The Hanging Tree

*Click on photos to enlarge*

We stopped by the Ferry Plantation house yesterday to take some outside photos.
 
You might remember that I was there two weeks ago for the “Spirit tour”. We didn’t think the house was open, but walked around the front to get a few photos and as we did my daughter peeked in the window. We were talking about how we didn’t think the wind was what was making the nose we heard the night we were there. (You might remember we head taps on the glass upstairs) Rebecca shook the shudder a bit and Just as she looked in the window my grandson walked up behind her and his reflection in the glass startled her. She then picked him up to take a peek inside and as she did a face stared back at her. It was the director of the house, who was probably just as frightened. She (the director) came to the door, and we reminded her that we had been on the tour a few weeks ago. We stepped into the hall for a few minutes to chat. I wanted to know more about a couple of things that had been mentioned on the original tour. The first being the hanging tree out back. 

In documents from the house we know that three slaves were hanged from it. The tree was struck by lightning at one point and I couldn’t help but wonder if the top branches that were struck are the ones that the hanging took place on or if it could be some of these that are remaining.
 
I don’t recall being told what year the hangings took place but know it was at lest as far back as the mid 1800’s. I was told however that a psychic has visited the tree and felt as if the bodies were thrown to this side of the tree. Which is the back of the tree if your walking from the house towards it.
 








I have to admit I felt a bit creepy walking around the tree. It wasn’t just from the thoughts of men hanging from the tree it was from knowing that I was walking on a scared Indian burial ground.
Yes a burial ground. That is the other thing I was dying to know more about. I had heard there was one somewhere on the property. As it turns out it was a large area of the back grounds.  I am not sure how it was discovered but was told that almost immediately after it was that the owners put in this to keep the curious away.

Those are tennis courts and all of this grass area still has remains in it and also all around and under the courts. A one point some Native Americans visited. They left in a hurry saying they would never come back and said something about how the bodies could not rest because sacred things had been stolen and needed to be returned. Of course no one has any way of finding out what these “things” are.
I also saw the tree that was planted by Sally Rebecca Walke. Records indicate that  this Southern Magnolia was planted in April 1863 in memory of her fiancé who died during the Civil War  Measured at 131 inches circumference, and 75 ft. tall, in 2001.

The house also has a working well with an old pump that still works


Also if you look closely out back you can see the original road that ran out behind the house. (The front of the home was near the river)
 
I was really glad to get a chance to learn more of the history of the home and not just the “haunted” side. As much as I love the paranormlal I have to admit I am glad I don’t live near the home. I was told yesterday that some of the guest of the people who own the homes that were built on the plantation land had been by the house talking about dreams of men hanging in the trees and Indians cutting down the bodies and taking them away. Vivid dreams, but then again look how close the houses are.




*Note
Just to clarify things you should know that The Ferry Plantation house sits in the middle of a neighborhood in a cul de sac (court). Several Houses are on all four sides of Ferry Plantation home. These houses sit on what was once the land of the Plantation house.

Haunted Carter’s Grove

The windy road known today as Route 60 leads from Williamsburg to Newport News. VA. and if your not paying attention you won’t notice the  dirt driveway that once led to Carter’s Grove Plantation.  Built in the early 1700’s it was once one of Virginia’s finest plantations. It was closed to the public around 2003,  but tales of hauntings still linger among the locals.

From what I’ve been told a black man in raggedy clothes can be seen walking towards the Plantation from Williamsburg. Could this be the ghost of Jim, a slave who once worked at the Governors Place and walked the eight miles every Saturday night back to the Grove to see his family. From what they say he died of a broken heart when he came home one weekend to find that his wife and children had been sold and no one knew how to tell him where to find them.

During the time the plantation was open for tours flower petals could be found on the floor after being placed in what is known as the refusal room. Both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington offered marriage proposals to two different young ladies in the room and were turned down. Rumor has it that one of these young ladies still angry at herself for not accepting the life she could have had tears up the flowers any time they are left in the room. She especially hates white carnations. Could this have been what was offered to her along with the proposal? I suppose we will never know.  

