Army scenes on the Chickahominy

Army scenes on the Chickahominy
Harper''s pictorial history of the Civil War. (Chicago : Star Publishing Co. 1866)

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

The Devil in New Kent, Part II

People Who Saw The Devil

Eye witnesses to His Excursions in New Kent County
(Special Dispatch to The Times)
Roxbury, VA., March 28- The report of the devil being loose near Norfolk and coming to New Kent, has got the colored people greatly excited. They are holding meetings nightly to devise some plan to exterminate him. Two colored men here from the neighborhood of Barhamsville declare they had seen him and after a desperate struggle, they managed to escape and were on their way to Richmond, Having left their homes never to return. 
George Otey, who lives near this place and is a vary reliable colored man, says the devil chased him from near Providence Forge last night, the description he gave of him being very black with horns and with red eyes, as large as a full moon. He said that when near him the devil would spit fire, from which he was badly burned. So he is really playing havoc with the colored people in this section, and they think he is working his way in the direction of Tunstalls and Free Town, near the latter place. 
A negro man giving his name as Steve Mayo appeared to be nearly frightened to death. he was soaking wet and claimed he was run into the river near this place at 6 o'clock this morning by the devil or some terrible looking thing. 
When told that it was reported the devil was loose near Norfolk, and had been seen in New Kent, he declared "Dat's him, fo' Gord, boss; dat's him. I seed him!"

 

-The Times of Richmond, March 29, 1902



Hey, I just record this stuff I don't make it up . . .


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