Blair Township is founded in Maryland in the early 1600's. 1785 - Elly Kedward is accused and convicted of witchcraft. Her accusers are several small children who claim she lured them to her home and drew blood. • Documentary description of Elly Kedward Kedward dies when she is banished to the woods during a particularly harsh winter and, according to most accounts, is tied to a tree and left to perish in the bitter cold. But does she perish? 1787 - Many of the town's children, including all of Kedward's accusers, disappear. Was it Kedward's doing? The townspeople believe it is, and they abandon Blair. Most of them fear the town is cursed. They vow never to utter Elly Kedward's name again. 1800's - The legend of the Blair Witch is well-known. It is first documented in print in The Blair Witch Cult, published in 1809. The book is supposed to be fiction, but it tells of an entire town cursed by an outcast witch. Sounds familiar. 1824 - Burkittsville is founded on the Blair site. 1825 - Ten-year-old Eileen Treacle drowns in Tappy East Creek. According to eleven witnesses, a pale hand or arm reaches up out of the water and pulls the girl under. Incomprehensibly, her body is never found, even though the water is only two feet deep. 1886 - Another child disappearance. This time it's eight-year-old Robin Weaver who vanishes, and a search party is sent out. While they're gone, Robin returns--but the search party doesn't. Their bodies are eventually found at Coffin Rock, tied together at the arms and legs and completely disemboweled. May 1941 - Rustin Parr, an old hermit, confesses to having abducted seven children from Burkittsville, supposedly luring them with candy. He admits to police that he ritualistically murdered and disemboweled the children in the basement of his secluded house in the woods, claiming that "an old woman ghost" told him to do it. 1942 - Parr is hanged, and a year later his house mysteriously burns to the ground. Only one of Parr's victims survives—nine-year-old Kyle Brody. Brody tells police that he was forced to stand in the corner and watch as Parr tortured and murdered the other children. He lives out the remainder of his life in a mental institution.