'Witch of Mansfield' topic of next Cleo Redd Fisher Museum program

LOUDONVILLE − The Cleo Redd Fisher Museum kicks off its next Speaker Series by welcoming back historian and author Mark S. Jordan to discuss his new book, "The Witch of Mansfield: The Tetched Life of Phebe Wise."

The program is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 16, in the lecture hall of the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum, 203 E. Main St., Loudonville. The event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

The frontier town of Mansfield already had had its share of eccentrics, including mystic/businessman Johnny Appleseed and the incoherently rambling fiddler Orrin Pharris. But little did they know the queen of quirkiness had been born when Phebe Wise arrived in 1848. Or 1846. Or 1852. It's complicated.

The daughter of one of Mansfield's founding fathers, Phebe had a fraught relationship with her father, and it began twisting her natural brilliance. Inheriting her parents' property, Phebe became the target for robbers and an obsessed stalker, situations which culminated in startling acts of violence, from which Phebe emerged, a survivor.

It was her strange, hypnotic impact on a young cousin of hers named Louis Bromfield that launched his trajectory toward becoming a world-famous writer who often revisited Phebe in his works.

Jordan examines the curious life and legend of Phebe Wise, including historical photos and reports of eyewitness accounts of her life. Copies of Jordan's new book about Phebe Wise will be available for purchase and signing.

Jordan is an award-winning writer and author of several books including "The Ceely Rose Murders at Malabar Farm." He has received grants from the Ohio Arts Council, the Richland County Foundation, and more. He writes the History Knox local history column for Knox Pages, music criticism for Seen & Heard International, and does music appreciation talks and notes for the Cleveland Orchestra, the Mansfield Symphony, the Knox County Symphony and Mid Ohio Civic Opera.

For more information on the museum and activities, call 419 994-4050 or visit www.crfmuseum.com.

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: CRFM kicks off speaker series Historian Mark Sebastian Jordan