Steps are sometimes heard in the halls. A phantom harp is said to play,  and another legend of Carter’s Grove is that Colonel Banastre Tarleton hacked the staircase as he rode his horse up the stairs to wake his troops during the Revolutionary War.


Click to open in new window where photo will be enlarged

I drove past the plantation today, and on a whim stopped at the beginning of the drive. The gates are locked now with big NO Trespassing signs in plain site, but for just a moment I jumped out of the car and took a few photos. When I loaded the photos and took a look I found something unusual in the upstairs window in the center of the house.

Take a look and tell me if it is my imagination or do you see a man wearing white pants and a red shirt.  Could this be Colonel Banastre in his Revolutionary War Uniform?

I may never know now that the plantation is  privately owned but from what I have read sometime in the future the new owners according to the terms of the sale have to open the house one day a year for tours. You better believe when they do, I will be there.

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.

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"

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.

Photo's Day One

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

For more information on Bacon's Castle and what happened to us there go to my Other BlogDoes It Go Bump In The Night

Visiting a local haunt

In all the excitement of the talking about the meeting with the paranormal group, I forgot to mention that I have been working on my stories for the houses in Williamsburg that are suppose to be haunted. My husband and I were up there on Saturday to take some photos. I was able to get shots of about half the houses on my list. Here is my first one.I hope you enjoy hearing about

The George Wythe House



Resembling a small plantation estate the George Wythe House has a laundry, a lumber house, a well, a stable and a kitchen. It also has a kitchen garden and an orchard.
The house was given to George Wythe as a wedding gift from his father in law. George was a lawyer, judge, teacher, and speaker of the House of Delegates. He also signed the declaration of Independence. He died in 1806 after a lingering death due to being poisoned by his grandnephew who wanted to gain his inheritance.
George Washington used the home as his temporary headquarters just prior to the siege of Yorktown. After the siege the home accommodated men wounded during the battle. One of these was a Colonel named Oscar LaBlance. A local woman named Katherine Anderson watched over him day and night. When he was out of danger of dying they made plans to marry. Unfortunately he contacted malaria from one of the other patients and died within a week. Soon after Katherine died from “natural causes”. Rumors said she died of a broken heart.
For decades there have been reports of voices, and shadows of a man in the hall. Also a woman has been seen in one of the bedrooms.
We do not know if George Wythe himself haunts the house, or if it is one of the many soliders who died. Could the lady that has been seen be poor Katherine searching for her true love? Maybe soon I will get a pass and visit the inside

Update
I found the following information about the ghost that haunt this house

The many ghost of the Wythe House

Judge George Wythe- Murdered in Richmond by his grandnephew, George Sweeney. If you sit in the study, you might feel a cold hand feel your brow.
George Washington- Said to stayed there during the time of the Revolutionary War. He is seen in the windows from time to time. In powdered wig and all.
Lady Ann Skipwith- Her ghost is seen on the stairwell on the house. Said to be outraged at a party held at the Governor's Palace. She ran home and broke her shoe. She is said to be seen hobbling on the stairs in a fit of rage.
Governor John Page- He jilted Lady Ann for the company of her sister instead. His ghost is the more revendant of the group. He's the most quite of the group and is rarely seen. He bought the house from the Wythes.

Peyton Randolph House Williamburg VA

This small photo was "borrowed" off the web, but the next two were taken yesterday when my daughter and i visited Colonial Williamsburg. This is her standing in front of the Peyton-Randolph house.
We did not go in the house because it is a ticket only entry, but I have this place on my list of must see. I hope to go back soon and take more photos.

 

FRONT


SIDE



In Williamsburg Colonial Village, the home faces market square, and is one of the original structures. This two story Colonial mansion was built in 1715 by Sir John Randolph. His family lived there throughout the 1700's, and was eventually sold to someone outside of the family. In 1824, Mrs. Mary Monroe Peachy owned the house. One of her children died after falling from the tree.

After the Civil War, a young orphaned soldier stayed with the Peachy family while he went to William and Mary College. He came down with tuberculosis and died there.

