While doing research I came across the tantalizing story of Elizabeth Lewis, daughter of my 7th Great Grandfather Benjamin Lewis (making her my 6th Great Grand Aunt) and the stories of her being accused of partaking in withcraft. I couldn't resist but to look into the stories even more. In a book written by Amos Otis called The Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families I came across the following references to Elizabeth.

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Listed under the genealogical notes for her father Benjamin Lewes in the same book I found the following references to the families reputed ties to witchcraft... Starting with the paragraph 'That a man of common sense...'

A story written by reporter Jack Sheedy for the Barnstable Patriot in 2005 contained this, " Just south of Barnstable village is a forest that has been haunted for centuries, since the days of the local witch Liza Tower Hill. Born in the early 18th century, she grew up in the forest and lived there throughout her adulthood, in the vicinity of Mary Dunn Pond. In the forest she would dance upon the surface of the pond as devilish fish swam below and mutant animals gathered along the shore. On at least two occasions she was accused by local men of turning them into a horse and then riding them to Witches' Sabbaths, sometimes as far away as Plymouth. Even after her death, locals claimed to see her ghost in the forest, most notably witnessed by a Dr. Richard Bourne on Christmas night in 1810. On that evening, the good doctor made merry with the ghost, and drank and danced with her well past midnight. In the morning he awoke alone in the woods, most likely cold and a little hung over."