History of Witchcraft: The top 15 books on Witches in US History

Christen Thompson
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#1 Witches of Pennsylvania

From William Penn to the Hex Murders and beyond

Witches of Pennsylvania: Occult History & Lore

Since William Penn presided over the state’s only official witch trial in 1684, witchcraft and folk magic have been a part of the history of the Keystone State. English and German settlers brought their beliefs in magic with them from the Old World–sometimes with dangerous consequences. In 1802, an Allegheny County judge helped an accused witch escape an angry mob. Susan Mummey was not so fortunate. In 1934, she was shot and killed in her home by a young Schuylkill County man who was convinced that she had cursed him. In other regions of the state, views on folk magic were more complex. While hex doctors were feared in the Pennsylvania German tradition, powwowers were and are revered for their abilities to heal, lift curses and find lost objects. Folklorist Thomas White traces the history and lore of witchcraft and the occult that quietly live on in Pennsylvania even today.

#2 Enchanted Legends and Lore of New Mexico: Witches, Ghosts & Spirits

Enchanted Legends and Lore of New Mexico: Witches, Ghosts & Spirits

Beginning in the seventeenth century, townsfolk and rural dwellers in the remote Spanish colonial city of Santa Fe maintained a provocative interest in mysterious and miraculous visions. This preoccupation with the afterlife, occult forces and unearthly beings existing outside the natural world led to early witch trials, stories about saintly apparitions and strange encounters with spirits and haunted places. New Mexican author Ray John de Aragón explores the time-honored tradition of frightening folklore in the Land of Enchantment in this intriguing collection of tales that crosses cultures in the dark corners of the southwestern night.

#3 Witches, Wenches & Wild Women of Rhode Island

Witches, Wenches & Wild Women of Rhode Island

Experience the history of Rhode Island and learn about the Ocean State’s most fascinating and wild women. Read of Mercy Brown, a nineteen-year-old consumption victim who was thought to be a vampire and whose body was exhumed and discovered with blood in the heart. There was Goody Seager, accused of infesting her neighbor’s cheese with maggots by using witchcraft, and Tall “Dutch” Kattern of Block Island, an opium-eating fortuneteller whose curse, legend says, set a ship aflame after its crew cast her ashore. Hear of the revolutionaries, like Julia Ward Howe, who invented Mother’s Day and wrote the words to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and religious reformer Anne Hutchinson, said to be the inspiration for Hawthorne’s heroine in The Scarlet Letter, in these thrilling tales from author M.E. Reilly-McGreen.

#4 Connecticut Witch Trials: The First Panic in the New World

Connecticut Witch Trials: The First Panic in the New World

Connecticut’s witch hunt was the first and most ferocious in New England, occurring almost fifty years before the infamous Salem witch trials. Between 1647 and 1697, at least thirty-four men and women from across the state were formally charged with witchcraft. Eleven were hanged. In New Haven, William Meeker was accused of cutting off and burning his pig’s ears and tail as he cast a bewitching spell. After the hanging of Fairfield’s Goody Knapp, magistrates cut down and searched her body for the marks of the devil. Through newspaper clippings, court records, letters and diaries, author Cynthia Wolfe Boynton uncovers the dark history of the Connecticut witch trials.

#5 The Witch of Delray: Rose Veres & Detroit’s Infamous 1930s Murder Mystery

The Witch of Delray: Rose Veres & Detroit’s Infamous 1930s Murder Mystery

Detroit was full of stark contrasts in 1931. Political scandals, rumrunners and mobs lurked in the shadows of the city’s soaring architecture and industrious population. As the Great Depression began to take hold, tensions grew, spilling over into the investigation of a mysterious murder at the boardinghouse of Hungarian immigrant Rose Veres. Amid accusations of witchcraft, Rose and her son Bill were convicted of the brutal killing and suspected in a dozen more. Their cries of innocence went unheeded—until one lawyer, determined to seek justice, took on the case. Author Karen Dybis follows the twists and turns of this shocking story, revealing the truth of Detroit’s own Hex Woman.

#6 Sorcery in Salem

Sorcery in Salem

In Sorcery in Salem, local author John Hardy Wright examines the witchcraft delusion that afflicted Salem Village and Salem Town in the winter of 1691–92. Twenty inhabitants lost their lives at that time; nineteen were hanged on Gallows Hill, and one elderly man, Giles Cory, by remaining mute as a personal protest to the proceedings of the court, was pressed to death under heavy weights. Once the prosecuting examinations began on March 1, 1692, local authorities were uncertain what course the following trials would take. Spectral evidence, in which the shape of a suspected witch tortured people, was a primary indication of guilt, as was the “touch test,” in which a victim was released from the witch’s power upon the laying on of hands. Not being able to correctly recite the Lord’s Prayer was also damning.

