Word on the Street

<article class="history-article"> <p class="lead">Exactly one hundred years after Salem, Winnsboro became the site of one of the last recorded witch hunts in the United States. In 1792, bizarre hysteria gripped the countryside after livestock started dropping dead and several residents fell into unexplained fits. The community placed the blame on 77-year-old Mary Ingelman, a German-born widow and herbalist, accusing her of bewitching cows and turning a neighbor into a horse to ride to a secret coven.</p> <p>A mob rounded up Ingelman and three others, holding an illegal vigilante trial at a plantation south of town. Though tortured and badly burned, Ingelman survived. Demonstrating backcountry resilience, she refused to back down: once she recovered, she took her tormentors to legitimate district court and had several members of the mob indicted for assault.</p> <footer class="article-media"> <p>Watch a detailed breakdown of the 1792 hysteria, the bizarre accusations, and the court records on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F66XFh6d4k" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Forgotten Witches of Winnsboro, South Carolina (1792 Witch Hunt and Trials)</a>.</p> </footer> </article>

A Fairfield County farmer is suing Healthcare SC, LLC, the owner of an MLILY factory destroyed in a massive fire. According to a lawsuit filed Friday, plaintiff Amy Bates is suing MLily USA and its Chinese parent companies following a 48-hour fire at the Winnsboro mattress factory that began on Aug. 16. Court documents state Bates lives and farms on about one acre of land in Ridgeway, roughly 10 miles from the facility. According to the lawsuit, the fire consumed massive amounts of petroleum-derived, combustible chemicals and finished foam. Bates claims this released carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide gas, and fine particulate matter into the surrounding community, contaminating her land, crops, and a neighboring creek.