Many have heard the shattering of a mirror and the sound of heavy footsteps. In an upstairs room residents have awakened in the middle of the night, to see a white, shimmering, male figure.


Late at night in the small rear 2nd floor bedroom there have been reports of a thin old lady in a gown and laced night cap. Visitors reported that she would wake them up politely by calling them by their names, and then she would wring her hands and cry. Could this be Mrs. Peachy?

Allegedly, the Peyton Randolph House is home to as many as 23 ghosts. Many of the house’s most famous ghost stories center on children. In one such story, a little girl was killed after her ghostly best friend, Elizabeth, grew angry with her and threw her down the stairs. Doctors claimed that superhuman force would have been required to cause such a death, given that she had only fallen from the second floor

Histrical information on the house:


The original structure of the Peyton Randolph House was built in 1715. Colonial Williamsburg's primary restoration of the home began in October 1938 and was completed in April 1940. More restoration of the main section was undertaken in June 1967 and was finished 12 months later. The center and west portions of the house opened for exhibition on July 1, 1968.
Original structure located at the corner of Nicholson and North England Streets
Built in 1715 by William Robertson
Sir John Randolph purchased the west wing in 1721
House willed to son Peyton Randolph
First restoration 1938-1940
Further restoration began in 1967
Center and west portions opened in 1968
Construction of outbuildings began in 1997
Rochambeau, Lafayette, and Washington among notable guests at the home

The deep red Peyton Randolph House is one of the oldest, most historic, and without doubt most beautiful of Colonial Williamsburg's original 18th-century homes.

The west wing of the impressive house has stood at the corner of Nicholson and North England Streets since about 1715. Among the historic figures that took shelter in the house were General Rochambeau and the Marquis de Lafayette.



William Robertson built the house that eventually became the west wing of the Peyton Randolph house. Sir John Randolph purchased the west wing in 1721. He bought the east lot for £50 on July 20, 1724 and had a home constructed there as well.

Sir John's son, Peyton Randolph, built a spacious and well-appointed two-story central section between the two houses. A hall with a large roundheaded window and a grand staircase connect single rooms on each floor. The first-floor parlor measures 19 feet square, and the bed chamber above has the same dimensions.



The southern face of the center section matches the appearance of the 29-foot-square clapboard house that makes up the west wing. The low-pitched hip roof of the west wing was extended across the addition but ends abruptly when it reaches the high gable of the dormered roof on the east wing.

Although the west and center sections of the house were connected by doors on both floors, there was no opening through the brick wall to the east wing. The east wing may have served as an office or a service building, or it could have been rented out. Demolished in the 19th century, the east wing was reconstructed by Colonial Williamsburg after the property was purchased in 1938.

The roof of the west wing was designed to funnel rain to two concealed two-log gutters, which apparently carried the water to a cistern. Only traces remain of this contrivance that may have leaked and was later covered by the roof. A chimney rises through the center of the wing, venting corner fireplaces in three rooms on each floor. The stairway passage is located in the southwest corner of each floor.



The center section contains some of the best surviving paneling in the city — some of it walnut — while unusually fine brass hinges and locks trim the parlor doors. The floor is mostly made of original edge-cut pine

Outbuildings supported household activity

A full complement of outbuildings stood to the north (in back), including a two-story brick kitchen, a stable for 12 horses, a coach house, and a dairy.



Sir John Randolph, the only colonial born in Virginia to be knighted, died in 1737. He left the house to his wife, Susannah Beverley Randolph, until their second son, Peyton, reached the age of 24. Their first son, Beverley, inherited property in Gloucester County; their third son, John, inherited acreage on the city's southern edge; and their daughter, Mary, received a dowry of £1,000. Susannah Beverley Randolph remained in the home until her death sometime after 1754.

Peyton Randolph, Speaker of Virginia's House of Burgesses in the years leading to the Revolution, brought his wife, Betty Harrison Randolph, to the home by 1751. It became a hub of political activity, and its owner Peyton Randolph was elected the presiding officer of the First Continental Congress at Philadelphia in 1774. An inventory taken at Peyton Randolph's death in 1775 indicates how the house was furnished and equipped.

