Michael Zittle Jr.

Michael Zittle, Jr.
The Zittle family of South Mountain
Born	October 5, 1798 Washington County, Maryland, US
Died	July 5, 1877 Boonsboro, Maryland, US
Resting place	Boonsboro Cemetery
Occupations	Occultist poet novelist mountaineer
Spouse	Catherine Koogle ​ ​ (m. 1825; died 1872)​
Children	2
Parent(s)	Michael Zittle Sr. and Mary Magdalena Hiestand Zittle

Michael Zittle Jr. (October 5, 1798 – July 5, 1877) or The Wizard of South Mountain was an American occultist, ceremonial magician, author, and mountaineer. He was born to a German father, American mother, and was one of nine 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.”

A Friend In Need

A Friend in Need; Or, Secret Science was a handbook written by Zittle in 1845 on how to perform magic spells. It was based on a German book of magic, referred to by Zittle's neighbors as his "black book" or "conjuring book". According to legend, after publication of the book, Zittle lost his powers as a result of trying to commodify his supernatural powers. In 1975, a copy of the published English book was found by Boonsboro resident Pauline Routzahn. Today, a copy of both the English and original German can be viewed at the Boonsbourough Museum of History.