Little Witch

The Little Witch of Pilot’s Knob is a strange and scary legend surrounding a young girl who was buried in a concrete grave in Marion, Kentucky.

Years ago, back in 1916, a woman named Mary Louise Ford and her five year old daughter, Mary Ellen Ford, were living in Pilot’s Knob. Both mother and daughter were accused of being witches and the superstitious villagers were too terrified to wait and bring them to trial. Instead, they dragged the mother and daughter out of their house and burned them alive at the stake.


They buried the mother’s body somewhere else, but they were afraid that the little witch girl would come back from the dead in search of revenge. So the fearful villagers made sure they took precautions to protect themselves. They buried her right there in Pilot’s Knob in a steel reinforced coffin. After they lowered it into her grave, they filled it in with concrete. Then they put gravel all over the top and built a metal fence all around the grave site. The fence was made from interconnected white crosses, which the villagers believed would keep the ghost of the little witch trapped inside.

According to legend, the little witch’s ghost paces back and forth behind the fence. They say that she is still searching for her mother who was buried elsewhere, but she cannot escape the confines of the fence.

Some people have even seen tiny child’s footprints in the gravel over her grave. Locals believe that if you visit the little witch’s grave alone and get too close, her hands will come up from the grave, grab hold of you and drag you down into the concrete.

Those who have seen her say she wears a white dress that is scorched at the bottom and her long blonde hair smoulders at the ends.

People who live in the area advise visitors not to go near the grave site. “I never go there”, said one local, “No one does. There is a lot of stuff that goes on up there.” Other locals will tell you that you need to “turn around and not go into that cemetery.”