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In 1911, witchcraft hysteria spread across central Pennsylvania, with dozens of superstitious citizens swearing out complaints against men and women accused of being hex or "pow-wow" doctors, but one bizarre story of Schuylkill County made newspaper headlines across the commonwealth. Alleging that her father, Howell Thomas of Tumbling Run, died as the result of a hex placed upon him, Mary Isabelle Thomas went to the press with a long list of peculiar incidents which she believed would prove that her father succumbed to the effects of black magic. Mary claimed these mishaps began immediately after a black cat showed up on the Thomas farm-- a cat that assumed monstrous proportions, growing to four feet in height before magically returning to its previous form.
By Marlin Bressi4.5
4545 ratings
In 1911, witchcraft hysteria spread across central Pennsylvania, with dozens of superstitious citizens swearing out complaints against men and women accused of being hex or "pow-wow" doctors, but one bizarre story of Schuylkill County made newspaper headlines across the commonwealth. Alleging that her father, Howell Thomas of Tumbling Run, died as the result of a hex placed upon him, Mary Isabelle Thomas went to the press with a long list of peculiar incidents which she believed would prove that her father succumbed to the effects of black magic. Mary claimed these mishaps began immediately after a black cat showed up on the Thomas farm-- a cat that assumed monstrous proportions, growing to four feet in height before magically returning to its previous form.

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