Today, we want to talk about water witching and the early settler. Water witching, also known as dowsing, is a process that has been known to help individuals locate ground water for use as a well.

As early settlers in Brown County cleared land to build a home, a water supply was necessary. Old wells are found throughout the county. One way to find water was to witch for the best location where there was a good vein.

Dowsing,” “water witching,” “divining” and “doodlebugging” are all names for the practice of locating groundwater by walking the surface of a property while holding a forked stick, a pair of L-shaped rods, a pendulum, or another tool that responds when the person moves above a location that will yield an adequate flow of water to a drilled well. Water witching would work high on a hill or in the valley.

A well was dug by hand, often three to six feet in diameter, 10 to 15 feet deep. They were successful when water was found to seep between the layers of siltstone and begin to fill the well. After the well was dug, the settlers lined the well with creek stone. Some large wells were covered by a roof. Often, a large sandstone with a center hole was the well cover. A bucket with a rope attached was used to draw the water up, a bucket-full at a time. The bucket was dropped down and pulled back up by hand. The rope wore a groove in the sandstone. The edge of that stone was also a good place for the farmer to sharpen his knife.

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At Easter, one family’s tradition was to have the children place their hats around the stone, hoping to discover a treat or some candy or fruit in their hat by morning.

A well was so important to a family, they did not waste water.

Later, a hand pump with a pipe was much easier than dipping with a bucket. Better yet was the placing of a pipe to have a pump indoors at the kitchen sink.

Witching to find something underground had another use: grave dowsing. Grave dowsing is one of the many ways in which this simple skill is used. The graves in question are usually not visible on the ground in any way. As with most dowsing applications, there are many different interpretations offered.

— Submitted by Pauline Hoover, Brown County Historical Society