The Accused: A Witch Trial in Colonial Virginia

Step back into 1671 Colonial Virginia and meet my 11th-great-grandmother, Eleanor Neale, a woman accused of witchcraft in a world wracked by superstition and power. In this premiere episode of Legacy Lore: The Accused, I bring together court records, land deeds and family lore to ask: Who was Eleanor? Why was she targeted? And what does her story mean for the generations that followed?

From her early life in the Virginia colony to the lawsuit that changed everything, we paint the backdrop of a society where accusation meant survival was on the line. If you’re fascinated by genealogy, true-crime history and the hidden legacies that ripple through time, this is your entry point.

Website & Sources: LegacyLorePod.comFollow on Instagram: @LegacyLorePod

Sources + Suggested Readings:

1. ​Northumberland County Record Book 1666–1673 • Virginia Colonial Abstracts Vol. 1 • Library of Virginia Archives.
2. ​Library of Virginia: Colonial Virginia Laws & Coverture Doctrine Overview.
3. ​British National Archives: “Coverture and Women’s Legal Status in the Seventeenth Century.”
4. ​Lower Norfolk County Court Records, 1642 - referenced in Beverley Fleet’s Virginia Colonial Abstracts, Vol. 31.

Additional source links and research notes can be found on the on the Legacy Lore Blog.