Virginia
Abijah Thomas House/Octagonal House
Marion
When Abijah Thomas built a mansion on his plantation near Marion, Virginia, he decided to take a different route than many other planters in the area. Unlike many plantation houses throughout Virginia, Thomas’s mansion was octagonal, which was loosely based on the Jeffersonian architectural style. In the 1850s, octagonal structures were starting to become somewhat popular, but never reached the demand of more traditional architectural styles such as Federal or Greek Revival. In addition to the Abijah Thomas House, the most well-known octagonal mansion would be Longwood in Natchez, Mississippi. Once the Civil War began, the interest in constructing octagonal mansions diminished considerably.
The Abijah Thomas House had seventeen full-size rooms, ten closets, and a large storage room known to locals as the Dark Room. Although Thomas was a moderately successful planter with a fairly easygoing demeanor, rumors spread that he was cruel to his slaves. It had been said that Thomas occasionally went into intense rages and took his anger out on any slave who happened to be nearby. According to some accounts, Thomas would take slaves to the storage room and beat them. Although there does not appear to be any documentation to support this, if what the locals said is true, it is understandable why the storage room got the name of the Dark Room.
The Dark Room has become known as the most haunted part of the Abijah Thomas House. Screams have been heard coming from inside the Dark Room. When a person enters the room and attempts to find the source of the screaming, it abruptly ceases. Some paranormal investigators have claimed to have recorded these screams as EVPs. Sometimes a sense of overwhelming despair has been felt when a person enters the room. There have also been a large number of photographs taken in the Dark Room that contain misty forms or orbs in the images.
Unlike many of the other plantation houses in this book, the Abijah Thomas House has not fared well over the years. After Thomas’s death, the house was abandoned and fell into a state of disrepair. Although the Abijah Thomas House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in November 1980, little has been done to renovate the mansion into its former condition.
The plantation house can be found on a country road not far from Marion, Virginia. The plantation house is not structurally sound, so it is not advisable to enter the building, which can be seen from the road.
Appomattox Manor
Hopewell
Captain Francis Eppes purchased a parcel of land near the current location of Hopewell, Virginia, in 1635 to start a small plantation of his own. With each generation, the size of the plantation increased, and by the mid-1800s, the size of Appomattox was approximately 2,300 acres and was taken care of by more than 120 slaves.
At the onset of the Civil War, Francis Eppes’s great-grandson, Dr. Richard Eppes, lived on the plantation with his family. Although Richard Eppes tried to maintain control of his property, he and his family were removed from their home in 1862 by Union forces, who took over the plantation house. Dr. Eppes left behind nearly all of his belongings and was only able to take some clothing and other small personal belongings. As for Dr. Eppes’s slaves, it was said that just prior to leaving his plantation, he released all of them. After moving to several locations, Eppes eventually became a surgeon at a Confederate hospital in Pennsylvania for the remainder of the Civil War.
Once the mansion was abandoned by Dr. Eppes, Union Quartermaster Rufus Ingalls used the mansion as his field headquarters, with hundreds of Union soldiers staying on the surrounding acreage. The mansion and property remained in the possession of the Union army for the remainder of the Civil War.
After the Civil War ended, Eppes and his family returned to Appomattox only to find that the mansion was unlivable and most of the property all but destroyed.
In regards to hauntings, there is one legend associated with Appomattox. According to some sources, there was a nurse who tended a Union soldier who had life-threatening wounds. Although she attempted to help him, his injuries were too severe and he soon died. His body was taken to the basement of the plantation house, unbeknownst to anybody but the nurse. The story is that nearly a century later, the soldier’s skeletal remains were found in the basement and that after the remains were moved, his apparition, along with other paranormal activity, started to transpire. This usually consisted of the sound of scrapings, voices, and similar noises coming from the basement near where the soldier’s corpse was found.
Avenel House/
William M. Burwell House
Bedford
The William M. Burwell House, also known as the Avenel House, in Bedford, Virginia, is a large Federal and Greek Revival-style mansion built in 1838 by William Burwell as a wedding gift to his bride, Frances Steptoe. In addition to the mansion, several adjacent buildings, including a smokehouse and a barn, were built. Today, the site is open to the public, can be reserved for weddings and other events, and hosts several fundraising events each year.
An interesting fact about Avenel is that General Robert E. Lee and his family had a very close relationship with the Burwells before the start of the Civil War, which continued until Lee’s death in 1870. Letita Burwell wrote about how the Lees and Burwells became acquainted and the lifelong friendship that followed in her memoir, A Girl’s Life in Virginia Before the War.
In 1863, Robert E. Lee’s wife had become very ill and it was recommended that she find a quiet place in the country to rest and regain her health. Lee took it upon himself to write letters to dozens of plantation owners in hopes that she could stay with them for for a short time.
After receiving Lee’s letter, Mrs. Burwell immediately wrote back and invited them to stay at Avenel as long as they wanted. They accepted the offer and Mrs. Lee spent several weeks at the plantation. Through the course of her visit, the Burwells and Lees became very good friends.
