The Witch of Mansfield: The Tetched Life of Phebe Wise

by Mark S. Jordan

Meet one of Richland County's most colorful citizens. There are those who thought Phebe Wise was a witch. More thought that the cranky old lady was "tetched," meaning crazy. And she was crazy--like a fox. An eccentric who outwitted violent robbers, a mad stalker, and a society that expected her to marry and raise children, Phebe alternated between dressing up in men's clothes and strutting to town in an antique ball gown, the trail dragging behind her in the dirt. If anyone had the gall to stare, she'd cuss them out. She was in touch with a different world, and she used it to help launch the career of a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, Louis Bromfield. Local author and historian Mark Sebastian Jordan unravels the myth and history of Phebe Wise.

Genres: Historical, Nonfiction, Biography

128 pages, Paperback

Published September 18, 2023

Reviews

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cool piece of local Ohio history. Before now, I hadn't heard of Phebe Wise but her story is fascinating. She didn't put up with stupid stuff that's for sure. I might have to check out some more from Louis Bromfield in the future.

[Victoria Everhart · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the content is very interesting concerning local history there is a total lack of continuity. He spent more time giving familial history of everyone BUT Phebe.

[Kaleigh Langlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good read about some local history!! It is definitely a historical nonfiction book, which are typically harder for me to read but this one was actually a really interesting story! I think it helped that it tied into OSR so much and local areas I'm familiar with so I was able to picture it a little more! Learning about Phebe Wise and everything she was and went through was amazing! I cannot believe she had to go through everything with Jakob for so long before she had to handle it herself!! Overall great read!!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun dive into the central ohio (specifically Mansfield) legend and lore of Phebe Wise.

[Marla Sigler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating! Love local history and this did not disappoint.

[David]

A great deep dive into local history. Bonus points for the connection to Louis Bromfield. If you don’t know his name, look him up. He was kind of a big deal for a sizable chunk of the 20th century.

[Ashlyn M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but this book is more about people surrounding her than about Phebe herself. I felt like there was very little on why she was called a "witch."

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my Ohioana book festival buys and it's definitely niche local Ohio history. Phebe Wise isn't anyone famous. She was more or less local color but in a way that made it a bit more interesting to me. We don't usually see average people getting biographies written about them, though maybe calling Phebe average is a disservice.

I will say the title is a bit of a click bait in a way. No one really thought of her as a witch except maybe youngsters who called the strange old lady in the ramshackle house is a witch (there's always one isn't there in rural areas? It's going to be me pretty soon). And in some ways this biography is more about the men around her than Phebe herself because they had such an effect on her life and shaped her.

Christian Wise was her father. We have no solid year of birth for Phebe but she was a younger child and in the mid 1800s that meant the role of caretaker for her aging parents would fall to her (so no marriage, no career as a teacher) with the expectations she would get the house in the end (as was customary at the time). Christian did have her trained in the classics including literature and piano (he hated her banjo playing) But he also filled her head with how much money his land/house/waterways were worth and to be wary of any man wanting to marry her because they'd be after her money. Besides she was 'too Indian looking' for anyone to be interested. (there's some speculation on that cruel statement)

Phebe fulfilled her expected role, even ending up living in much poverty as she obeyed her father's wishes, holding onto the property. However the townspeople also believed in the wealth left to her and there is a chunk of this biography dedicated to the three men who broke into the house to rob and torture her (with lifelong lasting effects)

The biggest part of the biography however is given to Jake Kastanowitz, a would be suitor turner stalker turned mentally insane. This part of the biography is absolutely bonkers and I don't want to spoil how it turned out. You have to feel very sorry for Phebe. On the other hand, you also get to see how she takes no crap from anyone.

The weirder part of this biography is given to the last man influencing Phebe's life and actually more how she influenced his. Louis Bromfield, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, met Phebe and her guard/attack horse, Scottie, when he was a young boy. They had other conversations over the years, not many, but she had such a lasting effect on him. She ended up inspiring several of his female characters. He was very open about this and every new book or short story collection was to be sent to her (and they were up to her death)

Phebe herself was interesting but in a way tragic. Once her parents passed, she started dressing in the ballgowns (Pre-Civil War) that she wasn't allowed to touch because they were too expensive. She grew her own food/had chickens which wasn't that unusual in that time period but she was also isolated on her father's farm. She didn't really have a life of her own or maybe she had exactly the life she wanted.

I had never heard of Phebe before this but I'm glad I got to know her a little.

[Kevin Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

My third book for the year is Mark Jordan’s The Witch of Mansfield. I read this back in January and am now getting to the point of reviewing it. I read Mark’s other book, The Ceely Rose Murders at Malabar Farm. I enjoyed reading that one. This book I feel could have been summed up in a few pages. A lot of the book dealt with other stories or history that, while somewhat intertwined with the main character, I felt was unnecessary fluff. Perhaps the title set some preconceived notions in my head about Phebe and mystic dealing in witchcraft, but it simply wasn’t the case. I feel that some passages were copy and pasted from one part of the book to another. I learned more about those around her than Phebe herself. Overall, I was disappointed in this read. I feel her story would have been better written as a chapter in a book about Louis Bromfield.

[Tiffany Horvath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read about local Ohio history.