#7 Salem’s Witch House: A Touchstone to Antiquity

Salem's Witch House: A Touchstone to Antiquity

Though located on Massachusetts’s scenic North Shore, Salem is often remembered for its less than picturesque history. The “Witch City,” as it is internationally known, is home to numerous landmarks dedicated to the notorious trials of 1692. Of these, the Witch House is perhaps most significant; this former residence of Judge Jonathan Corwin, whose court ordered the execution of twenty men and women, is the town’s only true historic tie to the trials. It was here that Corwin examined the unfortunate accused. There is, however, more to this ancient building than its most famous occupant. From wars and death to prosperity and progress, local author John Goff searches beneath its beams and studs to find stories of those who called this place home.

#8 A History of Spiritualism and the Occult in Salem: The Rise of Witch City

A History of Spiritualism and the Occult in Salem: The Rise of Witch City

Salem, Massachusetts, is the quintessential New England town, with its cobbled streets and strong ties to the sea. With the notoriety of the Salem witch trials, the city’s reputation has been irrevocably linked to the occult. However, few know the history behind the religion of Spiritualism and the social movement that took root in this romanticized land. At the turn of the century, seers, mediums and magnetic healers all hoped to connect to the spiritual world. The popularity of Spiritualism and renewed interest in the occult blossomed out of an attempt to find an intellectual and emotional balance between science and religion. Learn of early converts, the role of the venerable Essex Institute and the psychic legacy of “Moll” Pitcher. Historian Maggi Smith-Dalton delves into Salem’s exotic history, unraveling the beginnings of Spiritualism and the rise of the Witch City.

#9 Moll Dyer and Other Witch Tales of Southern Maryland

Moll Dyer and Other Witch Tales of Southern Maryland

#10 Philadelphia Spiritualism and the Curious Case of Katie King

Philadelphia Spiritualism and the Curious Case of Katie King

In the wake of the Civil War, Spiritualism–and its promises of communication with the dead–reached its peak as grieving families hoped to reunite with men lost in battle. In the face of an uncertain future, people sought comfort in the messages of mediums, and for Philadelphians, that reassurance was found in Katie King. Katie was a spirit who materialized at the seances of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Holmes–or so attendees believed. For eight months in 1874, she captivated every level of Philadelphia society, including Vice President Henry Wilson, who clamored to speak with the lovely apparition. When a believer-turned-skeptic decided to investigate Katie King for himself, the “spirit” was quickly revealed as a hoax. From the rise of Spiritualism in the city to the aftermath of the scandal, author Stephanie Hoover reveals the personalities and chicanery behind the curious case of Katie King.

#11: Witchcraft in Colonial Virginia

While the witchcraft mania that swept through Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 was significant, fascination with it has tended to overshadow the historical records of other persecutions throughout early America. Colonial Virginians shared a common belief in the supernatural with their northern neighbors. The 1626 case of Joan Wright, the first woman to be accused of witchcraft in British North America, began Virginia’s own witch craze. Utilizing surviving records, local historian Carson Hudson narrates these fascinating stories.

Boston in the Golden Age of Spiritualism: Seances, Mediums & Immortality
https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781626195875
Connecticut in the Golden Age of Spiritualism
https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467118415

Ghost Hunter’s Guide to Haunted Salem

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Just north of Boston, Massachusetts lies Salem, the infamous site of the Salem Witch Trials. Rich in history from sea to land, Halloween makes the perfect time for ghost hunting. If you dare to explore the haunted side of Salem, visit each location in the guide below but don’t say we didn’t warn you!

In a Pig’s Eye

After the hysteria of the Witch Trials, illegal activity started to thrive in Salem. Across the street from The House of the Seven Gables on Derby Street, businesses like the restaurant In A Pig’s Eye attended to the needs of captains and sailors stopping at the flourishing seaport. Underground tunnels and brothels created the red-light district.

Legend says the tunnels from Derby Wharf took sea captains discretely to the brothels and allowed them also to kidnap young men, or “shanghai” them to serve as members of the ship’s crew.

The entire waterfront area teems with spirits from the maritime past, including eerie voices of sea captains long gone and alleged pirate apparitions.

Salem Jail

No ghost town can claim the title without a haunted jail, and a variety of criminals called the Salem Jail home from around 1885 to 1991. It currently stands abandoned, except for the spirits of those who died while imprisoned there. It takes a strong constitution to walk the building, as many claim to hear crying, screaming, and chains rattling.

The sounds may be from the women imprisoned and accused of witchcraft, since the original 17th-century dungeon sits directly below the Salem Jail.

Hawthorne Hotel

To house travelers passing through Salem, the Hawthorne Hotel opened its doors in 1925. Named after a famous Salem resident, author Nathaniel Hawthorne, guests have reported the sounds and sights of ghosts since the hotel first opened its doors.

