There’re several versions of how the “little woman” came to know the David Alexander and Margaret Whittaker Buckner family. Some say they met her around Rockwood; some say she showed up as a traveler at their home at Standing Stone; and some say she knew Alex from where they grew up, in Dry Valley, just west of Standing Stone. Both Polly Brewington and Alex Buckner were close neighbors shortly before he moved to Standing Stone. Whatever the circumstances, the “little woman” wound up working in the Buckner home and on the farm.
By the time Polly Brewington came to work for the Buckner’s, they already had six or seven of their eventual nine children. Polly and her two brothers had come to Standing Stone and lived below the bluffs off North Holly St. about a mile south of the Buckners. Her brothers worked at a sawmill, while Polly did domestic work in different homes. Buckner later built her a house across the road from them so supposedly she could be close and not have to walk so far.
A small woman, Polly was known for her dark eyes, dark hair dark skin. What really stood out about her was that she always wore a black bonnet, black dress with white collar and cuffs and carried a black leather purse that was tied by leather drawstrings. She could be seen walking the paths and roadways to and from the Buckner.
She tried every way in the world she could to break up Alex and Margaret, but Alex had no interest in her, he said. She would slip in at night and get in bed with Alex and Margaret or pull the bed coverings off them. Polly even had her brothers threaten Margaret, but nothing worked.
Sometime after the birth of a son, in Dec. 1881, Margaret took her new baby to show him off. In the middle of one discussion, she exclaimed, “Well, the old witch is dead!” The women asked her what she meant. She replied, “Polly Brewington is dead and now, she’s still tormenting me.”
Sure enough, Polly had died. No one knew how Margaret knew so quickly. Family stories say that Alex had left one day, and Margaret had hit Polly with a ginseng hoe, making her fall off a bluff to her death. Polly’s brothers took her body back to Dry Valley and left the area. Polly’s ghost wasn’t in such a hurry to get out of town.
The “little lady” dressed in black would appear to Margaret the rest of her life and to others. Margaret would be sweeping when Polly would appear. Margaret would swing her broom into the air at the ghostly witch. When her and Alex would go to bed, Margaret would take her broom and sweep under it, just in case Polly was there. Even with that, Polly would still be up to her old tricks, like appearing in the bed between them or pulling their covers off.
When Alec died, Margaret had to move into town with one of her children. Polly didn’t stop. She came along. Margaret could be seen taking a whack or two in the air at the little woman. Many others saw the “little woman” in her black dress with white cuffs and collar, carrying her shiny black drawstring purse walking along North Holly St. at night. When Margaret died, Polly still appeared. Flora Cates, a granddaughter of Margaret’s seen her peeping through the window as they were setting up with her grandmother’s body, just before she was buried.
There had been a secret between Polly and Alex. There was a baby born between them. Modern DNA proves it. On Nov. 1, 1869, a baby boy named Porter was born. Polly gave him to her daughter and eventually, he took his half-sister’s married name of Owens. Were there more children between them? Probably.
Does then “little woman” still roam the streets at night? If you see a little old woman in black dress and bonnet carrying a shiny black purse walking down the road, don’t tip your hat. Keep looking straight ahead and mind your own business or she may follow you home.