As schoolchildren, many of us learned the tale of the Bell Witch of Adams, Tennessee. It is a timeless piece of state folklore. But did you know that Lawrence County is said to have had its own local witch in the county’s early days?

According to a 1915 Lawrence ‘Democrat’ article, “it was believed that there were witches in the community” when Lawrence County was first being settled in the late 1810s and 1820s. And one hunter believed that he may have killed one.

This hunter related to his friends and neighbors that each time he went hunting, he saw the same large deer, and this deer would leisurely come within a few paces of him. Several times, the hunter fired on the deer at point-blank range, but the deer was never injured, and it only scampered away.

The hunter determined that the deer was not a real deer, but a phantom deer or the spirit of a witch in the form of a deer. To test his theory, he molded a silver bullet and went hunting again.

In the field, the large deer approached him, and the hunter took aim and fired the silver bullet. Only this time, the deer was clearly injured, and limped away into the woods.

The hunter never saw the deer again, but not long after, an old woman of the community fell seriously ill. This woman “had been suspected of witchery” by her neighbors. The nature of the old woman’s illness is said to have been a secret among her neighbors, but soon word spread throughout the county that she had been seriously wounded by a silver bullet.

Lawrence County abounds with tall tales, legends, and ghost stories, and we will be sharing more with you occasionally throughout the month of October.