Widow Betty Randolph opened her home to French general Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, when he arrived in Williamsburg with General George Washington to prepare for the siege of Yorktown in 1781. The house served as the French headquarters until they moved to the field.


Peyton and Betty Randolph had no children and, after her death and according to directions in Betty Randolph’s will, the house was sold at auction on February 19, 1783. A newspaper advertisement described it as "pleasantly situated on the great square." It was conveyed to the highest bidder, Joseph Hornsby, on February 21, and the proceeds were divided among Betty Randolph's legatees.

By 1824, the house was in the possession of Mary Monroe Peachy. She had the honor that year of lodging Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, when he visited the city on October 20 and 21 during a tour of America.

Colonial Williamsburg's primary restoration of the home began in October 1939 and was completed in April 1940. More restoration of the main section was undertaken in June 1967 and was finished 12 months later. The center and west portions of the house opened for exhibition on July 1, 1968.

Grace Sherwood The Witch of Pungo Virginia

I have had a fasination with witches since I was a small child. I first heard about Grace Sherwood as a teenager. I attended high school not far from where her home stood. I remember a group of us kids riding out to the old house when it was still standing. It was an eerie feeling. I put my thoughts of Grace on the back burner for years, until my own children came along. Once again her name came to mind. After all she is a local legend. When my oldest was young I bought a book entitled The Witch of Pungo. It told the story of Grace along with other local history. My kids grew up hearing about her. I never forgot her. I have gone down the road where she was dunked in the river many times.

Here is her story.

Grace Sherwood was the wife of James Sherwood and the mother to three sons. She was said to be strikingly attractive, strong-willed, and a non-conformist by nature. These traits were resented by her neighbors, who began spreading rumors about her witch-like behavior. Being a very tall woman, she was threatening to many. She wore men’s pants and did not wear dresses.
She was accused of bewitching a neighbor's crop in 1698. Allegations grew over time until the Princess Anne County government charged her with witchcraft. A jury of women were ordered to search her body for suspicious or unusual markings, thought to be brands of the devil himself, and naturally the jury found, “marks not like theirs or like those of any other women.” However, neither the local court nor the Attorney General in Williamsburg, would pass judgment on declaring her a witch. It was finally decided that Grace, “by her own consent, be tried in the water by Ducking, (dunking).” Water was considered to be the purest element and the theory was that it would reject anything of an evil nature. Based on this theory, the accused was tied up and thrown into the water. If the person drowned, he was declared innocent of witchcraft; if he could stay afloat until he could free himself, he was declared a witch.


On July 10, 1706, Grace Sherwood, was marched from the jail (which is located near the present day site of the local Old Donation Church) down the dirt road (now the every day traveled Witchduck Road), tied and cast into the Lynnhaven River. This portion of the river has since been named Witch Duck Bay in memory of the occasion. Grace Sherwood was tied crossbound with the thumb of her right hand to the big toe of her left foot, and the thumb of her left hand to the big toe of her right foot, and thrown into the water. As predicted by her accusers, Grace managed to stay afloat until she could free herself and swim to shore. After she reached the shore she told the on lookers."Before this day be through, you will all get a worse ducking than I!". A torrential thunderstorm rolled in after Sherwood was pulled from the water. She was jailed and awaited trial for witchcraft for nearly eight years, when the charges against her were dropped due to the softening of her accusers hearts, and she was set free. After her release, Grace paid the back taxes on her property in 1714, returned to her farm, and worked the land until her death at age 80 in the autumn of 1740. Her husband had died in 1701, so her children had been sent away to live with relatives. Grace Sherwood, Virginia's only convicted witch tried by water.

On Saturday, April 21, 2007 After 300 years to the hour, at 10 a.m., Grace Sherwood was exonerated by Governor Timothy Kaine.

Grace Sherwood is known today, 300 years belated, as the only deceased person in Virginia to be exonerated.