Grace Sherwood was a woman who lived in the Princess Anne County area of Colonial Virginia. She is known to historians and locals as the Witch of Pungo (the town in which she lived). She was accused of bewitching a neighbor's crop in 1698. In February 1706 that neighbor, Luke Hill, and his wife formally accused Sherwood of witchcraft. The county court refused to pass judgment and the case was sent to Virginia's Attorney General who also refused to see a clearly defined case. Over the succeeding eight years, court records show that more allegations grew around Sherwood until the Princess Anne County government and her accusers determined she should be tested for witchcraft by ducking. On July 10, 1706, Sherwood was dropped into the Western Branch of the Lynnhaven River near what is now known as Witchduck Point. Sherwood floated, which was a sign of guilt to the accusers. She was imprisoned for seven years and then released.

Prior to her imprisonment, Sherwood was married and lived with her three sons in the Muddy Creek area in the late 1600's. Following her release from prison, Sherwood spent the remainder of her life quietly in Pungo, where she died at what was reportedly an advanced age. Information about the Sherwood case remained buried in courthouse records until Virginia Beach historian and author Louisa Venable Kyle researched Sherwood and wrote a children’s book about her titled, The Witch of Pungo. Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine officially pardoned Sherwood on July 10, 2006, the 300th anniversary of her conviction.

Image: "A Witch Ducking," illustration from A Popular History of the United States by William Cullen Bryant. See Hawrthorne in Salem for more information.