February 24, 2009

In search of the spirit world

This  coming Saturday is the day that I am going on the “spirit tour” at the Ferry Plantation house in Virginia Beach. I am looking forward to the tour and like any good ghost hunter hope to have the ultimate experience and see something. However like any good ghost hunter I also believe in being prepared as far as knowing the history of the house/property. Not every spirit is nice and I don’t want to get caught off guard and suddenly wonder why I feel sick, or find things being thrown off shelves. At the same time I want to make sure I pay attention to which room or rooms that have shown activity in the past. This lead me to a google search on the house. I found several articles, but nothing that really talked much about the hauntings. Then I found information on a book called “Haunted Virginia Beach” and was able to read excerpts from the book. I was really excited to read about Eric, a child who died in the house. It seems that he likes to play tricks on people. He has also been seen on the steps. Another child, a young girl has been seen in the dinning room along with a woman. There is a spirit of a man who is called Henry. He was a servant and his job was to lead people from the boat landing up to the house. Over the years some of the land has been sold and modern day houses built. It has been reported that one of the neighbors had his patio furniture moved more than once during the night. It is thought that Henry was just making way for his unseen guest to enter the Ferry House .  Upstairs a woman is seen. She was the nanny and footsteps are heard pacing back and forth between her room and the nursery.  A woman is also seen by the downstairs fireplace. Cold spots have been felt in this house and shadows have been seen.

I can’t wait!

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February 15, 2009

In The Woods

One of the most haunted places in my area is a place called Old House Woods. I have heard stories about this area for several years so we decided that it was time to check it out...

In the day light that is. With all the stories I had heard I was not about to go here at night.
Here are a few of the most famous stories.

Some of the recurring tales are about British Redcoats, pirates, skeletons in knights armor, mysterious groups of shoveler digging, ghost horses and cows which appear and disappear before one's eyes, a full rigged Spanish galleon which vanishes in thin air, mysterious floating lights in the woods similar to lantern light, and a "Storm Woman" who floats above the pines warning fishermen of impending gales.

Whew, that is enough to scare anyone. As you can see from the photos. These woods look creepy in the daylight.


Looking up and down the road in both directions.


The thick woods.







We didn't stay long and headed instead to the beach area where
Blackbeard, the famous pirate captain supposedly brought some of his treasure here to hide it. He forced several of his men to dig the hole at gunpoint. And then, he shot them, and threw their bodies in the pit with his takings. This is an old pirate superstition that is supposed to protect his treasure from thieves and other adventurers. And some have claimed to have seen men, madly digging in the night,
while another person supervises with his pistol in hand










I've heard the stories of how people digging for the treasure disappear never to be seen again. I wasn't about to take any chances, but.....Ok I confess. I did take one of these pretty shells for a souvenir. Shhhh don't tell anyone. I am not sure how good of a pirate I would make if one of these ghost takes me out to sea on the mysterious ship that has been seen in the area.

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Revisiting Rosewell Ruins


Today I returned to Rosewell Ruins in Gloucester VA. I had visited this location last spring and had been wanting to return. All was quiet today but I can certainly see why this place is suppose to be haunted.

Stories have been told at Rosewell. Everything from slaves buried in the Cellar walls, to a mysterious lady who walks the front steps every night.






From Wikipedia,

Rosewell Plantation in Gloucester County, Virginia, USA for more than 100 years was the home of members of the Page family, one of the First Families of Virginia. Begun in 1725, the huge brick Rosewell mansion overlooking the York River was one of the finest in Virginia. Through much of the 18th century and 19th centuries, and during the American Civil War, Rosewell Mansion hosted the area's most elaborate formal balls and celebrations.






Rosewell Mansion and part of its history were described by author James Joseph McDonald in "Life In Old Virginia" (The Old Virginia Publishing Co., Norfolk, Va., 1907) thus:

"The mansion is substantially built of brick, three story and basement. The foundation walls are three and one-half feet thick. The reception hall is large, the ceilings lofty, and the whole mansion is indicative of refined taste and wealth. From the upper windows, a magnificent view is had of the surrounding level lands and the waters of the creeks and the York River.
"During the life of Governor Page, Thomas Jefferson was a frequent and welcome visitor there. While on one of his visits he wrote the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence in what is now known as the 'Blue Room,' situated on the northwest corner of the second story of this house."
The elaborate Flemish bond brickwork, the towering three stories, and the siting of the mansion were all meant to recall elaborate London homes of the era. In that sense, Rosewell was among the most sophisticated early buildings built in America.

The Rosewell Mansion was destroyed by fire in 1916. Today, a largely undisturbed historic ruin, the site has been the subject of archaeological work which has revealed many artifacts and shed light on some aspects of colonial life and architecture previously unclear.




Page family of Virginia
Governor of Virginia John Page (1744-1808) was the grandson of Rosewell's first owner, Mann Page (I). He grew up there, and was a classmate of Thomas Jefferson at the College of William and Mary in nearby Williamsburg where he graduated in 1763. John Page fought during the American Revolutionary War, attaining the rank of colonel. He also served multiple terms in the U.S. Congress and the Virginia General Assembly.

Other notable members of Virginia's Page family also include Governor Page's brother Mann Page III, his great grandfather, Colonel John Page of Jamestown and Middle Plantation, author and U.S. Ambassador to Italy Thomas Nelson Page, and Virginian Railway builder William Nelson Page; Confederate General Richard Lucian Page.






A family legend says that the courtship of John and Margaret Lowther Page began with an exchange of poems.


In 1790, John Page was a 47-year-old widower serving in the First Congress of the United States. Congress was meeting in New York, and it was there that he met Margaret Lowther, who was about 30 at the time. According to the legend, John escorted Margaret to a party and later realized that she had left a glove in his carriage. He sent the glove back to her with a note reading


"Taking 'G' from 'Glove' leaves 'Love'

Tis that I offer thee."


Margaret replied with another note:

"Taking 'P' from 'Page' leaves 'Age,'

And you are too old for me."


Perhaps Margaret was only teasing, or perhaps she soon had a change of heart, for the couple was married a few months later. They continued to write and exchange poems during their marriage.


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February 10, 2009

Up coming haunt

On Saturday February 28th I will be joining in on a "spirit tour" of the Ferry Plantation House in Virginia Beach VA. It is said that this place is home to at lest eleven ghost including the spirit of Grace Sherwood, The Witch Of Pungo. I am really looking forward to this tour. From what I understand we will be taken on a full tour of the home's three floors and told the history and stories of the spirits that haunt them. At the end of the tour we will be given free time to explore on our own. Camera's are allowed, so you can be sure I will be posting lots of photos and talking about the night here.

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