Bridget Bishop, the first woman executed during the Salem Witch Trials originally owned an apple orchard on the grounds where the hotel was built. Many visitors to the hotel swear they smell fresh apples inside the building, even though no fruit trees now exist anywhere near the building.

Hawthorne Hotel has recently drawn the attention of paranormal researchers. Many of them claim to have confirmed the presence of so-called spiritual energy within the walls.

Joshua Ward House

Several different types of spirits reportedly haunt this site. Built around 1750, many people say they feel extremely uneasy upon entering the building. Spirits believed to inhabit the home include Giles Corey, pressed to death after refusing to enter a plea to the charge of witchcraft, George Corwin, the High Sheriff of Essex County during the trials, and an unnamed elderly woman who angrily haunts the stairs.

Burying Point Cemetery

One of the oldest cemeteries in the United States, the Burying Point Cemetery, or Charter Street Burial Ground, houses the bodies of Salem’s most prominent citizens and early settlers. Although no bodies from the Salem Witch Trials are buried here, the cemetery does contain a memorial to all the women and men killed for being suspected of witchcraft. A common practice at the time was to bury witches near their execution point in unmarked graves.

Visitors to the cemetery, especially later in the day, have mentioned a feeling of unease walking the rows, and some people swear they have spotted ghostly spirits or mist near the memorial.

Murphy’s

Murphy’s Pub and Restaurant backs into the far corner of Burying Point Cemetery, making it unsurprising that so many people have viewed paranormal activity here. The most common sightings are of a young boy carrying a picnic basket and a lady from the Victorian-era clad in a blue dress.

Bunghole Liquors

Formerly a funeral home on Derby Street, locals gathered near the embalming equipment during the Prohibition era to swill illegal alcohol. Spirits in bottle form line the shelves now, but the liquor store’s assistant manager contends the store is haunted, providing tales of a phantom kitty and residual female spirit who roam behind the wine racks.

Danvers State Hospital

On top of Hawthorne Hill sits the haunted, former psychiatric facility, Danvers State Hospital. The immense building sits on the grounds of what was once the home of Jonathan Hawthorne, a presiding judge during the Salem Witch Trials. Numerous people have shared stories of sighting apparitions bearing a striking resemblance to the judge.

There are many reports of the cruel and experimental treatments forced upon patients residing at the hospital. Patients who died on the grounds walk corridors and the exterior of the building in spirit form, apparently searching for something they have yet to find.

Gallows Hill

Currently, a field used by schools for sports, on this spot the town carried out the execution of Bridget Bishop and 18 others accused of witchcraft during the trials. Many point to a plethora of evidence supporting spectral activity at Gallows Hill, including ghost videos, unexplained phenomenon, orbs, spooky mists, EMF readings, ghost pictures, apparitions, and digital audio recordings.

Final Thoughts

Anyone with an interest in the paranormal must tour Salem’s various local haunts and locations of alleged spirit activity. The entire town is alive with mystery, from the strange shops to the spine-chilling buildings. Salem is truly a ghost hunter’s dream where every doorway and window are new opportunities for glimpses into the past.

Although nighttime is when you expect spirits to make their appearance, the beauty of Salem is that anytime is ghost time!

Pioneers and Tycoons of the American Railway

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In 1860, the railroad wars that raged for decades reached a climax. Despite modest developments in infrastructure, America remained a largely untamed expanse of land —challenging to navigate regardless of transportation method.

The Civil War era promised to bring change; an economy perched on the precipice of domestic war often becomes malleable. Over the next 30 years, a handful of visionaries would vie to create a latticework of railways that would govern the flow of economic goods across America. Their combined efforts birthed the backbone of modern infrastructure.

In the fractured post-war society, the American railway continued to facilitate economic evolution, and literally unify a nation. This growth in transcontinental rail will forever be associated with a self-made man born and raised in New York City: Cornelius Vanderbilt.

The Capitalist Archetype Takes Shape

Cornelius Vanderbilt represented the first of his kind, a class of “entrepreneurial rock stars” with shared Machiavellian convictions. Vanderbilt functioned as the first domino in a shifting power dynamic, helping to christen the new socioeconomic hierarchy — one in which the businessman acts as the harbinger of revolution, not the politician. 

Known as “The Commodore” for his no-nonsense entrepreneurial philosophy in fledgling steamboat ventures, Vanderbilt moved to the railroad industry after 50 lucrative years of maritime transportation.

As with all economic pioneers, Vanderbilt possessed a grand vision for some aspect of American industry. He imagined a continental infrastructure, a system untainted by government involvement — not designed by bureaucracy, but by him.

At the time, railroads represented the cheapest method for nationwide shipping; moreover, with domestic war looming, Vanderbilt shrewdly anticipated the importance of the railway system. In the late 1850s, he began to inch his way into the industry, serving first in an advisory capacity.

