View source for Michael Zittle Jr.

{{Infobox person
| name        = Michael Zittle, Jr.
| image       = File:Zittle_Family_Photo.jpg
| caption     = The Zittle Family of South Mountain.
| birth_date  = October 5, 1798
| birth_place = [[Washington County, Maryland]], US
| death_date  = July 5, 1877 
| death_place = [[Boonsboro, Maryland]], US
| resting_place= Boonsboro Cemetery
| occupation   = {{Hlist | Occultist | poet | novelist | mountaineer }}
| alma_mater  = 
| parents     = Michael Zittle Sr. and Mary Magdalena Hiestand Zittle
| spouse       = {{marriage|Catherine Koogle Zittle|1825|1872|end=died}}
| children     = 2
| relatives   = 
| signature   = 
}}

'''Michael Zittle Jr.''' (October 5, 1798 – July 5, 1877) or '''The Wizard of South Mountain''' was an American [[occultist]], [[ceremonial magic]]ian, author, and mountaineer.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dahlgren|first=Madeleine|date=1882|title=South Mountain Magic|location=|publisher=James R. Osgood & Co.|page= 161-163}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.-->|date= February 26, 1974|title  = Tales of Early Residents with Strange Powers|url= https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/21991355/| work = The Daily Mail | location  = [[Hagerstown, Maryland]]}}</ref> He was born to a German father, American mother, and was the third oldest of ten children. Zittle became popular in the area as healer, he would offer his services to alleviate a wide array of difficulties, such as compelling a thief to return stolen property, providing a “sure cure for fever," closing a wound from firearms, curing the bite of a mad dog and “dispelling the fear of the darkness of night.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://boonsborohistoricalsociety.org/boonsboro-reflections-the-wizard-of-zittlestown/|title=Boonsboro Reflections: The Wizard of Zittlestown|date=December 14, 2017|website=Boonsboro Historical Society|access-date=July 19, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Barry|first=Joseph|date=1903|title=The Strange Story of Harper's Ferry - With Legends of the Surrounding Country|page=189-191|publisher=Martinsburg W. VA: Thompson Brothers}}</ref>

==''Family''==

==''A Friend In Need''==
''A Friend in Need; Or, Secret Science'' was a [[Handbook]] written by Zittle in 1845 on how to perform witchcraft. According to legend, after publication of the book Zittle lost his powers as a result of trying to commoditize his supernatural powers. In 1975, a copy of his book was found by Boonsboro resident Pauline Routzahn.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.preservationmaryland.org/haunted-history-the-wizard-of-south-mountain-michael-zittle/|title=Haunted History: The Wizard of South Mountain – Michael Zittle|date=October 30, 2020|website=Preservation Maryland|access-date= July 16, 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zittle, Michael}}
[[Category:1798 births]]
[[Category:1877 deaths]]
[[Category:American people of German descent]]
[[Category:Witchcraft in folklore and mythology]]
[[Category:Supernatural legends]]
[[Category:Maryland folklore]]
[[Category:People from Washington County, Maryland]]
[[Category:Burials in Maryland]]
[[Category:19th-century mystics]]
[[Category:19th-century American writers]]
[[Category:American occultists]]
[[Category:American folklore]]
[[Category:19th-century occultists]]
[[Category:Witchcraft in Maryland]]