A surviving tradition concerning her brings vividly to mind that delusion which so disgraced some parts of Massachusetts, but from which Hadley was so largely free. It was sometimes thought that Hannah was "possessed" that she was indeed a witch. Perhaps she feigned her action in sport, or it may be she was the subject of some nervous disorder. But the story goes that when afflicted she would call on her brother Samuel for help. He would at once arm himself with a great broadsword, enter the room where Hannah was, and when his sister had pointed out the locality of the tormenting spirits - to him invisible - would cut and slash for very life. And then Hannah, - the wicked tease, - noting her brother's troubled air, would say, "No, not there, but there! there! - Rev. Richard Montague in address at Hadley, 1882.
