spits in her face, and her friends say that her face will be wet with water, and no one knows how it gets there.  She talks but little or none during her spells, and she says she knows all that is passing, but cannot make her wants known, nor can they force her jaws apart to get medicine down. She seems to be perfectly exhausted when just over a spell, and asserts positively that she will die in the next spasm. Her physician, who is one of the best in the county, says he can do nothing for her. --Wetzel Independent

Please join me over on Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State Facebook page if you have any information on the Tyler County Witch, or if you have any theories as to what the young lady in question was actually experiencing.  Stay spooky, stay witchy, stay weird! 

The Sistersville Stocking Lady

Photo by Find-a-Grave contributor, Kathy Cook

I absolutely LOVE stories of haunted cemeteries and cursed tombstones.  There's just something about these particular legends that I think appeal to the thrill-seeker and adrenaline junkie in all of us!  Recently, I learned of another such legend here in the Mountain State:  The Stocking Lady of Sistersville. Like many of West Virginia's tombstone legends, this particular grave marker should be respected and admired....from far, far away!

Although we'd probably not consider Sistersville a booming city today, at one time the area was filled with wealthy citizens who made their fortunes in the oil and gas boom of the 1800s.  Many of those once-prominent citizens now call Oakwood Cemetery home, including the family of Philo Stocking.

Philo Stocking migrated from New York to the Wheeling area, and finally settled down river in Sistersville around 1841.  Local history has Philo Stocking as being one of the first people to attempt to drill oil in the area, but unfortunately it didn't quite work out.  However, Philo was a smart man.  He was sure that there was oil under his property, so he retained the oil and mineral rights to his property for him and his heirs.  Meanwhile, Stocking and his wife, Nancy, opened up a flour mill in 1852, which is still standing today under the name of Riverside Mills.  His son eventually took over the business and the family experienced financial success in the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century.

Philo passed away in 1882 and his wife Nancy followed in 1901. Both were buried in the beautiful Oakwood Cemetery. A large granite monument with the elaborate figure of a woman cradling the grave was erected, overlooking the Stocking plots.  At one time, it must have been an impressive piece of funerary art.  Unfortunately, vandals have turned the once opulent statue into a desecrated mess of broken stone.

Close-up from Granny Sue's Blog

The Stocking Lady still stands guard over the graves of the Stocking family, but her arms have been broken off.  If you look closely at her face, you'll find it scratched and gouged, her eyes which were supposed to watch over the family in their eternal slumber now indistinguishable.  Because of the disrespect shown to her, local residents feel that the Stocking Lady is out for revenge!

The Stocking Lady is one of the tales collected and told by Appalachian story-teller, Granny Sue.  In a recent appearance at the WV Book Festival, she told the story of the Stocking Lady, and how at one local event, quite a few audience members came forward with personal knowledge of the statue's wrath!  It seems as if the gentleman responsible for breaking off the arms of the Stocking Lady soon after suffered a horrific accident in which he lost an arm.  The man accused of vandalizing the statue's face went blind.  In fact, it seems that if anyone just simply TOUCHES the statue, they will suffer bad luck, most likely in the form of health problems occurring in the part of their own body corresponding to what part of the statue's body they touched.

The cemetery is also alleged to be haunted by phantom moaning and white, wispy apparitions floating about.  Is this further evidence of the Stocking Lady or members of the Stocking family showing their displeasure for how their grave site was treated...or do the mysteries of Oakwood Cemetery extend even further?  If you find yourself in the Sistersville area, possibly staying at the historic and haunted Wells Inn, make sure you take a moment to stop at the cemetery and pay your respects to the Stocking family and the Stocking Lady.  Just...don't get too close!!

(This story can also be found in Rosemary E. Guiley's book, The Big Book of West Virginia Ghost Stories.  I've seen the cemetery in question be listed as both Greenwood AND Oakwood, but according to Find-a-Grave, the grave is officially listed in Oakwood.  If you have any clarification or corrections, please let me know!)

Happy Haunting, ya'll!