It makes me wonder

While surfing the net I ran across this news story. You have to see this!

As Promised

As promised I visited two of my favorite old homes today. The first is Endview Plantation. (Here is a brief history of the plantation)

Built in 1769 by William Harwood. By the outbreak of the Civil War, Endview had passed out of direct ownership of the Harwood family and was purchased by William’s great-grandson Dr. Humphrey Harwood Curtis. Dr. Curtis was one of two physicians in the county at this time. The 1860 census shows that Curtis owned $8,000 worth of real estate, $21,000 worth of personal property and 12 slaves. By 1861 Dr. Curtis was off fighting the Civil War, but returned home and retreated with his family to Danville VA. for the remainder of the war. Federal troops occupied the Endview property and remained in and around the area until the end of the war. In early 1864, the Federal government confiscated the plantation and relocated seven African-American families there to farm. The Curtis family returned after the war and within a few months regained possession of there things.


As you can see the farm and land has a rich history so it is no surprise that the home is also associated with hauntings.


Reports have said that a woman has been seen crossing the road from the cemetery towards the house during re-enactments that are held at the Plantation. This woman is known as the woman in white. Reports also show that the room, that was used as a nursery has curtains that open after they have been closed for the night. Civil War re-en actors who would stay in the cabins (built for them to stay in during re-enactments) have reported ghostly happenings. Doors open and close on their own, cold spots appear even in the summer, and many of them felt a presence when they were alone and heard disembodied voices.


With these stories in mind I arrived early and joined a tour. No photos were allowed in the home itself but I did get a lot of shots of the outside.






These last two photos are graves of the Curtis family. I may be mistaken but I believe the child's grave is their child (They had 11). It is documented that one child a girl age 8 died in the home. She was suffering from intestinal worms and the "cure" at that time was arsenic. Her father being a DR. administered the dosage and she was given to much and died.


After I walked around the grounds near the house, I went back a bit further to the natural spring.

It is a bit hard to see in this photo, but when I visited last summer it had quit a bit of water in it. We were told that this spring was one of the main reasons that soldiers stayed here on the property during the war as it was one of the only natural springs in the area.
I continued on and found the Hargrove Cemetery. Several children and adults are buried here, and it is believed that there are several more unmarked graves.





Beyond this area through a field is where the famous "haunted" cabins were. I had never been back there and must admit I was a bit nervous. After all I was the only one walking around the property and could not see the house from where I was at. It is the dead of winter and this place looked creepy...I wondered how long it would take anyone to find me if something happened ha ha..
I took a deep breath and moved forward.







What I found back there were a bunch of old run down cabins that were once used for the re-en actors. It made me wonder why there are no longer in use. I felt very uneasy in this area and didn't stay long.
I had been at Endview awhile and knew I needed to hurry if I was going to make the tour at Lee Hall





I was very disappointed in this tour and will not waste your time talking about it. The tour guide was very brisk and rushed us from one room to another.
The only interesting part of this home was at the end. I met a lady and her daughter who had been on the tour with me at Endview. It seems that they were also interested in ghost and we started talking. It turned out this was the highlight of my day because the daughter (who is about 10) "see and feels" ghost. The mom "senses" things and together they were a lot of fun. The daughter said she felt a friendly presence there at Lee Hall. She mentioned this to the tour guide. Of course she phoo phoo the idea and within a minute of us talking to her the men's bathroom door swung open on it's own and hit me in the leg. We all started laughing and the daughter told the tour guide...well the ghost you don't have just went into the bathroom. I loved it.

Anyway and the mom, daughter and I started talking we of course turned the conversation back to Endview. I asked them if they had walked the grounds to the old cabins and they had said no, then the daughter told her mom she wanted to go and told her mom that she wanted me to come along..

Since the two homes are on the same road it took less than five minutes to return to Endview where we were told we only had a half hour before they closed, so we hurried to the back area where I once again took some photos. Both mom and daughter felt creepy and the mom said she felt as if someone was there. I am far from psychic but had to agree. I don't think it had anything to do with the cabins, but more with the land. Perhaps it was the spirits of the slaves or the soldiers of long ago. I suppose we will never know. While there the mom and daughter both turned on the recording area of there cell phone. Mom asked...Is someone here, Can you tell me your name, why are you here (with time between each question to hear an answer)
Then she played it back. If I hadn't been there I wouldn't have believed it, but clear as a bell when asked CAN YOU TELL ME YOUR NAME..I heard a clear whisper..STEVEN
We had a name..Steven..


One my first trip to this plantation I did not especially feel like it was haunted. Now I am not so sure. I suppose it depends on what you believe. Do spirits linger? Can they interact with the living?
Here is one thing that did happen that I haven't mentioned...
Take a close look at these two photos






Do you see the difference?
Yes the door is open..
The first photo was taken at 1:23
The second one was taken at 3:36
Could someone have come down the path in those two hours and opened the door? Of course they could have. We can always debunk the photos. After all I wasn't the only person to take a tour that day...but maybe, just maybe it was STEVEN, going out for a walk...

Upcoming investigations

I have a trip planned on Monday to revisit two of the local homes in my area that are reported to be haunted. The first of these is Endview Plantation.




I stopped in here last summer but did not get any impressions of anything out of the ordinary. However I only visited the house and small cemetary that is on the property. Since then I have learned the following information and will be taking a walk back to that side if the property.

