The Witch of Big Lick

The 2nd book in the
Appalachian Roots Series

In doing some research for my fourth and final novel in the Appalachian Roots Series, I ran across an interesting legend. The novel, Transplanted to Red Clay, is largely set in Big Lick, North Carolina. At that time, a few years after the Civil War, Big Lick was the third largest town in Stanly County. The legend involved Lynn Bird, a woman who lived near the town, that rumors said was a witch.

Reports said that when children came too close to her cabin, she cursed them and pelted them with rocks. Livestock that wandered onto her land disappeared and was never seen again. Cattle that ate grass too close to her place sickened and died. She supposedly killed the child of one of her daughters who hadn't married first. Neighbors said they would hear an infant

crying from her place over the years, but none was ever seen. One source said that "if she was not the witch villagers believed her to be, she at least lived close to the devil." Her daughter, Hess, married William (Bill) Henderson, but Lynn tried to keep them apart. When Bill had had enough, he declared to an older widow, his friend, and a shopkeeper that he was going to Lynn's place to see his wife. He never returned and was never heard from again.

I had first thought I might work the legend into my book, but I intended to make Lynn a misunderstood woman. History shows that gossip and rumors often ran rampant about witches. However, the best I could see, Lynn lived after the turn of the century, too long after my book. I thought I would share the legend here, as a good tale for Halloween.

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