In 1863—two years into the Civil War—he acquired majority ownership of his first railway holding: The New York & Harlem Railroad (NY&H). Other acquisitions would soon follow.

By the end of the Civil War, Vanderbilt had carved a budding railway empire into the Northeastern countryside. The boy who launched his own ferry service at 16 had become the richest man in America.

Still, the New York railroad wars persisted. After that first rather innocuous line between Albany and Schenectady in 1826 — which loyalists to the now obsolete Erie Canal waterway protested — Vanderbilt would finally enter the fray.

An old map illustrating the dozens of railroad tracks that criss-crossed New York State. Reprinted from Railroad Wars of New York State.

A Bottleneck at the Crossroads of Infrastructure

Many disparaged Vanderbilt’s first holding, NY&H Railroad, for its dearth of diverse routes. Up until the infamous “stock market corner” that precipitated Vanderbilt’s purchase of NY&H, only Vanderbilt adequately appreciated the rail line’s chief asset: The Albany Bridge. He ensured others would learn in time.

The Albany Bridge provided the only railway stretching across the Hudson River from New York City, serving as the sole rail access point to the largest port in America. Every other rail company assumed this checkpoint would remain permanently accessible to all domestic trade, but in this era of unregulated capitalism, Vanderbilt made his own rules.

After logisticians cemented America’s winter shipping schedule in 1866, Vanderbilt suddenly barred industry rivals from using the bridge. He famously stated, “We’re going to watch them bleed,” as his blockade began to strangle a vital revenue stream for many competitors. In the coming weeks, millions of pounds of cargo would stall in delivery.

Panic gradually seeped through the ranks of railway executives. Employees secretly scrambled to sell their increasingly devalued shares of company stock. When word reached Wall Street, a mass sell-off of railroad stock plummeted the prices of remaining shares.

As uncertainty spread, Vanderbilt relieved his competitors of their railroad stock at pennies on the dollar — and reopened the Albany Bridge.

Industry leader New York Central Railroad remained foremost amongst these purchases, a holding which Vanderbilt would merge in 1867 with the Hudson River Railroad and other minor acquisitions — all to form the largest consolidation of American railway in history.

Effects of a Laissez-Faire Marketplace

Vanderbilt’s marketplace behavior largely precipitated the creation of regulatory agencies that established antitrust law in the following decades.

For a moment, this era of free market capitalism allowed Vanderbilt and other industrial tycoons unprecedented influence on the evolution of American society. The absence of government regulations that now exist — which would have impeded Vanderbilt’s ability to consolidate railway holdings to an oligopolistic threshold — yielded two interesting effects.

First, the usual byproducts of a centralized industry surfaced, wherein prices and standards become controlled by a single corporation without the checks and balances provided by comparable competition.

The same laissez-faire marketplace also empowered Vanderbilt to grow America’s network of railroads with unfathomable speed. The burgeoning economy welcomed this injection of efficiency, and because Vanderbilt controlled a whopping 40% of the industry, his railway construction alone supplied 180,000 domestic jobs. Vanderbilt’s dreams for American transportation had blossomed before his eyes — at least temporarily.

Erie Line: The Ill-Sought Crowning Jewel of Vanderbilt’s Empire

Whether driven by a taste for power, the desire to shape America to his own blueprint or the loss of his favorite son and heir apparent during the Civil War — the entrepreneurial spirit burning within Vanderbilt started to consume him.

He began indulging his own legacy, cultivating an obsessive desire to make Erie Line the crowning jewel of his railroad empire. Eventually, this pursuit would pit Vanderbilt against a set of worthy adversaries.

With rail tracks connecting Chicago to New York, Erie Line operated the single most important global route. Its workforce also boasted a pair of shrewd up-and-comers, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, two quirky thinkers with their own subtle Machiavellian streak. These men wanted “The Commodore” dethroned.

When Vanderbilt began purchasing shares of the Erie Line, Gould and Fisk concocted a loophole strategy using a previously obscured piece of fine print. Erie Line’s board of directors could issue new shares of stock unbeknownst to the public, legally diluting the value of every existing share. Vanderbilt purchased $7 million in watered-down stock from Gould and Fisk before becoming aware of his folly.

This public humiliation ignited a rivalry that lingered only with Gould, who openly smeared Vanderbilt’s reputation following the failed Erie acquisition. In the end, Vanderbilt would shift his attention from what he eventually labeled an “overbuilt American railway” to the freight traveling within: oil.

Whirlwind adventures of Jay Gould and Jim Fisk

Since the late 1850s, the Erie Line battled its own variation of financial strife. Jay Gould, Jim Fisk, and Daniel Drew orchestrated a myriad of stock manipulations during this period, now termed the Erie War. In the summer of 1868, Drew and Fisk would surrender control of the Erie Line to Gould, who ascended to its presidency.

