Who was Jonathan Buck and why was he cursed?

Answer 1

My paternal grandfather, Theodore Woodman Cunningham, came from Bucksport, Maine. The story my father told me was that Jonathan Buck, the founder of Bucksport, burned a witch. As she burned, her foot charred and fell off. She shouted at Buck that this would be a sign on his tombstone. Sure enough, when Buck died, a dark vein in the shape of a boot oxidized on his tombstone a day after he was buried. The tombstone has been sandblasted (?) more than once, but the dark vein always comes back. Be careful, though, if you ask the locals (i.e. my father) you'll be told that the tombstone was REPLACED, not sandblasted. In the seventies, one of the supermaket tabloids printed an article on Jonathan Buck, giving it a "Scarlet Letter" twist. According to this account, the woman was accused of witchcraft on the strength of her having borne an illegitimate child. Buck was charged with questioning her. She refused to name the father, and so was burned. Again, according to this version, Buck himself was the father.

ANSWER

Jonathan Buck was a resident of Bucksport, Maine, in the late 1700s, who accused his wife of being a witch. The town executed her and just before she died she cursed him, and her foot and leg appeared on his grave when he died. Lately there have been rumors that it is all a hoax, and that the granite in the stone has a defect. However, there are written accounts of her execution, which include the cursing. The foot and leg were not on the stone until it was placed over Jonathan buck's grave. The marks have been washed off and it did reappear, however some say it was replaced but I'm not sure, I know for sure though that it was cleaned many times.