True stories told to me by my aunt and grandmother about witches and such.

North Carolina is the state I call home and Jamesville is my residential city; however, there is a small community located way back in the woods and surrounded by pine trees called Freeunion/Piney Woods. My mother was born in Piney Woods and so was my maternal grandmother as well as my great-grandmother and her mother and so on. Tri-racial Ancestors founded the community, almost 200 years ago. According to the documentation that I have seen, my people were considered “Mulatto.” And mulatto means “mixed.” Oral tradition states that my Ancestors were a mixture of Native American, White American, and Black American. I have also seen documentation that indicates some of my Ancestors lived on the Mattamuskeet Indian Reservation, which was located inside Hyde County. At least, I saw the surnames of Boston, Cordon, and Pierce, which are common surnames for the Piney Woods community.

William Joseph Barber is my deceased cousin who wrote a book back in 1966, which provided small amounts of Piney Woods genealogy. As said by my cousin, our Ancestors were “Independent Tuscarora and Croatan.” Every source that I have read points out that Croatan Indians were a mixture of white settlers and Outer Banks Indians. Additionally, there was the Tuscarora-Cherokee war and each side held captives. Therefore, I believe that the Tuscarora and Cherokee people intermingled and produced children. As a result, I believe that my lineage is a mixture of several Native American nations as well as black and white.

Scores of Piney Woods citizens have fair skin and a few have reddish-brown skin but most of my relatives have silky, dark hair. Plus, when I look into the faces of my relatives, I see the strong characteristics of Native American Ancestors. It is a known fact, that most native people believe in the supernatural and they respect paranormal activity. At least, I can speak for my family because they have shared numerous supernatural tales and legends with me that have been passed down from generation to generation with respect.

At night, Piney Woods is very dark. Millions of stars can be seen in the midnight sky. When Grandmother Moon is full, she resembles a perfect pearl suspended in obsidian heavens. The sound of nocturnal creatures fills the air. It is possible to walk down the road without being able to see three feet in any direction. Sometimes it’s not possible to see a hand in front of your face. However, a few families now have pole lights in their yards, yet, in some areas of the community it is still very dark. Nevertheless, when I was growing up me along with a few of my cousins enjoyed our nightly stroll down the roads of Piney Woods. We had fun and since we were together there was no fear of creatures that go “bump in the night.”

Back in the old days, the homes in Piney Woods were generally small with two or maybe three rooms. My family was fortunate because they lived in a house with maybe four or five rooms and the kitchen was a separate room away from the house. If the kitchen burned down, the house would be spared. Locks on windows and doors were not necessary because the community was filled with relatives who respected each other. It was, however, customary to nail a small, square, stick on the inside of the door to keep it shut. The little stick was called a “button” and it served to provide a little family privacy as well as keep wild animals from entering the house while the family slept at night. In this story, I would like to share some very scary information that was told to me by Aunt Mattie. These stories were passed down to Aunt Mattie’s mother Annie from her grandmother Harriet. Just think my great-great-great-grandmother Harriet had no idea that her great-great-great granddaughter Ruby would be sharing these famous stories with the world. Plus, the button proved to be useless for Grandma Harriet and her family.

“When I was growing up my mother always told us stories that had been passed down to her from her grandmother Harriet. All the children in the community loved to hear mama tell stories. My cousins frequently asked to spend nights at our house just to hear mama tell stories. As we all gathered around mama’s rocking chair, mama told us that grandma Harriet often told stories about tumbleweed that came to life at night and it rolled around the yard. Mama said, the tumbleweed lay dormant during the day but at night grandma Harriet and the other Piney Woods children had to be inside before sunset or else the tumbleweed would attack them! On numerous occasions, the tumbleweed attacked the children and it tangled itself into his or her hair plus the tumbleweed chased them around the yard. Mama said that grandma Harriet often told stories about the presence of witches in Piney Woods.

Grandma Harriet had a sister who the witches often turned into a horse and rode during the night. Mama said the sister and grandma Harriet’s family went to bed together at night but each morning before sunrise the sister was standing outside the door knocking. To top it off, the family always applied the button to keep the door shut at night and each morning the button was still firmly secured from the inside of the door. No one knew how the witches managed to get this particular sister out of bed from between her other sisters! Mama said the sister related stories of being tied to a tree with a bridle in her mouth. She said the witches went to an old, unoccupied, house and held a dance all night. While in the form of a horse the sister was aware of everything going on, in fact, there were other people tied to trees in the form of horses as well. The witch kept her true identity secret but the sister sensed that the witch was someone who lived in Piney Woods.

In another story told by mama, grandma Harriet said when her children were little her husband William Cordon ran an errand one night, thereby, leaving her alone at home with the children. Suddenly, grandma Harriet heard this high-pitched, unnatural, human scream coming from the Simpson field, which was directly in front of her house. The Simpson field was behind uncle Solomon and aunt Alwai’s house. Nevertheless, grandma Harriet said that she knew the entity was coming towards her house. It dreadfully screamed and screamed until it was in grandma Harriet’s front yard. Grandma Harriet said to herself, “Oh lord, I know it’s coming in because that old button is loose!” Mama said, the thing stepped up on the porch and violently shook the front door but it didn’t come open. It violently shook the door a second time but it didn’t come open and grandma Harriet said to herself, “If it shakes that door one more time, it will come open!” However, the entity didn’t shake the door a third time; rather it stepped off the porch and went back from whence it came, horribly screaming as it went, meanwhile, grandma Harriet felt that it was an evil spirit!”

My grandmother Caroline told me that people who desired to “sell their souls to the devil” was required to stand at the fork of the road for three nights. Grandma said no matter what type of unusual or scary thing the person saw it was not permissible to run or leave the fork of the road. Plus, grandma often told me stories about witches turning humans into horses and riding them all night. Grandma said sometimes the witches whipped their captives and tied them to a hitching post. My grandmother also told me stories of buried treasure; however, whenever someone tried to dip up the treasure all sorts of spirits would appear and the person generally ran away. Grandma said the treasure is still buried but no one is brave enough to dig it up and she also said that sometimes a light was seen floating in the area of the buried treasure. After the light lingered above ground for a while it disappeared into the ground.

About the Author

Ruby is a promising writer who lives along the Roanoke River in North Carolina. She loves nature and animals as well as exciting stories that include paranormal activity. Ruby also loves poetry, children, and indigenous history. Ruby's unique writing ability entails "writing like people talk."