Shapeshifting Daniel Koon of the Dutch Fork

Daniel Koon after transforming himself into the bodiless head of an old man. Art by Patrick Jeffords.

The most famous magician in the Dutch Fork of central South Carolina was Daniel Koon. We spoke of him in our earlier post concerning his prowess in the art of "using" which could miraculously heal the suffering of others. More spectacularly though, he could change shape into a multitude of different objects and beings letting him sit out the Civil War in many ways.

Being born in 1810, Daniel Koon would have been too old to have been drafted by the Confederacy, yet one day Confederate soldiers with bloodhounds began trailing him to force him into service after refusing to enlist saying it went against his principles. Being a wizard, he would have been able to live his life looking much younger than he actually was and may explain both why he was popularly known as Little Daniel and also being targeted for enrollment. He was with a friend at the time the bloodhound was about to catch up to him when Daniel circled his companion and said they must both stand still. The hound began whining and backtracking after seeing that where the two men were was now just a pile of dead pine tree branches.

Later, Union soldiers in the area were looking for him, so to avoid detection he turned himself into a log. With no suspicion, the soldiers sat on the log to rest. He is quoted as saying in later years that "they sat there and ate their food and rested a while, and , Lord, they got heavy! I didn't see how I could stand it much longer, but when one of them took out his knife and began to whittle on me, that just wouldn't do!"

Being bored during the war years, Daniel enjoyed playing practical jokes like the following one on a neighbor's young daughter. She was at a spring collecting water when Koon turned himself into an old man featuring a long gray beard but lacking a body. The head just laying on the ground winked at the girl causing her to run away in terror.

Daniel Koon died in 1876 after a life filled of healing, shapeshifting and even magically putting out forest fires. Luckily his house still exists and can be visited on the Lexington County Museum property. The museum will be opening the Koon residence up to the public at a special Christmas open house later this year.



Source: Bradley, F.W. "Dutch Fork Won't Tell Secret of Little Daniel"The State 15 Jul. 1962