Witchcraft in Illinois: A Cultural History

by Michael Kleen

Although Illinois saw no dramatic witch trials, witchcraft has been a part of Illinois history and culture from French exploration to the present day. On the Illinois frontier, pioneers pressed silver dimes into musket balls to ward off witches, while farmers dutifully erected fence posts according to phases of the moon. In 1904, the quiet town of Quincy was shocked to learn of Bessie Bement’s suicide, after the young woman sought help from a witch doctor to break a hex. In turn-of-the-century Chicago, Lauron William de Laurence’s occult publishing house churned out manuals for performing bizarre rituals intended to attract love and exact revenge. For the first time in print, Michael Kleen presents the full story of the Prairie State’s dalliance with the dark arts.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Paranormal, Witches

192 pages, Paperback

Published September 18, 2017

Reviews

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am familiar with Michael Kleen, having read 'Ghostlore of Illinois Colleges & Universities.' I was looking forward to reading this book of his. The author does give a cursory and scholarly overview of witchcraft on this continent. I found his focus on the history and paranoia of witchcraft in Illinois from its early French exploration days to its statehood in the 19th century revealing and colorful. Mr. Kleen does present the infamous case of Moreau and Manuel, two West Indies slaves who were accused of and condemned for the poisoning murders of their owners and several slaves using 'hoodoo magic & poisons' in 1790. Illinois was then a territory under a French magistrate when these two men were executed for witchcraft. The figures of Eva Locker and Mary Toombs, two alleged witches who terrorized people in central and southern Illinois are profiled and spotlighted. There are sections on alleged witches in Chicago throughout the centuries of settlements. There was a spotlight shed on the superstitious and wicca practices of Scottish, Irish, German and Southern African American communities. These sections are the heart of the book and there is much citation and accounts included here. I found this to be the most riveting. The author ends this section by relaying how wiccan and pagan religions have organized on college campuses and in some cases established schools online with some having a physical campus.

The latter half of the book focused on the practice of witchcraft and how to combat it. The author does speak of the historical demonic pacts which are still in force to this day. Among the magical abilities and practices that the author covers are shape shifting & use of familiars, stealing milk, afflicting and controlling others, hoodoo/witch balls, and limits on witches. In regard to battling witches, the author includes, counter magic, pagan rituals, Christian symbols, and rituals. Except for Christian rituals and spiritual deliverance, most of the counter measures are based on myth and superstition. In no way does he makes a promise of deliverance. Rather, he gives the reader options and choices. I found this section quite pedestrian and unfounded. The author wraps up the book with sections on the reasons why people practice witchcraft and Illinois folklore. The section of the reasons illustrates that witchcraft is practiced primarily for self-reward and self-fulfillment by narcissistic individuals. The last section which is the shortest of the book brings up the mythology and folklore concerning several famous witches of Illinois. The author does point out that some of them are highly or totally fictionalized. Among the 'witches' covered are Caroline Barnes of Coles County, Elizabeth 'Betsy; Reed of Crawford County, Mary Worth of Gurnee, Illinois, and Beaulah of Winnebago, Illinois.

I found this book on the cultural aspect of witchcraft revealing. I recommend this book to anyone who battles witchcraft.

[FloofyMooseReads · Rating 2 out of 5]

Witchcraft in Illinois: A Cultural History by Michael Kleen covers the history of supposedly documented witchcraft in Illinois. The author covers events of a suspicious nature that occurred across the entirety of Illinois but with a focus on Southern Illinois and other rural areas (likely where folk practices would be more common). This historical period covered was wide, from the days of French exploration, up through the earlier parts of the 20th century. The author then moves on to focusing more on witchcraft as a practice and how he believes to combat it.

Rating: 2/5 Stars

Recommendation: This book was certainly written from the perspective of a historian, and likely one that has negative opinions about witchcraft. The summary of the book refers to witchcraft as the “dark arts” and in many places the author refers to what most would consider folk healing or superstition as witchcraft. Towards the end of the book he covers the reasons that witchcraft is practiced, and he notes only negative reasons. His presentation of the material did not come across as unbiased and this may be too much of a turn off for modern day witches. Thus, this book is likely more appropriately suited to historians that have an interest in the occult, or genealogical interest in Illinois. In addition, while the narrative was sometimes informational, it was also disorganized. It felt like the autor jumped around between topics and areas, to the point where it was hard to keep track of what was going on or being discussed. I read this book as an e-book from my library and will not be purchasing a print copy.

[K Kriesel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A series of shallow anecdotes about accusations of witchcraft and actual contemporary witches in parts of Illinois. This is too light and fast to be a legitimate "cultural history." I get the impression that this book was written very quickly to bank on the popularity of witchcraft.

[Norma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written

Well written but not what I expected. I found myself getting bored with much of the text. There wasn't as 19th century history as I wanted to read .

[Jen]

I keep starting this and not getting very far - it's my fault, not the book. I hope to come back to it again sometime.

[Valerie]

Read this for our local library summer reading program.

[Eli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much substance other than a brief tour through Illinois' rural history. Some sections could have been expanded.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

It makes sense since this is written by a historian that the main focus is on history and not current practices, but that still would've been nice to have

[Jay French · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I read this book, I was surprised at the tact the author took. Quite a lot of the book is more of a “national witchcraft” background history. In the second half of the book, the author delves down into some more specific ways that witchcraft is supposed to work. At times, I thought I was reading a generic treatise on witchcraft created to plug in anecdotes about different states, in order to create quick localized books. I believe that was, in part, the author’s intent. The author did include state specific anecdotes, also throwing in some stories from neighboring states. The author used a handful of sources for much of this localized content. I would have appreciated some additional localized content. The author also makes a point of saying that Illinois law was based on British law, and British law did say something about witches, so Illinois had law dealing with witches. Not that it was ever used. Seems like quite a length to go to to get witchcraft into the state. (And also something that is likely similar in other states - not just Illinois.) This wasn’t a topic I’ve ever read about, so I did learn a few things, and found the book entertaining at times. Good for a speed read if you are curious.

Many of my ancestors were Illinois residents, back in early statehood. None were mentioned here. At least, not by name. I had to check.