The Fate of the Esperance Witch - History of a Local Legend - 8 December 2024

ESPERANCE — The Esperance Witch is a local folklore regarding a mysterious unidentified woman, who came west with her family to settle. Many iterations have arisen over the years, with some details blurring the line between fiction and reality.

Shortly after the Revolution, part of the town of Schoharie called State Bridge was renamed to Esperance, a Fremch name meaning hope. After the custom of New England, settlers created a building called the Meeting House. From 1810-1824, it served as the Esperance Meeting House, School House, and a place for a religious society and civil body. It was this building, between 1820 and 1824, that is believed to be the place where the Esperance Witch’s fate was decided.

During the Napoleonic Wars, a French family wandered to the west in search of a place to settle and call home. They did not know any English. The man, a French soldier and the father of the two sons, passed away. Now a widow, the woman lived frugally in a home on the edge of Esperance. Townsfolk, paranoid about her not knowing any of their language, were weary of her.

Once an epidemic of sickly animals and children began, Esperance townspeople accused the woman of being a witch. Many tales and rumors spread. One claimed she removed her apron, laid it across the river, and vaulted across, coming up dry on the other side; this rumor led to her getting the nickname “The Grenadier Woman.” 

Sickly, dying livestock, children, and crops, as well as cattle drying up, storms, and a man called Mr. McDuffle dying were all blamed on the so-called witch. One person claimed that the widow rang out a rag of milk right as a cow came up dry at a neighboring farm. Mr. McDuffle suffered tremendous injuries to his leg after a tree fell on him, leading to him needing an amputation before passing away from an infection. 

Despite the poor healthcare in the period, fingers were still pointed towards the widowed woman. Settlers also claimed a farm’s missing cattle appeared on the witches' property.

The woman was placed on trial; where it was claimed she was absent, and received a “Guilty” verdict. In a somber conclave, the townsfolk voted for her death. A man offered up a silver spoon from the east, which was melted down into a bullet by a silversmith. Men chosen for the task peered through her window, saw her cooking with the two children playing on the floor beside her, and fired. The widow was buried with a stake driven through her head, in theory, to hold her down. 

Her exact resting place is unknown. Stories vary, with some stating she was buried across the river to prevent her ghost from crossing the water, others believing an evergreen, pine, or willow tree marks where she was laid to rest, the roots preventing her spirit from rising up. Either way, the superstitious buried her so as to prevent the woman's spirit from returning for vengeance: across the river to stop her from crossing the water, or beneath a tree for the roots to trap her spirit.

The sons of the soldier and widow survived into adulthood. One lived to 90, said to have recounted the tale of his mother dying with the same intense vividness as he did in his childhood many years earlier. In 1838, local sensation Sheldon Jackson, known for founding many churches, was baptized in the same stone church that found the widowed woman guilty of witchcraft. 

The Esperance Historical Society published a pamphlet detailing several versions and transcripts. In 2017, a Legends and Lore sign about the Esperance Witch was erected on the intersection of Route 20 and Route 157. To this day, the identity of the Esperance Witch remains unknown.

For more information oir to purchase a history of the Esperance Witch, visit the Historical Society at 123 Church Street, call (518) 875-6854, or visit https://esperancemuseum.org/contact.

Note: This article originally printed last month in this newspaper.