Civil War re-enactors who would stay in the cabins near Endview Plantation in Newport News would report ghostly happenings. Doors open and close on their own, cold spots appear even in the summer, and many of them felt a presence when they were alone and heard disembodied voices.


The second home on my list is Lee Hall Mansion.




During my first visit there, I asked if there were any ghost stories. I was told there was one of a woman, but they didn't seem to want to talk about the story.
I do know of one person who lived in the town homes that have been built on the adjoining land next to the mansion (this all belonged to the family at one time) and she told me strange mist has been seen on the grounds of the mansion, and also she along with others have reported strange things happening in there apartment/townhome.
It should be interesting to see if my visit next week shows me anything "strange"

White House Ghost

As we all know the White House has new residents tonight. Congratulations to President Obama and his family. May you have four years filled with peace,love and hope. May you bring the change this country needs, and may we all come together as one people united the way this country is meant to be....God Bless you as we travel this road together.

Now with that said Let's talk about some past residents. Residents who refuse to leave...Those who linger on and have been seen by countless people.

Yes I am talking about GHOST. Did you know that the White House is one of the most haunted houses in America? One of the most frequent sightings is that of former President Abraham Lincoln. He has been seen near his bedroom (which he never used as a bedroom but as an office)Grace Coolidge,Franklin Roosevelt’s staff members and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands are among those who claim to have seen him.
President Harry Truman claims Lincoln once knocked on his bedroom door and Winston Churchill flatly refused to sleep in the room that was once known as Lincoln’s sleeping chamber. After having sighted the ghost of Lincoln.
Even more modern day Presidents like Richard Nixon were Among the many witnesses to the various sightings of President Lincoln – aside from the ones previously noted – were Theodore and Eleanor Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson and Maureen Reagan.
Although the ghost of Abraham Lincoln is said to be the most active –other Ghost are said to reside in the house too.
Presidents Harrison,Andrew Jackson, and John Tyler have been seen.

Presidents are not the only ones who have been said to haunt the home. Reports show, that the wife of President John Adams has been seen." Dolly Madison has been seen in the rose garden on several occasions, and is said to have appeared when Edith Wilson – wife of Woodrow Wilson – made plans to have the rose garden replanted. As the gardeners prepared to go to work, Dolly appeared to them and told them to leave her garden alone and not bother her arrangement. The gardeners were so frightened that they fled in terror and refused to make any changes to the rose garden. To this day, it’s still arranged in the same way as it was when Dolly Madison was alive and well in the White House"
Willie Lincoln, one of the son’s of President Lincoln who died in his childhood at the White House, has been seen by a number of witnesses – including White House staff members
A British Solider has been seen along with The ghost of Major Henry Rathbone, who’d accompanied President Lincoln to the theater on the night of his assassination.
Humans are not the only ghost that have been seen...
a spectral black cat has also been viewed by a multitude of people. According to witnesses, the cat appears in the basement of the White House immediately preceding a national tragedy, such as in the case of the Stock Market crash and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Sighting are not the only thing that happens at the White House..Sometimes only sounds are heard..
Did you know that the screams of President Grover Cleveland wife have been heard. She is the first woman to give birth in the White House and it is said to be be her during the pains of childbirth.
Footsteps have been heard and even the smell of laundry soap are some of the oddities that go on.

Of all of the spirits that are reported to walk the floors of the White House, Abraham Lincoln seems to be the one whose sightings have a specific purpose. His ghost is said to become particularly active during times of war, when he’s seen and heard restlessly pacing the hallways and knocking on bedroom doors throughout the day and night. Also during such times, witnesses tend to see his gaunt figure standing at the window of his bedroom or the Oval Office, looking out over what were once the battlefields during the Civil War.


The fact that Lincoln is sighted so frequently is of particular interest, since both he and his wife – Mary Todd Lincoln – were known to have conducted séances in the White House, in an attempt to contact the spirits of their deceased sons. Both strong believers in the existence of the afterlife, the Lincolns devoted a great deal of time trying to establish contact with the youngsters, and were said to be quite open-minded about interaction between the two planes of existence.


Please note that all of this information was "borrowed" from the Internet and was not written by me personally..

updates

I'm sorry that I have been neglecting this blog. I haven't been out doing much site seeing the last few months. Ghost hunting seems to be a warm weather hobby. I have however been thinking of some of the things I want to check out once the weather opens up a bit this spring.
There is a lot still in my own backyard (as the saying goes) to explore.
One of the places I have been wanting to go to for a long time is the Ferry Plantation house in Virginia Beach. This house was the site of the trial of the only convicted witch in Virginia, Grace Sherwood in 1706. Many people say the house is haunted by Grace, and I have heard that some of the local paranormal groups have spent the night there and rumor has it that in addition to Grace there are at lest ten other ghost living there.

Other things I want to do is make a return visit to both The Lee Hall Mansion and The Endview Plantation. Those two may be coming up in the next week or so, and if possible I will go to the house in Va. Beach, It is only open on Saturdays and I have one off soon, so check back in with me.

Something to look forward too

Author Beth Brown has a new book coming out in the early summer that will feature the haunted plantations of Virginia. I have not had the chance to meet Beth, but have read her book on the haunted battlefields in our area and highly recommend it. I am really looking forward to this book, because I have had a chance to visit many of the places she will be talking about in the book. In a recent blog comment I asked Beth about advance copies of the book and she replied that they may be available about eight weeks before they hit the stores on sites such as amazon.com.
Be sure and check her out and keep up with the release information if your interested.