Moll Dyer (c. 1697) is the name of a legendary 17th-century resident of Leonardtown, Maryland, who is said to have been accused of witchcraft and chased out of her home by the local townsfolk on a winter night. Her body was allegedly found a few days later, partially frozen to a large stone. The legend of Moll Dyer is an oral-history folktale that has been told in the region of St. Mary's County, Maryland for decades, if not centuries. Local legend keeps that Moll Dyer was a 17th-century colonist in Leonardtown, Maryland. Dates surrounding the origin of this folktale are hazy, but the consensus is that the events took place during a February in the late 1690s- during the Maryland Witch Trials that resulted in multiple acquittals and one recorded death. There are currently no known primary sources, census data, or otherwise firmly historical evidences to prove that the events of this legend occurred. Records of Leonardtown's colonial period are often considered incomplete, since many were lost in the fire that destroyed the town courthouse on 8 March, 1831.[1]

Moll Dyer (c. 1697) is the name of a legendary 17th-century resident of Leonardtown, Maryland, who is said to have been accused of witchcraft and chased out of her home by the local townsfolk on a winter night. Her body was allegedly found a few days later, partially frozen to a large stone.