| The Houston Metroplex Witches Group is rejoicing after the name of a Virginia woman convicted of witchcraft three centuries ago was cleared yesterday by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.
Kaine righted the 300 year old wrong when he formally pardoned the "witch of Pungo", Grace Sherwood, the only Virginian to have been tried and convicted of witchcraft.
The Virginia governor was moved to clear Sherwood's name after Belinda Nash, a Virginia Beach resident who has been researching the story for more than 20 years, asked him six weeks ago to review it and vindicate the woman she calls "poor Grace."
Sherwood was killed in a bizarre proceeding in which she was held in water to see if she drowned; she was the only woman convicted of witchcraft that way in Virginia.
Kaine spokesman Kevin Hall said yesterday on the 300th anniversary of the watery ordeal, "He restored the good name of this woman after he reviewed the record, such as it is." |
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