Gould and Fisk became increasingly embroiled with Tammany Hall, an elite New York City political ring. “Boss Tweed,” the authority within Tammany Hall who shaped the 19th-century political sphere, would assume directorship of Erie Railroad in exchange for corrupt legislation.

In August of 1869, Gould and Fisk again found themselves scheming on behalf of Erie Railroad. They employed a simple strategy: begin acquiring gold to corner the market, which would simultaneously augment prices for both gold and wheat — and increase nationwide shipments that would ideally trickle through Erie Line.

On September 24th, 1869, the “Black Friday” gold panic descended on America as a culmination of Gould and Fisk’s endeavors, causing gold’s premium-over-face-value to dip 30%. This gold corner amassed Gould a tidy profit, cementing his public reputation as an economic wizard who could dictate the market on a whim.

Gould Ventures into the Rail Wars Alone

In 1873, Gould sought majority ownership of Erie Railroad by recruiting investments from foreign dignitaries and reputable American families. Chief amongst these prospective investors, a wealthy cousin in the famous Campbell family, possessed secretly sinister intentions.

When Gould attempted to bribe this Campbell with $1 million in stock, the man promptly cashed the stock and disappeared. Gould would later learn the true degree of his deception. The investor had no ties to the Campbell’s. He had been impersonating a variety of individuals for personal gain. His true identity surfaced as Lord Gordon-Gordon, a legendary British con man.

Gould immediately attempted to sue Gordon-Gordon, who fled to Canada after the justice system granted him bail. After pressing Canadian authorities to produce Gordon-Gordon to no avail, Gould and his associates took matters into their own hands. A ragtag group of American aristocracy, which included three future Congressmen and two Minnesota governors, attempted to kidnap Gordon-Gordon.

Ultimately, Canadian mounted police capture Gould and his colleagues, sparking an international incident between America and Canada. Thousands of Minnesotans volunteered for a military invasion of Canada. While the situation diffused in time, this incident eliminated Gould’s chances of ever controlling the Erie Railroad again.

Eventually, Gould would built up his own systems of railway, taking control of Union Pacific during the Panic of 1873, a massive financial crisis. Gould’s empire thrived on the shipments of local Midwestern and Western farmers in the coming decades.

Legacy of American Rail

Ultimately, the American railway became the catalyst for unprecedented economic growth in every industry. Yet it didn’t just cause the highest magnitude of economic growth, it spawned a whole new era of economic homeostasis — a modern, industrial, capitalist organism.

The railroad system provided the first major experiment in the infancy of capitalism’s industrial reorientation. Naturally, this infancy represents the most formative years — not necessarily in building concrete and lasting systems — but in building the collective capitalist mindset.

A new breed of leadership arose amidst the ashes of civil war, a class of rail barons that both set the standard and pushed the frontier of “the American dream.”

Final thoughts

What drove these pioneers? What defines them? Unwavering determination undoubtedly unites these individuals, but what lies at the heart of their successes?

Jacob Bronowski, in his documentary series Ascent of Man, asserts, “What we call cultural evolution is actually the expansion of human imagination.”

Perhaps this best defines the pioneers of an entrepreneurial age that has persisted since Vanderbilt: an imagination that is prone to uncommon, bold dreams, dreams for both themselves and the future of America.

How Natural Disasters Affect America’s Food Supply

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Americans enjoy greater access to food than most people around the world. We’re secure in the knowledge that we do not face mass starvation or famine. Our farms and agricultural industry can provide for us, as well as for many people around the world.

Disasters affect the production of food, as well as its distribution and processing. In the late summer of 2017, three hurricanes—Harvey, Irma, and Jose—threatened the mainland U.S., and each posed the potential to disrupt the nation’s food supply.

America can generally endure the short-term effects of natural disasters. The overall food supply remains steady, although imports can be negatively impacted when a disaster occurs in another nation. We enjoy an abundant access to food, both locally-grown and imported. Our infrastructure allows our food supply to remain constant despite natural disasters.

Seasons Really Don’t Exist for Consumers

An integrated transportation system means consumers can enjoy just about any fruit or vegetable no matter what the growing season for that plant. Americans can eat fresh fruits in winter, lettuce in the early spring, and corn all year long.

Our ability to eat out-of-season is a product of our ability to import food. The U.S. imports 15% of its food supply, including 50% of its fresh fruit and 80% of its seafood.

This access to food year-round comes at a price. Economic pressures overseas, as well as distant natural disasters, can disrupt the import of our food supply. As a result, the price of a commodity from sources abroad increases, driving the costs up significantly for the consumer. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, agriculture absorbs 84% of the economic impact.

For example, a shortened rainy season due to climate change in Africa may result in a lack of some grains used in animal feed imports. Wholesalers must tap other, costlier, sources which ultimately results in higher feed prices for American farmers.

