"The Lady" revisited

As some of you know already my grandson went through a time when he saw spirits/ghost. Several years ago he had contact with one ghost that we lovingly refer to as " The Lady". This lady showed herself to him when he was barely three, and he saw her on at lest three seperate occasions at a local children's petting farm. "The lady" we believe was married to a civil war veteran and they farmed what was at one time land from a local plantation. This gentleman we lovingly refer to as "The Papa" and also showed himself to my grandson. My daugheter and I were both witness to him spending at lest 40 minutes "walking and talking with something"
At three the grandson was not really able to let us know very much about what he saw, but now at 5 he still remembers.
Recently we revisted the farm to see just what those memories still hold.

Upon arrivng at the farm I ask him if we could go visit the Davis Family Cemetery where the family who onece lived here is buried.

As we heading up there my grandson told me that the cemetery was where he saw "the lady". Yes we replied. We ask him if he thought he might see her that day. He wasn't sure but he did go on to tell us that she looked "different" than we did. He ran on ahead of us and into the gates and up to the first grave, where he promtly said to us..I saw her (we had not pointed out the grave in anyway) He then moved to the next grave and said Him Too...

Photo showing my grandson standing by the grave of the "papa"

I was amazed at home much he remember,and even though he didnt "see" anyone there that day. I do believe he was given a special gift.

Local History

Just a few miles from where is I live is the beautiful Lee Hall Mansion.Built between 1851 and 1859, Lee Hall Mansion was home to affluent planter Richard Decauter Lee. One of the last remaining antebellum homes on the Virginia Peninsula. Just three years after it was built the family had to abandon the home as the Peninsula became one of the first battlegrounds of the Civil War. Used briefly as the Confederate headquarters of Major General John B. Magruder and General Joseph E. Johnston a small skirmish was fought on the property. As far as we know there were no reports of anyone dying during this battle. What then has caused the rumors of haunting in the old house?  The policy is to not talk about any ghost, but I was told by a guide that voices are heard, singing, and a man talking in the house when they were there alone.  I  have personally witnessed a door opening on its own, and also know for a fact that there are reports of the town-homes next door having had strange occurances. They sit on what was once part of the plantation property. As far as I know no one has done a paranormal investigation in the house. I have made several trips there now and have never captured anything on film. Nor have I tried any EVP recordings. It is howver a beautiful place to visit and full of history.

Main House

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Kitchen

A little local Ghost Hunters

This is a recent show from "Ghost Hunters"
This episode was filmed locally at the beautiful Edgewood Plantation. Although I have not been inside I have driven by several times. After watching this show I may have to talk the hubby into a romantic get away weekend.

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.

In search of spirits

The night was cold with rain and wind. Just perfect for a visit to a haunted house, and that was exactly where I was headed. My daughter  and I pulled up the Ferry Plantation house in Virginia Beach about a half hour before schedule. We arrived early due to the weather and the fact that even though I grew up in Virginia Beach and have lived in the Hampton Roads area most of my adult life I had never been to this house. Thankfully another person was arriving the same we were and showed us the way up to the house which was a short distance from the parking area. 
I loved the house from the minute I walked in and at no time felt uncomfortable.






As you can see it is full of warm cozy furnishings. 
We were given a short tour, told some stories then allowed to move about on our own. One of the local paranormal groups was there for this tour and had brought some equipment in which we were allowed to use. We grabbed a infra-red thermometer and a set of dowsing roads and set off to see if we would have any type of experience
We had heard the story of Sally Rebecca Walke who lived and died in this house, She seemed to respond when asked questions using the dowsing rods my daughter has in her hands. (young lady in the photo in the middle is Sally)


Some people believe that when a spirit is present that there energy will cause the rods to cross. We used them for simple yes and no questions. We would ask them to cross for yes and then ask the sprits to uncross them for us. It worked over and over.




We also heard the story of Henry a slave who died here. His room was at the top of these stairs. Its been turned into a storage room now.



We were told he had been chained to the wall at some point (not sure if this is a true story, We heard it from a teenage boy that was there with the paranormal group).

Rebecca seemed to be taken with this area and we spent some time there using the “ghost hunting equipment”







We never could get the meter to flash, but the dowsing rods did cross several times.
We moved on to other areas of the house. I was anxious to see if Eric the child that had died in the house would communicate with us. We made our way to the gift shop where I took out my voice recorder. We ask Eric if he was there, waited for a response. (It is believed that voices of the dead can be heard with a tape recorder. What we can not hear with our ears can be picked up electronically) We then asked him to make a noise for us. For several minutes we could hear what sounded like a tapping noise at the window. Both my daughter and I could hear it and of course realize that it can easily be de-bunked due to the rain outside, but it only seemed to tap when we asked it to. Was it our over active imagination? I am not sure, but it was enough to make us both nervous so we didn’t stay in there long. When I played back the recording. I can hear the knocks along with what sounds like a voice saying pretty girl, and also in response to me asking if Eric wants to come play…a YES, Before we took out the voice recorder we had used a pendulum in this room and ask simple yes and no question.  When ask if Eric was in the room it swung in the direction of yes, when asked if he wanted to play, it swung no, and when asked if he was frightened, yes, when asked if he would play later, it stood still and shook as if there was an undecided answer.
Our hostess had also used a pendulum in  another room and it seemed to be responding to “something”.



I really enjoyed roaming around this house and tried to spend time in the areas that were suppose to have the most activity.
On the third floor is  where the Nanny's room had been. She had died when she was descending these stairs




The way the story goes is she caught her heel on the third step from the top, and over the years others have either fallen up or down these stairs at the exact same spot.
Other than the tapping we did not have any personal experiences, but really enjoyed our evening and I plan on going back again.
Here is a slide show of random photos of the house.

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!

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.

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.

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...