What is Remembered Lives - The Witch Burnings of Appalachia (part 2)

The second witch burning I wanted to cover took place in the woods near Battletown Kentucky in Meade County. The town at the time of the murder (1840), because let's be honest that is exactly what this was,  was known as Staples or Stapleton. The area became known as Battletown, KY in 1885 because there was another town known as Staples in Kentucky, and they would not give a permit for a post office the name of the town was changed.

From 1830-1835 John Smock had bought 350 acres of land in the area of Battletown, and he and his family lived in Kentucky and Indiana. John Smock was a cooper. Coopers make barrels, buckets, troughs, etc from wood that is heated to make it pliable. It took a few years before the Smock family lived permanently on the land in Battletown, and it is thought that it took about three years to remove enough of the wooded area to build a cooperage, house, and barn. The Smock family consisted of John Smock (father), Margaret Smock (mother), Leah Smock (daughter), Elizabeth Smock (daughter), and Joseph Smock (son).

Margaret is said to have had remarkable healing powers, and was known to help her community. Some people in the community claimed she was a witch. But the woman burned to death for being a witch was not Margaret, but her daughter Leah. Leah was murdered at the age of 22 on August 21, 1840. Leah only lived in the Battletown area for approximately two years, but made a huge impact on the people that lived in the community at the time, and who live there now. Since her murder she hasn't left the area. Her spirit is seen frequently in a white gown, surrounded by a purple mist with cords tied at her waist, wrists, and neck.

Artist Unknown

Leah was eighteen or nineteen when the Smock family moved to Meade County. It did not take long before the people of the community became aware that Leah possessed special powers. She was known for being very intelligent, and she was the head of her class in the schools she attended when she was younger. She also began to exhibit other intelligences. She was able to foretell future events with accuracy, predict the weather, and give details about the upcoming seasons. She would accurately predict when someone ill would live or die, and would often contradict doctors on diagnosis. She was infrequently incorrect in her predictions. Due to her extrasensory perceptions people began to treat her differently with ridicule or scorn or fear.

Stories abound about Leah aiding people with their crops. It was known that she could make crops grow like no other, but if you mistreated her she could cause your crops to blight. its alleged that she even bragged about her powers, and would play on the fears of her neighbors bu warning them to treat her kindly or terrible things would befall them.
One such incident is recalled that Leah asked to hold a neighbor's new born child, but the parents refused to allow her to hold their baby because they worried that it was bad luck to let a witch hold their baby. Leah is reported to have said "you'll be sorry by morning." Sadly, the parents were sad the next morning because the child. Leah then attempted to touch the child in its casket and again she was refused. That night the neighbor's home was filled with the sounds of howling dogs, yowling cats, and other strange noises. When the parents looked outside they claimed to have seen Leah standing outside in the dark staring at the home. The father of the deceased infant is said to have led Leah home, and the sounds then ceased.

There are many other stories about Leah. One tells of how a man had purchased a team of horses. Leah went to pet them, and the man told her he did not want her touching them. She did manage to touch one, and the following day that horse had died followed by a second horse the next day. Another story from a cooper scolded Leah for some forgotten reason, and he had completed assembling eighteen barrels. The next day all of his work came undone, and the barrels fell apart.

But Leah's life wasn't completely alone and terrible. She had a friend, nicknamed Indian Joe, a Native American man who lived in a cabin that was built in the woods near Leah's home. It's rumored that Indian Joe carved a serpentine walking stick for Leah that she was often seen carrying thoruhg the fields and the wilderness.  Leah was also seen often surrounded by wild animals. On one occassion she was seen walking in the company of wolves, foxes and wildcats when two boys who had followed her started to harrass Leah for being a witch. The boys were missing for several days. When they were finally found the boys claimed that Leah had called up her animal friends to chase the boys.

Its known that anyone who harmed or mistreated Leah and her family would eventually feel her wrath. People's crops would wither, houses and barns would burn, and every one blamed Leah. Most people ended up ostracizing the family, but Leah still had a few close girlfriends, a boy friend, and her friend Indian Joe. Eventually Leah's luck started to run out. It's said that Leah uninvited entered the home of another community member's who had a new born baby, and the next day the infant had died.

There are a handful of versions about the events that took place on August 21, 1840. The one retold here is the one believed to be the most likely.

The morning of August 21, 1840 Leah's parents left to go to the town of Staples which given the terrain and travel by wagon would have been a full day's travel to town and back. Once her parents were far enough away a group of neighbors crept out of their hiding places around the house, cooperage, and smokehouse. The men and women ganged up on Leah. Tying her up in a hogtie fashion with the rope round her neck, waist, wrists, and feet. They took her tied body to the smokehouse and locked her in. Then the anonymous gang set fire to the smokehouse, and watched until the screams stopped and they were assured of her death.

Her parents returned to find her burned remains. Her parents, her boyfriend, and Indian Joe, prepared a casket and conducted a small private funeral service for Leah. Her casket was buried on the Smock property in what would become known as the Betsy Daily Cemetery. Her boyfriend carved a tombstone for her grave, and it still stands today.

This could be where the story ends. But a woman with a spirit like Leah's its obvious she wouldn't let the people of Staples (Battletown), Meade County have the last word in her story.  Only a few days after her burial her spirit was seen. This caused her grave-site to be covered and filled with stones. People who venture out to her grave are likely to find the grave and cemetery over ran with venomous snakes. If not the snakes it is reported that pounding and clanging sounds come from the cemetery. Occasionally, people have even found cooperage tools and a newly made barrel at Leah's grave. It is also reported that her spirit will show herself from time to time. Beautiful Leah, raven haired, ropes tied around her wrist, waist, and neck will appear in the woods surrounded by a purple tinted fog.

But was Leah a witch? According to the people that lived around her at the time the simple answer is yes. The stories usually paint Leah as playing a instigating part in the stories about the misfortune that would befall people who wronged her. Was she just a woman who had a connection and powers that she and the community did not understand? Was she just a strong willed woman at a time that possessing a personality like hers could and did lead to her death? Sadly, we can not answer those questions. Ultimately, I do not think defining her in any of those ways is appropriate or important. After all Leah seems to get to have the final say in her life. Her neighbors murdered her in an attempt to rid their lives of a woman they feared due to her personal power. What they ended up doing was making sure that she would never be forgot.

What is remembered lives.

and Leah lives on!

(information taken from the book "Battletown Witch" by Gerald W. Fischer)