Droughts

Because the U.S. grows sufficient food to feed most of our population, however, the main concerns for the U.S. food supply stem from natural disasters affecting the U.S. mainland.

California grows more food than any other region in the U.S. The state’s Central Valley produces roughly one-quarter of the nation’s food supply. The region depends on groundwater pumped from the local aquifer.

Recently, however, California and the Central Valley suffered a five-year drought. The drought reduced the water available for the Central Valley and the rest of the state, and that drought led to agricultural declines. Those declines produce higher prices for consumers.

In many cases, however, consumers have not felt the full effects of the drought. Consumers frequently can find replacement products from areas not affected by drought. For example, the USDA notes that while California produces 86% of U.S. grown avocados, we import 82% of the avocados consumed in the U.S.

Hurricanes

The good news – major hurricanes have minimal impact on food production. The bad news – hurricanes greatly interfere with our ability to transport food.

The ports generally affected by hurricanes act as hubs for banana and other fruit imports from South America. Disruption of transport at these ports can cause disruption throughout the country.

Despite the impact hurricanes can have on the Gulf ports, the largest banana importing port in the U.S, Wilmington, Delaware, remains largely safe from major hurricane-caused disruptions due to its location in the Northeast.

Flooding and Other Weather Issues

Rain and snow can produce flooding in agricultural areas. A major flood can cause prices to increase immediately even though the commodity affected by the flood remains in good supply in the short term. Retailers anticipate future costs based on the effects of the flood. Most will immediately adjust prices to help alleviate the anticipated need to use other, more expensive, sources for the commodity in the future.

Most cold-related issues—frost, extreme cold, and snow—can have similar effects on prices.

Abundance Continues

The most significant effect a natural disaster can cause is a short-term price increase, as the food-supply chain adjusts to disruptions in availability or transportation.

Vulnerabilities remain, however. Monocultural agriculture, overuse of aquifers, and climate change may have significant effects on the future of the U.S. food supply.

Solutions to these issues are subject to debate. But the large size of the country and the diversity of the food supply suggests Americans will continue to have abundant access to food.

Discover more books from Arcadia Publishing about natural disasters in America.

Famous American Cemeteries & the Restless Spirits That Haunt Them

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Whether you’re a paranormal enthusiast or looking for a Halloween thrill, the broad landscape of American history presents rich fodder for horror stories. Some of America’s most famous ghosts, like Marie Laveau and Edgar Allan Poe, have gained pop cultural fame. If you’re interested in American history or have a taste for the strange, you should explore the history and legends behind these famous American cemeteries.

Graveyard ghosts haunt cemeteries for any number of reasons, such as unmarked graves, grave robbery, natural disasters, and forgotten burials. From Florida to Maine and from Maryland to Arizona, graveyard ghosts and their intriguing stories provide thousands of visitors annually with both mystery and interesting insights into the history and culture of the areas.

St. Louis Cemetery, New Orleans, LA

No list of haunted places in the U.S. would be complete without a trip to New Orleans, a city famous for its connection with spirits, dark forces, and the occult. Residents of New Orleans suffered from frequent epidemics, inclement weather, and the horrors of slavery, racism and the Civil War, leaving behind some very unhappy graveyard ghosts. It’s no surprise so many horror writers have chosen to set their stories in New Orleans.
 
When the Spanish first built New Orleans, people did not realize the swampy land was unsuitable for graves. Once heavy rains and flooding began, bodies were unearthed and washed down the streets. This led the Spanish to build elevated tombs in graveyards. As a result, New Orleans’ cemeteries became known as “cities of the dead.”

Located in the French Quarter, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 houses many famous residents including Homer Plessy of the infamous Supreme Court Case, Plessy vs. Ferguson, which upheld racial segregation in the South. However, the most famous resident of St. Louis No. 1 is without a doubt the beloved “Voodoo Queen,” Marie Laveau.

Laveau was born in 1801 to free, mixed-race parents of African, French, and Native American descent. Throughout her life, Laveau mixed the spiritual influences of her ancestry, giving birth to “New Orleans Voodoo” and gaining a vast following that transcended racial lines.

Local lore insists that if you draw an X on Marie Laveau’s grave, yell out your wish, turn around three times, circle your X, and leave her an offering, she will grant your wish. But before you get any ideas, today you cannot enter St. Louis No. 1 without a tour guide because of the vandalism to the Voodoo Queen’s grave.

If you’re a woman visiting St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, you might not want to wear white. The cemetery is supposedly home to the ghost of a woman in white who tries to hail cabs. So many cab drivers have reported picking up a woman in white, only to find the cab empty when they arrive at the destination that local cab drivers completely ignore women dressed in white clothes standing outside of the cemetery.

