Lore – Legends 64: No Rest For the Wicked
Host: Aaron Mahnke
Release Date: October 13, 2025
Episode Overview
This episode of Lore Legends delves into the dark allure of "witch graves" and explores how folklore, tragedy, and urban legend intertwine with the historical fates and resting places of women accused (often unfairly) of witchcraft. Aaron Mahnke guides listeners through chilling tales from both sides of the Atlantic—revealing how myth and misremembered history can turn ordinary lives and deaths into something much stranger and more sinister.
Main Discussion Points and Insights
The Legacy of Wicked Cities: Port Royal, Jamaica
- Port Royal, once dubbed "the most wicked and sinful city in the world," was destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami in 1692, which submerged two-thirds of the city.
- Seen by contemporaries as divine retribution:
- “That natural disaster wasn’t natural at all. It was divine punishment, they said. God’s retribution against Port Royal. Everyone had it coming.” (00:50)
- Today, Port Royal is more famous for its collapse and underwater ruins than its depravity.
- Mahnke highlights a theme: places and graves can hold stories as much about how people lived as how they died—and sometimes, those stories become borderlines between fact and legend.
Legend #1: Mary Jane Hendrickson, the Witch of Belleville, Ohio
- Local legend claims Mary Jane was a witch hanged and buried under a pine in Mount Olive Cemetery; the site became a spot of supernatural lore.
- Supposedly, disrespecting her grave brings misfortune—locals report car accidents or injuries after desecration.
- However, historical records show she died a normal, church-going woman at age 72.
- The story likely originated with a summer camp counselor in 1963, using her grave to scare campers—a classic example of how myths are born from innocent inventions and teenage humor.
- “The legend of Belleville’s witch came about all because kids are predictable. And because of that, her tale is sadly not unique.” (09:47)
- Mahnke notes how often women’s graves become focal points for projected fears about witchcraft, regardless of evidence.
Legend #2: Molly Lee, the Witch of Burslem, England
- Molly Lee’s folklore features exaggerated markers for witchcraft: lived alone, unmarried, kept a blackbird familiar, victimized by parson Thomas Spencer.
- Upon her death (on April Fool’s Day), legends claim townsfolk were haunted by apparitions of Molly and her blackbird.
- Supposed ritual to trap her spirit: body exhumed, blackbird placed inside her coffin, and her grave re-oriented north-south (uncommon for Christian burials).
- Grave became a magnet for local superstition—children’s rhymes promise hauntings if you skip around her tombstone chanting her name.
- The real Molly’s will, discovered in 1984, reveals a generous, well-off woman who gave to the poor—disproving the legend’s central claims.
- “It seems that Molly’s will exposed her to be not a witch, but a generous and thoughtful member of the community.” (26:30)
- Mahnke argues it's likely the grave's odd orientation sparked the witch stories, not actual evidence of witchcraft.
Legend #3: The Granite Ball and the Stosskov Witch, Myrtle Hill Cemetery, Ohio
- Unusual tombstone: a smooth granite orb, unmarked except for the name STOSSKOV, said to pin the spirit of a witch.
- Competing legends: a woman killed her family by poisoning or as part of a ritual, then was stoned to death with a curse on her grave.
- Claims swirl about the ball’s odd properties: an "eye" appearing, cold by day, warm by night, immune to snow and leaves, and a sign that the witch is wandering if it feels hot.
- In reality, these stories combine echoes of urban legend with a real criminal, Martha Hazel Wise, from nearby Hardscrabble, Ohio:
- Martha poisoned 16 family members (3 died) between 1924-25.
- Her behavior (mental illness, hallucinations, odd fits) was stigmatized, and after her conviction, folklore morphed her story into that of a witch.
- Notable confession:
“He [the devil] came to me in my kitchen when I baked my bread and said, ‘Do it.’ ... I could only talk and listen to the devil. Then I did it.” —(40:12)
- The granite ball is just a family plot marker, with no one buried beneath it; Stosskov was not a witch, and Martha Hazel Wise isn’t interred there either.
- Connection: Martha’s poisoned aunt was sister to George Stosskov, linking the real crimes to the emergence of the legend.
The Good Witch: Sarah Norton, The White Witch of Rose Hill Cemetery, Antioch, California
- Unlike most tales, Sarah was beloved as a midwife who (reportedly) never lost a child during hundreds of births.
- A “witchy” outsider in her lifetime (prickly, irreligious), but respected.
- Died in a carriage accident; upon attempts to give her a Christian funeral, storms erupted—locals interpreted it as her wish for a nonreligious burial.
- Haunted cemetery lore: sightings of a luminous “White Witch,” ghostly laughter, bells, mysterious winds, and even a spectral horse and buggy.
- She’s remembered not for malevolence, but as a protective force:
“She’s keeping watch over all the souls of the children who were buried there. Personally, I’m inclined to believe the latter...” (01:05:57)
Insights & Themes
- Witch grave legends often arise in places where women were outsiders—due to personality, status, marital state, or simple rumor.
- Burials with odd features (missing headstone, unusual orientation, unique markers) spark supernatural myths, often untethered to fact.
- Many real “witches” were normal, even generous, women whose only crime was societal nonconformity.
- Real-life tragedy (murder, mental illness) can also morph into legend, transforming the guilty into supernatural figures in the public mind.
- Community folklore often says more about collective anxiety and the need to explain the inexplicable than it does about the supposed witches themselves.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
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On Port Royal:
“That natural disaster wasn’t natural at all. It was divine punishment, they said. God’s retribution against Port Royal. Everyone had it coming.” (00:50)
-
On Mary Jane’s legend:
“The legend of Belleville’s witch came about all because kids are predictable. And because of that, her tale is sadly not unique.” (09:47)
-
On Molly Lee’s real legacy:
“It seems that Molly’s will exposed her to be not a witch, but a generous and thoughtful member of the community.” (26:30)
-
Martha Hazel Wise’s confession:
“He [the devil] came to me in my kitchen when I baked my bread and said, ‘Do it.’ He came to me when I walked the fields in the cold days and nights and said, ‘Do it.’ ... I could only talk and listen to the devil. Then I did it.” (40:12)
-
On Sarah Norton’s ghost:
“She’s keeping watch over all the souls of the children who were buried there. Personally, I’m inclined to believe the latter...” (01:05:57)
Key Timestamps
- 00:12 — Introduction: Port Royal, Jamaica, and the nature of graves as stories
- 03:12 — Mary Jane Hendrickson legend (Ohio)
- 15:50 — Refuting the Mary Jane legend: actual history
- 18:12 — The creation of the legend (camp counselor, 1963)
- 22:24 — Broader comments: why witch legends arise
- 22:47 — Molly Lee of Burslem, England – legend retold
- 31:47 — Molly Lee’s will upends the witch myth
- 39:16 — Molly’s legacy and grave orientation
- 42:50 — Myrtle Hill Cemetery: the granite orb and the “witch”
- 44:24 — True-story roots: Martha Hazel Wise
- 54:54 — Examination of urban legend versus reality for the “witch’s grave”
- 58:07 — The real identities buried at Myrtle Hill
- 01:06:00 — Sarah Norton, the White Witch of Antioch — a benevolent legend
- 01:09:32 — Reflections: why witch grave legends endure
Conclusion
Aaron Mahnke concludes that legends about wicked witch graves are not always rooted in malice or evil—they’re often born of misunderstanding, rumor, boredom, and, sometimes, the simple human desire to make sense of the unknown. Ultimately, these stories are mirrors reflecting society’s fears and fascinations far more than the lives of the "witches" themselves.
For More:
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