Program

Legends & Lore®

Subject

Folklore

Location

50 Dean View, North Pownal, VT 05260, USA

Lat/Long

42.797076, -73.265305

Grant Recipient

Bennington Museum

According to local legend, in the eighteenth century in North Pownal, Vermont, a widow named Margaret Krieger, despite her dowager status, remained independent and prosperous, an irregularity for widows of the time. The community accused her of being an “extraordinary woman,” which “brought upon her the envy and suspicion” of her neighbors (Brownell, “Pownal,” Vermont Historical Gazetteer, 1867).

Accused by the local “safety committee” of witchcraft, Widow Krieger had to prove her innocence. She had two equally terrible options: 1) climb a tree, then have it chopped down with her in it and see if she lived or 2) get dropped into a freezing river through an ice hole and see if she floated. If she survived either, then she was, indeed, a witch.

Widow Krieger chose the river. Dropped into the icy waters, she immediately sank to the bottom. Realizing she was, in fact, not a witch, one of her accusers dove in to save her from drowning. Fortunately, the old woman survived the ordeal and is said to have lived several more years.