By Thomas D’Agostino

Witches in New England were very common in the days of old. Connecticut had more than its share wandering among the village folks, sometimes anonymously or in the case of Goody Wee, very well known. Killingworth’s Goody Wee lived just outside the village with her daughter Betty, who was also known to work in the dark arts.

   The farmer’s of Killingworth sought good wood for their fences and pens and the only place to find the best timber was in Cedar Swamp, the home of Goody and Betty Wee. The two enchantresses lived in a small cottage in a valley called “Goody Wee’s Crotch.”  

    The two witches would demand money, gifts, or favors from the farmer who wished to haul his load of wood. If someone attempted to take a load of wood or split rails from the forest without paying their due, the load would continually fall off the cart before the poor transgressor could ascend the hill successfully to the main road. Many swore that the witches had help from the devil in their ploy to make such an otherwise effortless task almost impossible.

   Even the local wives had their run ins with Goody and Betty. If the Wees showed up at one’s door, it was more than wise to give them what they wished, which was usually milk, bread, cloth, or other necessities the two sought for daily living. If they were refused, they would curse the churns that made butter and cheese, thus leaving the home with spoiled milk and no such provisions until their wish was fulfilled. 

   For many years the people of Killingworth were subject to Goody and Betty Wee’s powerful enchantments. When they passed, the townsfolk figured they were relieved of the minions of the dark one, but were wrong. For even now, when the dark sets in upon the area of the town, there are reports of two ghosts roaming the valley where Goody and Betty lived. The forms of the two females are still watching over their domain that they once ruled with an evil eye, and according to the old folk, the help of the devil.

   The following account will be of interest to the reader. J.B. Beer’s History of Middlesex County, published in 1884, page 428, contains a letter written by Martin Lord to Henry Hull. Martin Lord was a respected resident of Killingworth and lived on Roast Meat Hill Road. Henry Hull was the Town Clerk and served in that office for 49 years. In the letter, Lord relates several events in Killingworth’s history including the legend of the witches. He wrote:  

“In regard to the witches, I know nothing about them, only what I have heard, and perhaps that is as much as any one ever knew. I cannot give the name of the one that lived in Lane District. It has been reported, over and over again, about witches living in Chatfield Hollow. The old woman’s name was Goody Wee, and her daughter’s name was Betty Wee. There is a cut between the hills a little northeast of the Leander Watrous place, which has for nearly or quite a century been called ‘ Goody Wee’s Crotch.’ Undoubtedly, it was named after the supposed witch. It was formerly reported, the above named witches made their neighbors considerable trouble. For instance, they would enter the cream so it could not be worked into butter, and perform, according to the legends, other equally strange feats. It was said a person could not reach the top of Cedar Swamp Hill with a load of rails, as they would all slide out of the cart, by the agency of witches. Those things were imagined before Webster’s Spelling Book and Beckwith’s Almanac were published. The witches aforesaid are declared to have been seen riding through the air on broom sticks. I have never learned how they sat on them. I do not think of anything more in particular to write.”

 “Yours Most Respectfully, “M. Lord.” 

Lord’s writing provides some clues, including an approximate timeline of when the witches were in Killingworth. Noah Webster first published his American Spelling Book in 1783, concluding that the accounts must have taken place before then. The witches lived in a cut in the hills northeast of Leander Watrous. The Watrous house still stands on Champlin Road. Northeast of the house would put them in Chatfield Hollow or on an old road that ran south from where the entrance to Chatfield Hollow Park now is. The road ran along a stream between hills which may have been the “crotch.” The “Hill” was probably the steep hill coming out of Chatfield Hollow to where a traffic circle now resides.