A folklorist chronicles the history and lore of witchcraft in the Keystone State from William Penn’s 17th century witch trial to 20th century occultism. As English and German settlers migrated to Pennsylvania, they brought their beliefs in magic with them from the Old World—sometimes with dangerous consequences. In 1802, for example, an Allegheny County judge helped an accused witch escape an angry mob. But Susan Mummey was not so fortunate. In 1934, she was killed in her home by a young Schuylkill County man who was convinced that she had cursed him. In other regions of the state, views on folk magic were more complex. While hex doctors were feared in the Pennsylvania German tradition, powwowers were and are revered for their abilities to heal, lift curses and find lost objects. In this revealing study, author Thomas White traces the undercurrent of witchcraft and occultism through centuries of Pennsylvania history.

In the ancient hills and misty hollows of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, generations of locals have passed down stories of a woman with mysterious magical powers. People came from near and far to seek healing and protection through her strange rituals. Some even believed she could fly. Named Moll Derry and nicknamed the Witch of the Monongahela, her legend has been documented by writers and folklorists for more than two hundred years. She is intertwined in many regional tales, such as the Lost Children of the Alleghenies and Polly Williams and the White Rocks. Author Thomas White separates fact from fiction in the many versions of Moll Derry and recounts Western Pennsylvania's folk magic history along the way.

From the horrific Enoch Brown Schoolhouse Massacre of 1764 to settlers who hunted local tribes for a bounty, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, has long had a violent and bloody history. As more people came to the region, murder and mischief of every kind only multiplied. Local author Joseph David Cress explores the dark side of history, from little-known cases such as that of Sarah Clark--who became the first woman hanged in the county after she poisoned a family to dispatch a romantic rival--to high-profile crimes like the shocking 1955 courtroom slaying that left one person dead and three injured. Join Cress on a hair-raising walk down Hell Street as he investigates the underbelly of Cumberland County.

Just over eighty years ago, in November 1934, the bodies of three young girls were found on the slopes of South Mountain in Penn Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, near the border with Cooke Township. The bodies were located just a short distance off of the state road which leads from Pine Grove Furnace north to Newville (today known as Rt. 233, Centerville Road). The girls' bodies were carefully arranged next to each other on a blanket with another blanket covering them. The finding of these bodies and the investigation that followed almost immediately came to be known as the "Babes in the Woods" case and continues to be referred to in this way today. Attempts to identify the bodies led to a nationwide search for clues. Newspapers across the country reported on the incident. One hundred twenty-five miles west near Duncansville, Blair County, Pennsylvania, the bodies of a man and a young woman were found at a railway flag stop in a rural area, the apparent victims of a suicide pact. Attempts to identify them eventually led to a connection with the events in Cumberland County. Although the basic facts about these deaths became known by the beginning of December of 1934, fully understanding how and why these events occurred has continued to attract attention over the ensuing years. This book will examine information about the tragedy and will attempt to answer at least some of the questions regarding these incidents.

How did a mid-eighteenth-century group, the so-called Pennsylvania Germans, build their cultural identity in the face of ethnic stereotyping, nostalgic ideals, and the views imposed by outside contemporaries? Numerous forces create a group's identity, including the views of outsiders, insiders, and the shaping pressure of religious beliefs, but to understand the process better, we must look to clues from material culture. Cynthia Falk explores the relationship between ethnicity and the buildings, personal belongings, and other cultural artifacts of early Pennsylvania German immigrants and their descendants. Such material culture has been the basis of stereotyping Pennsylvania Germans almost since their arrival. Falk warns us against the typical scholarly overemphasis on Pennsylvania Germans' assimilation into an English way of life. Rather, she demonstrates that more than anything, socioeconomic status and religious affiliation influenced the character of the material culture of Pennsylvania Germans. Her work also shows how early Pennsylvania Germans defined their own identities.