The Curse of Jacob Green
The Curse of Jacob Green
A curse on you and all your line,
Jacob Green will appear another time.
Beware the year of seven,
The one who pays will not reach Heaven.
When the finger goes to the right,
There is no cause for you to fight,
But if the pendulum reverses its turn,
Jacob Green is looking for one to burn.
Jacob Green was a traveling man and it was said he could turn the head of any woman. He appeared on regular rounds. One time he may have been a traveling salesman, but the next time he would come with a Bible in his hand preaching to those who would listen. The next trip he could have been a mule trader. On each of his trips at least one woman would fall to his evil influence.
One year the word reached Southport, North Carolina, that Jacob Green was on his way. In October 1857 Charlie Gause, Wilson Mintz, Abraham White, Harvey Swain, Solomon Willets, and Obediah Sellers hanged Jacob Green. A ghostly voice sounded the curse as the body of Jacob Green swung from the oak limb. Twice, as the rope unwound counter-clockwise, the left arm stiffened and the finger pointed at Charlie Gause—then to Wilson Mintz.
Later that year (1857) Charlie Gause died in a house fire. Wilson Mintz was found burned to death at his Green Swamp tar kiln in 1867. Mary Simmons refused to run away with a peddler in 1887, and then died in a mysterious fire. The peddler’s name was Jacob Wilson, and Mary was the grand daughter of Abraham White. Al Swan burned to death in a car wreck in 1937. He was the great, great grandson of Harvey Swain. Just before the crash Swan had fought a mule trader by the name of Jake Lewis. The two traveling men, Wilson and Lewis, were direct descendants of Jacob Green. There is no known evidence that the families of Solomon Willets or Obadiah Sellers have suffered any tragedy that could be construed as a part of the curse. People who believe in curses say that until one is fulfilled it can be extended in all directions—even changes to other names.
My grandmother told me this story, and according to her, Jacob Green was her great, great grandfather. My middle name is Jacob, so is your name Willets or Sellers, or is there ones out there who are my enemies?
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The Curse of Jacob Green
By
Jess Parker