Resurrection Catholic Cemetery, Chicago, IL

At Chicago’s Resurrection Catholic Cemetery, the ghost of a beautiful young Polish woman in a glamorous ball gown desperately waves down cars, only to disappear once they stop. Locals call this apparition, “Resurrection Mary.”

Resurrection cemetery is one of the largest in North America, encompassing 540 acres and nearly 160,000 graves and crypts. On the front gates of Resurrection Cemetery, you can see a set of handprints burned into the metal. Locals say the handprints belong to Resurrection Mary.

The legend says Resurrection Mary died in a car accident in the 1930s on her way home from a dance at the O’Henry Ballroom. After a fight with her boyfriend, she resolved to walk home along Archer Avenue, where she was killed in a hit-and-run accident. 

Huguenot Cemetery, St. Augustine, FL

Like New Orleans, the sweeping Spanish moss, enormous oak trees, and hundreds of years old architecture make St. Augustine picture perfect for a haunting. In fact, the entire city is considered a cemetery. The local government requires special supervision during construction projects to ensure work stops if the workers unearth a grave marker or casket. 
 
Founded in 1565, St. Augustine had hundreds of years to accumulate ghosts from every walk of life including millionaires, pirates, and slaves.

Although home to fewer than 500 souls, the Huguenot Cemetery opened in 1821 just in time to accommodate the deaths caused by a yellow fever epidemic. Because of a lack of medical awareness, legend has it that terrified townspeople buried many of these people, including children, alive. Exhumed coffins from all over St. Augustine show scratch marks from people who tried unsuccessfully to escape premature burials.

Most visitors report rather benign encounters with the cemetery’s undead residents. Women claim to have felt ghosts playing with their hair, while many have allegedly seen a man sitting in the trees laughing. However, a more serious ghost haunts these parts too.

Judge John Stickney was buried in 1882, leaving his children orphans. When they grew up, his children wanted his body relocated closer to where they lived.

The gravediggers claimed that after exhuming the coffin from the grave, grave robbers stole Judge Stickney’s gold teeth. Today, people report seeing the figure of a distinguished man searching for something in the grass. Many locals believe this is the ghost of Judge Stickney looking for his teeth.  

Boothill Graveyard, Tombstone, AZ

Western fans love to visit Boothill Graveyard. Opened in 1879, dead outlaws almost exclusively occupy the cemetery. People in the Old West used the term “Boot Hill” to describe cemeteries where the people buried “died with their boots on,” a euphemism for a death by hanging or another kind of violent end.

Boothill Graveyard has some infamous residents including cowboys Billy Clanton and Tom & Franklin McLaury, who died in the famed O.K. Corral shootout. Bank robbers and thieves populate much of the cemetery. You can walk around Boothill today and read the tombstone inscriptions to get a good idea of how violent life was out West in the late 1800s.

Boothill also houses the remains of local minority groups. The town’s citizens buried Tombstone’s Jewish and Chinese community members along with the murderers, prostitutes, and bank robbers.

Visitors today claim to have captured the likeness of long passed cowboys and outlaws on film while wandering through the cemetery. So if you’re visiting Tombstone, don’t forget your camera!

Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, GA

Like St. Augustine and Tombstone, Savannah has a haunted reputation. In fact, many believe it may be the most haunted city in the U.S., thanks in part to the Civil War. The city limits of Savannah contain several allegedly haunted cemeteries, including what many consider the most haunted one in the world: Bonaventure Cemetery.

Surrounded by Victorian architecture and dripping Spanish moss, the atmosphere of Bonaventure is certainly creepy, although beautiful. The cemetery is filled with lifelike statues that give you the impression you’re always being watched. People claim they have seen the statues smile or even cry tears of blood.

One of the most disturbing things about Bonaventure Cemetery is the ghost children. Visitors have reported hearing the voices and laughter of children and crying babies.

One famous child ghost in Bonaventure, Gracie Watson, died of pneumonia in 1889 at a very young age. Her devastated father commissioned a statue of her to mark her grave. If you see a little girl in a white dress playing at the cemetery or in Johnson Square, you might have caught sight of the innocent ghost of Gracie Watson. 

Western Burial Ground, Westminster Hall, Baltimore, MD

The Western Burial Ground in Baltimore, Maryland, dating from 1786, houses the remains of Edgar Allan Poe and his wife, Virginia.

Poe died destitute, and the city originally placed him in an unmarked grave when he died in 1849. Over the years, friends and fans of Poe raised money to build a monument by Poe’s gravesite. In 1875, in a ceremony attended by several notable figures of the day, including poet Walt Whitman, the city moved the remains of Edgar Allan Poe from his unmarked grave to the front of the churchyard, beneath the newly carved monument created in tribute to Poe.

While Poe gets most of the attention in Westminster Hall, he is far from the only famous resident. The “Cambridge Skull” has become a celebrity in his own right in the paranormal community.

