Curse of the Hoodoo Doctor
In November of 1859 an abolitionist, and "hoodoo doctor" named Mathias was caught at a Savannah Georgia plantation while organizing an escape of slaves and murdered. But some say he cursed his attackers and still haunts his place of death. Who was Mathias and what power did he possess?
The African American man known as Mathias is first mentioned in the notes of a Rochester New York Quaker Minister named Reilly Daniels in June of 1858. Arriving with a letter from the American Abolitionist Organization (AAO) that declared him a freeman, Mathias was housed by the Minister and became the church's handyman. Reilly's sermon notes for early June state:
"And although popular society and some southern senators may make it an unpopular statement, I must declare that slavery is a sin in the eyes of the Lord and you have but to speak to our new friend Mathias to understand the villainy of this social evil."
Little is known of Mathias and no photographs exist of him. His earlier history is unknown and no records of him exist in the archives of the AAO. (Although later events may have caused any such records to be destroyed) What kept his name alive in Rochester were the oral stories that were passed down from generation to generation. Stories that say he was a "hoodoo doctor" (one who practices the darker hoodoo arts) and that he was better left alone.
What is Hoodoo? A simplistic definition would be that it is a folk magic, passed on thru generations of southern blacks (and some whites) that mixes Christianity, American Indian beliefs, many African religions, with the aspects of fetish worship. Believers think that they can bring luck, throw curses, and manipulate the actions of elemental forces thru spell casting (which in Hoodoo is called, "throwing tricks"). Candles, magnetic lodestones, and mojo bags of herbs and tokens all play important roles in this religion. Although Hoodoo's origins are blurred, it is thought to have arisen when Africans were forced to become slaves in America and found different religious rites thrust upon them. Since many African religions have a policy of incorporating other religious beliefs and icons into their own, hoodoo was born as a spiritual bridge between beliefs.
Although in normal times a man practicing magic might have found disfavor amongst a Christian preacher, Daniels and Mathias worked together for almost 2 years. Minster Reilly may have been more forgiving since Mathias came with a letter from the AAO and the organization began secretly supplying funds to the church. These payments helped the minister in making the church a safe house for the Underground Railroad. During this time, hundreds of escaped slaves acquired the help of the Minister and Mathias to make their escape to Canada. Still there was some tension. Abigail Potterson, another prominent abolitionist who operated the "depot" before Reilly's, states that fact in her diary entry of February 25th:
"I move with half closed eyes during the day since my nights are not spent in sleep but in the never-ending transport of fugitives up the line. Since they are on the border, Reilly and his man Mathias have become a welcome sight to many a soon to be free negroe. Still their bickering adds more strain to my already aching head. Some nights I think Mathias would sooner be rid us than listen to another holy word writ by the hand of God and uttered by the mouth of Minister Reilly. Mathias' methods are not ours and it vexes the Minster to no end."
But tensions must have reached a boiling point because in March of 1860 Mathias left Rochester heading for Savannah Georgia where he planned to infiltrate a plantation posing as a slave, and then lead a large group back up the Underground Railroad. Abigail Potterson's diary entry for March 12th, 1860 states,
"Mathias came last night and it is a peculiar sight to know that he is moving south on the line instead of north. His plan of helping the slaves we have heard of in Savannah is a brave one. I've secured him in the cellar for the day and went about acquiring passage for him by carriage down to the next "station". When I brought lunch to him I was witness to an oddity that I dare not repeat anywhere else but here. Mathias was sitting upon the damp earth of the cellar floor, facing away from me, tossing a collection of what looked to be white twigs on the ground before him and muttering in a low voice. Thinking he was but passing the time I walked up and tapped him on the shoulder. Mathias turned to look at me with what I can only describe as hatred in his eyes. At once my breath was taken away and I felt faint. I came to lying on that sour earth floor with Mathias kneeling beside me. He apologized for, "scaring the soul away from my body" and that he meant no harm. I thanked him for the words but noticed that one of the white twigs lay at his feet, uncollected. It wasn't a twig, though, but an animal bone!"
