I recently wrote about witching, or dowsing, for graves, generating a lot of comments from newsletter readers in the process. You can read the article and all the comments at http://goo.gl/6ifCP. Now the Winnipeg free Press has a somewhat similar article, describing the successes of Jack Mavins at locating unmarked graves.
Mavins has successfully located dozens of previously-unknown burial sites on windy hilltop cemeteries and vacant corners of old farmyards for the past 20 years. Mavins claims to not only find where the bodies are buried but also determine whether it's a male or female, and whether it's an adult, adolescent or child. He says he can also tell whether it's animal or human. The only thing he can't say is why it works.
Mavins thinks it's nothing out of the ordinary, really. His two sons can do it; his wife and daughter can't.
While some people always scoff at claims of witching, Mavins has numerous witnesses. For instance, Kathy Stokes, president of the Manitoba Genealogical Society (MGS), says Mavins's work is invaluable. Thanks to Mavins, Springfield has some of the best catalogued cemeteries in the province.
You can read the entire article by Bill Redekop in the Winnipeg Free press at http://goo.gl/5odBh.
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