Legend holds that a group of men murdered a minister and buried his body in the churchyard, but the head never stopped screaming. The murderers had to gag the skull and bury it in concrete to muffle the sound. Folklore says if you hear the scream of the murdered minister, the sound will haunt you and drive you insane.
Westminster Hall contains a system of catacombs that host family vaults, most hundreds of years old. While the main churchyard opens during regular daylight visiting hours, the catacombs require a tour guide, and you can only visit them during special events.

Union Cemetery, Easton, CT

Union Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries on the list. In its 400-year history, it has developed a reputation as one of the most haunted places in America.

Visitors to the Easton cemetery routinely report seeing orbs of light and rolling mists, as well as a pair of floating red eyes, but Union Cemetery is most famous for the Lady in White. People say the Lady in White, a melancholy character with long black hair and a white gown, floats around the graveyard. Many have seen her appear in front of moving cars, only to disappear once the drivers screech to a halt. 

The identity of the Lady in White remains unclear. Some say she is the spirit of a woman who was murdered and dumped in a nearby sinkhole decades ago. Others say she is the ghost of a woman named Harriet B. Seeley, who died in 1853 shortly after the passing of her young son, and still searches for her lost child.

Paranormal researchers Ed and Lorraine Warren, of Amityville Horror fame, have taken a keen interest in Union Cemetery. After years of extensive research, the Warrens claim to have photographic evidence of the Lady in White.

Proof or no proof, The Lady in White remains one of the most famous and frequently seen apparitions in any American cemetery.

Keep in Mind…

Although many of these graveyards date back hundreds of years, families still bury their loved ones in these cemeteries today. You may encounter genuine mourners and family members during a trip to these hallowed places. If you visit one of these cemeteries, remain respectful, speak softly, and avoid taking pictures of others unless invited to do so.

5 Meaningful Ways to Raise Poverty Awareness

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Helping the poor is something many of us consider important, and it’s something we could all contribute more. However, learning about poverty, who it effects, and how you can help is one thing; raising enough awareness to inspire other people to get involved is quite another.

Here we’ll take a closer look at poverty. We’ll also get into some truly meaningful ways you can work on raising poverty awareness in your own community and social circles. Which one of the following will you be adding to your agenda?

Leverage your social platforms.

Do you have a dedicated website or blog that gives you access to a large (or even a not-so-large) audience? Are you active on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram? Start by using those platforms to inform those who already trust your opinion and are all ears as far as what you have to say.

Make things more interesting (and more shareworthy) by using your site or social media accounts to chronicle a special project. Spend a month (or even a week) eating only what a poverty-stricken person can afford and posting about how it’s going. Start a photo-a-day project that shines a spotlight on a different poverty-related issue in your community. Be creative!

Don’t forget to challenge others to get involved in the same challenges. It’s one of the best ways to help people relate to the poor and take steps to get involved themselves.

Start a book club.

As touched on above, we need to educate ourselves and others in regards to what poverty is, who it effects, and how we can be of the most help before we can end it for good. Why not bring people together to do exactly that?

Start a poverty-focused book club in your local community, school, or place of business and invite people to join. The reading material definitely needs to address poverty or lack in one way or another, but it’s more than okay to be creative. Selections can include anything from regional history books that discuss the plight of the poor in your area to classic novels by authors like John Steinbeck that focuses on poor, migrant, or disenfranchised people.

Anything that covers a topic related to poverty – like farming and agriculture or ethnic studies, to name just two examples – can be great ways to spark additional discussion.

Start a food drive.

Do you own a local business, attend a local university, or otherwise have a way to rally your community through an establishment you’re associated with? Partner up with other people and start a food or grocery drive. Focus on collecting truly useful items that cover a wide range of food groups and commonly overlooked needs (like feminine hygiene products).

Not only do food drives help the poor in practical ways by providing them with badly needed food and supplies, but they go a long way when it comes to raising awareness. You may even be able to get local media outlets and news stations to help you spread the word.

Participate in a poverty-focused run or walk.

Do a little research about local events and make it a point to participate. Fundraising walks, runs, and sporting events are common options. Some of them may already be focused on helping the poor or raising poverty awareness, in particular, and could really use your help.

Increase the reach of your efforts by getting your family, social group, coworkers, or classmates involved as well. Can’t find an event to participate in that focuses on poverty? Consider getting in touch with members of your city council and seeing what it takes to start your own.

Make it personal.

One of the most erroneous assumptions made about poverty is the people it affects. Unfortunately, poverty extends beyond the homeless people that might come to mind. In fact, the chances are excellent that you know someone living in poverty right now. Numerous poor people work full-time jobs or receive government benefits but still are living in poverty.

Consider those you may already know who might be living in poverty and think of ways you can help. Reach out to those people or families and use your experiences to shine a spotlight on what poverty really is, as well as where it exists. That’s how change starts – one step at a time.

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