Mathias' journey southward is unrecorded but he did make it to the plantation of Earl Landers and began planning the escape of 12 slaves. Samantha Devon's grandfather was one of the men that escaped because of Mathias and she told his side of the story for the 1961 book "Unchaining Freedom."
"That man who helped my grandpa was a Hoodoo doctor, grandpa said he could tell just by the way he showed up. Can a normal man just appear one night at a Georgia slave cabin and say he was from New York and was gonna help everybody get free? They knew what he was and were scared of what he would do if anybody said no to him. Grandpa Toby said that one night he gathered everybody in one of the houses and told them tonight was the night. He gave them all mojo bags to wear underneath their clothes and said that it would make them invisible to the white people. One boy, Silas, he refused to go along with it and instead went to tell the foreman what was going on. Grandpa said Silas was dead before he ever got halfway across the yard! That hoodoo man killed him. But the dogs must have smelled something cause they let up a howl and everybody had to get out of there quick as they could. The Hoodoo man stayed behind making some spell to stop the men from chasing them but something happened and he got caught. Grandpa saw freedom because of that man and was grateful but he never wanted to see him again. Said if he wasn't the devil then he was a close cousin"
A newspaper article published in the Savannah Register on April 3rd recounts the official side of the event:
COLORED RASCAL CAUGHT, SLAVES ESCAPE
The farm of Earl Landers was the scene of an escape last night. Mr. Landers shot and caught an unknown negroe that is suspected of being a northern abolitionist agitator but 12 negroes are still missing. Mr. Lander's brother, Andrew Landers was killed when his horse fell upon him during the chase. Following is a list of the escaped slaves and their particulars . . .
After capture, the wounded Mathias was taken into custody by Savannah Sheriff Gil Smithson and housed in a cell at the Regal Street courthouse. No medical attention is noted for the aforementioned bullet wound and the last official record states that Mathias died "attempting escape" later that evening. But in 1901 former deputy sheriff Wayne Haskins confessed to watching Earl Landers and the Sheriff hang the captured man in the jail cell. Haskins also related that the they were taken by surprise when the prisoner suddenly stopped struggling and instead used his last breath of life to snatch a black flannel bag from underneath his belt and sprinkle the contents of it on the Sheriff and Landers. Locals say it was this last "trick" by Mathias that caused both men to be cursed with bad luck from then until a few years later when they were both killed in the bloody Civil War battle of Bull Run.
But it seems that the presence of Mathias continued even after his death. As the years passed, and rumors circulated of the murder, many workers at the courthouse became convinced that his ghost haunted the jail cell. Prisoners housed in the room said it was unnaturally cold, workers reported the smell of herbs, and it was even said that you could hear the sound of Mathias rasping breath as the noose tightened around his neck.
In 1948 the courthouse was torn down and the 88-year-old murder forgotten. But in 1973 a local citizen named Terrance Malloy published a book on the history of the city and included a photo he had discovered at an estate sale. It shows a woman in turn of the century dress standing in front of the window of the old jail cell (by the 1900's the jail cell was being used as a supply room.) Malloy, having already researched the facts behind the lynching, came to the conclusion that the blurry image on the windowpane was the ghost of Mathias. While this may have helped sales of his book, his hasty judgment also brought to life the deeper story of the Hoodoo Doctor's life and death.
sources
"The Underground Railroad in Rochester" Tandem Publishing 1983
The archive of the American Abolitionist Organization, Chicago Museum of History
"Tall Tales Of the Northeast: Field Reports and Folk Stories" New York Weekender magazine, vol. 23, issue 4, May 2000
"Unchaining Freedom" Samuel Sodkempt, Aceway Books, 1961
Collected back issues of the Savannah Register, Register Newspaper Reprint Section
Chatham County Courthouse, Records Division
"The Secret City of Savannah" Terrance Malloy, Hometown Books, 1973
Photo credit: "The Secret City Of Savannah" Terrance Malloy, Hometown Books, 1973
