Caroline Dye

Caroline Dye (1810 or c. 1843–1918) also known as Aunt Caroline, was a renowned African American Hoodoo woman, rental property investor, soothsayer, rootworker and conjuror based in Newport, Arkansas.

Early life Aunt Caroline Dye was born Caroline Tracy in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Her gravestone cites her age at the time of her death as 108 years old, which would put her birth year at 1810. However, several US federal census forms in Jackson County from the year 1870 to 1910 estimate her birth year should be between 1843 and 1853. Note, it was not uncommon for incorrect birth years to appear on the census forms of formerly enslaved people. And like many other persons who were born into slavery, the names of Caroline's parents are unknown. However, she and her 12 siblings were owned by William (1789-1841) and Nancy Tracy, who operated a plantation in Spartanburg.

Rise to prominence After gaining her freedom in 1863, Caroline moved to Franklin County, Arkansas, where several townships were established for newly freed Black people. Will Shade, leader of the Memphis Jug Band, was interviewed by Paul Oliver and said, "White and colored would go to her. You sick in bed, she raise the sick. … Had that much brains — smart lady. … That’s the kind of woman she was. Aunt Caroline Dye, she was the worst woman in the world. Had that much sense." In one interview with a woman identified as Madam Collins of Memphis, she said that Aunt Caroline healed her cousin, Lou T. in Oil Trough, Arkansas. The Christian Bible is also revered as a talisman, a book of spells used to obtain the blessings and healings of God. For members of the Hoodoo community, the Bible is greatest book of conjure.

Aunt Caroline was strictly rooted in Hoodoo tradition, which has Central African influences. While many often confused this spirituality with actual religions, she did not practice West African Voodoo nor Louisiana Voodoo. She also did not believe in cursing people and refused to give predictions about love interest or wars.

Death Aunt Caroline Dye died on September 26, 1918, in Newport, Arkansas. The will stated she had "no heirs of my body..." The majority of her land and money was to be divided between Irene Atkin, a child that she adopted and Mac Griffin, a nephew. She placed her longtime friend, C. M. Erwin, in charge of her rental properties and Irene's trust, believing her nephew would squander it all. Caroline's daughter, Hannah, is not listed on any census forms nor in her will. Large stacks of cash were found in Aunt Caroline's home, and there were whispers that she also had gold hidden in secret places around Newport. People flocked to the city and searched for decades, but nothing was ever recovered.

Legacy Aunt Caroline Dye is still known today through African American oral tradition and blues music. Several blues artists featured her in their songs. Will Shade and the Memphis Jug Band performed a song titled "Aunt Caroline Dyer Blues." The lyrics of the song speak of a man going to Newport, Arkansas to see Aunt Caroline. She's described as a fortune-telling woman, who can whip him up a mojo bag, so that he can strut his stuff around town and not live so rough. She's also called a two-headed woman, who can raise the sick, break spells and possesses power far greater than Seven Sisters, a notable family of conjurors in New Orleans in the 1920s. Johnny Temple also wrote his 1937 hit "Hoodoo Woman" about Aunt Caroline. The lyrics call her by name and speak of him standing on a mountain in Jerusalem, Arkansas and then going to Newport, Arkansas to seek a mojo from Aunt Caroline.