Moll Dyer and Other Witch Tales of Southern Maryland

According to legend, Moll Dyer was chased from her burning home by a mob in St. Mary’s County in the year 1697. Blaming difficulties from weather to sickness on witches was common in colonial times. Rebecca Fowler was tried as a witch in St. Mary’s in 1685, and in 1674, John Cowman became the only man ever charged with witchcraft in Maryland. In Moll Dyer’s case, locals took the law into their own hands. Was she just an ordinary woman blamed for problems beyond her control? Or was she a witch whose curse lingers on? Author Lynn Buonviri uses period records and local lore to discover the truth behind the legend of Moll Dyer and her curse.