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Although it has been well over 300 years since Grace Sherwood underwent her trial by water in the Lynnhaven River off Witchduck Point, interest in her legacy is still alive and well.
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There are plenty of myths about Grace Sherwood, the "Witch of Pungo," but the facts are more interesting, local author William Huber writes in a guest column.
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SUMMARY Grace Sherwood was the defendant in colonial Virginia‘s most notorious witch trial, which took place in Princess Anne County in 1706. Sherwood was rumored to be a witch as early as 1698, when she and her husband sued their neighbors for defamation and slander. They lost their cases, and in 1705 another neighbor pressed criminal charges of witchcraft against Grace Sherwood. She was subjected to a water test in which the accused is bound, thrown into a body of water (in this case, the Lynnhaven River), and found guilty if he or she floats. Sherwood floated, but instead of sentencing h...