At some point, we have all come across them. They are normally portrayed as crones in black dresses with pointy hats. We see them in movies, read about them in books, and even learn about them in school. Witches are embedded into our country’s culture. This is even truer for the town of Yazoo City, Mississippi.
Located 40 miles northwest of Jackson, Yazoo City, founded in 1824, was originally known as Hannan’s Bluff. Later it was renamed Manchester, only to be changed again in 1841 to Yazoo City. The Yazoo River was the inspiration behind the town’s final name. French explorer Robert La Salle gave the river its name in 1682. He called it “Rivière des Yazous” in reference to the Yazoo Tribe of Native Americans living near the mouth of the river. Though no one knows for certain, some people say that the word Yazoo meant “death” in their native tongue. If that is the case, the name “The River of Death” perfectly sets the stage for the story I am about to detail.
By the time our story began, Yazoo City had already seen its share of trouble. It was damaged in the 1860s during the American Civil War, in what became known as the Battle of Yazoo. The city was rebuilt only to be struck by Yellow Fever in 1878. Then, in the 1880’s a woman moved into town; a woman who would bring trouble once again to Yazoo, if the legend is to be believed.
She lived in a shack along a swampy part of the river. No one knew her name, nor did they care to. Moreover, they described her as “an old ugly woman, half ghost, half scarecrow, and all witch”. Despite my efforts, I was unable to find a valid reason behind the town’s initial hatred of the woman. Yet, soon after her appearance, bad things began to happen. Men began to disappear while fishing on the Yazoo River. It wasn’t long before the nameless woman was blamed.
Stories began to circulate throughout the area. According to the tales, the old woman lured the fishermen to her house with promises of food and shelter. Once inside the home, the woman poisoned the men with arsenic and then buried the bodies in the woods nearby.
No proof had ever been discovered, thus nothing could be done, until the autumn of 1884. This part of the legend revolves around a young man named Joe Bob Duggett. He is also listed as Joe Bob Duggan and Jim Bob Duncan depending on the source.
Joe Bob was drifting on a raft down the river, on May 25th, 1884, when he heard what sounded like screams. He headed his raft in the direction of the sounds and ended up near the old woman’s shack. He tied his raft to a cypress branch, hopped onto the shore, and made his way to the house. He peeked into a window and saw the old woman wearing a dress covered in mud and cockleburs. She was dancing and chanting around two dead bodies. Joe Bob hurried back to his raft and went to get the sheriff. The sheriff and his deputies, led by Job Bob, made their way to the woman’s hut. The house appeared to be empty and the sheriff began to question what the boy saw until they checked the attic. There, hanging from the rafters, were several skeletal human remains. As the party exited the house, they caught a glimpse of the old woman running into the woods.
The lawmen made chase, but by the time they found her, she was buried in quicksand. With her dying breath, she cursed the town. In 20 years she would return, break free from her grave and burn the town to the ground. After her body was recovered, she was buried in Glenwood Cemetery. They bordered the grave with chains and gave it a headstone with the initials. T.W. carved into it. Some townsfolk say that the initials stood for “The Witch”. Others think it stood for her name, Tandy Warren (but we will get to that shortly).
Time passed. The witch, the murdered men, and the grave were all but forgotten. Before they knew it, 20 years had passed. The town was thriving, that is until May 25th, 1904.
The day started as any other, but for a strange gusty wind that was unusual for that time of day. There are several stories about how the fire started that morning. A story claims the fire started in the parlor of Pauline Wise as she prepared for her wedding day. Another source states that a young boy playing with matches was the cause of the disaster.
Regardless of who started it or how, the fires burned with swiftness, carried on the wind. Witnesses claim the flames leaped as if moved by supernatural sources. Before firefighters could quench the blaze, it had destroyed 3/4 of the town.
(Now back to those initials). In one variation of the legend, Joe Bob went home after helping firefighters all day. He found his son playing. Confused at the boy’s behavior, he asked the cause of his merriment, considering the town was now burned. The son replied that he had met a nice lady outside of the general store before the fires began. The boy said the woman had danced with him and then saved him from the flames. According to the son, the lady knew Joe Bob and so she had sent a message to him by the boy. Joe Bob opened the note to see the words “I told you so – Tandy Warren”.
Remembering the witch’s oath, some of the town’s residents visited her grave. They found that the chains were in pieces.
Whether you believe the legends or not, the facts remain. A fire destroyed Yazoo in 1904 and there is a grave, in the Glenwood Cemetery, wrapped in chains. The original headstone has long since gone missing, but they erected a new one that tells the legend. That headstone has since been broken. The chains are repaired as needed, just in case.
A local author named Willie Morris, who grew up with the legend, wrote about it in his book, “Good Old Boy”. When Willie Morris passed away, he was buried in the Glenwood cemetery. His headstone is only 50 feet away from the witch he made famous.
If you have doubts about the witch of Yazoo’s existence, take a trip to Glenwood Cemetery in Yazoo City. There are guided tours available. Take a few pictures, talk to the locals, but whatever you do, don’t disturb those chains!
Written by Natasha Mills
Sources for this Article:
http://www.jimdavidsoncolumn.com/columns/node/497
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/10/28/witch-yazoo-still-haunts-town-burned/18093723
https://discover.hubpages.com/literature/A-True-Story-of-Halloween-Fright
Mississippi Folklore 