Although no major tragedies are believed to have taken place at the Burwell House, some say that it may be one of the most haunted places in the Bedford, Virginia, area, as there are at least three distinct hauntings associated with the mansion.
The most frequently reported haunting at the Burwell House is of a ghost that has become known as the Lady in White. It is believed that the Lady in White is actually the ghost of William Burwell’s wife, Frances Steptoe Burwell. Her silent apparition is often seen descending the main staircase leading to the mansion’s entryway. Frances’s ghost is described as a younger woman wearing either a white bridal gown or a light-colored evening dress.
Perhaps the most famous haunting at Burwell Plantation is not the Lady in White but the Burwell family pet. For several years, visitors who have entered the mansion’s parlor claim that they felt a cat rubbing up against their ankles. This sensation is often accompanied by a loud purr. When the visitor would look down to pet or pick up the cat, there is no cat to be seen. The sound of loud purring and meows have been picked up as EVPs, although there were no living cats in the mansion when the recording was made.
One of the rooms at the William Burwell House has become known as the Lee Room. When Lee and his wife visited the Burwells, they always stayed in the same guest room. When the mansion was opened to the public for tours, this bedroom was named the Lee Room in acknowledgment of this fact. Both staff and visitors have claimed to notice an impression on the bed, as if somebody is still lying down in it.
In addition to the three ghosts at the Burwell House, there have been reports of whispering voices, loud footsteps, and other unexplained sounds. Many of these sounds have been recorded as EVPs by ghost hunters who have been fortunate enough to investigate the Burwell House.
Belle Grove Plantation
Middletown
Soon after Isaac Hite Sr. moved to the Middletown, Virginia, area, he purchased 300 acres on which to cultivate a plantation. It was moderately successful, and twenty-two years later, he purchased an additional 183 acres adjacent to the original property.
In 1783, Isaac Hite Sr. gave the entire plantation to his son Isaac Hite Jr. as a wedding gift to him and his new bride, Nelly Conway Madison, who was President James Madison’s sister.
Immediately after inheriting the nearly 500-acre plantation, Isaac Hite Jr. began construction of a large mansion for himself and his wife. The mansion was built between 1794 and 1797 in the Federal architectural style.
Isaac Hite Jr. developed a strong friendship with his brother-in-law, President James Madison. Some believe that Madison may have been influential in convincing Hite to choose the Federal architectural style for his plantation house. According to records, James Madison had such an affinity for his brother-in-law, his sister, and Belle Grove that he spent his honeymoon on the property.
Over the years, Hite was able to purchase additional acreage until he had a total of 7,500 acres and 103 slaves to tend to the property. He also expanded his business to include a general store, a sawmill, and a distillery. Although Hite was fairly successful as a planter and businessman, there was one tragedy at the plantation that affected him until his death in 1836.
The smokehouse at Belle Grove was the site of a gruesome murder that took place in 1802. In the late 1700s, Hite took on a slave girl named Millie as one of his mistresses. He arranged for her to move into the house to assist with domestic chores and to be closer to him. His wife, Nelly, soon discovered the affair and demanded that Millie be returned to the fields. A few days later, Hite had to go to town for business but agreed to take care of the problem upon his return.
Realizing that she would have to return to field work, Millie devised a plan to kill Nelly. With her out of the way, Millie thought that she could take her place and become Hite’s second wife. However, Millie knew she had to act fast and make Nelly’s death appear like an accident.
When Hite was in town on business, Millie saw it as the perfect opportunity to murder Nelly. Millie came to Nelly hysterical and told her that there was something she needed to see in the smokehouse. Once Nelly and Millie were alone in the smokehouse, Millie attacked her from behind with a blunt object, fracturing her skull and breaking several bones. Realizing what she had done, Millie panicked and left Nelly for dead. By the time Hite returned and found his wife, Millie had already fled the plantation, never to be seen again.
Today, the sound of two women fighting can be heard from within the smokehouse. There have also been people who claimed to have heard a weak moaning from the inside of the mansion. Sometimes this is accompanied by the smell of smoking wood.
Another ghost is said to haunt Belle Grove. The Hites had three children, but one daughter died when she was only five years old. After her funeral, Hite buried her in the family graveyard. Since her death, the apparition of a little girl has been seen sitting in front of one of the graves.
Berkeley Plantation
Charles City
Berkeley Plantation was built upon the site of a settlement known as Berkeley Hundred, which was one of the first settlements to be established in the New World. The settlement was attacked on March 22, 1622, by Opchancanough, tribal chief of the Powhatan Confederacy. He coordinated a simultaneous attack on several settlements in the Virginia Colony, including Berkeley Hundred. Nine settlers died in the raid on Berkeley Hundred. Realizing that they were outnumbered, survivors of the attack fled to Jamestown, Virginia, and the settlement was abandoned.
Several years later, William Tucker purchased the property on which Berkeley Hundred was situated. After owning the property for several years, Tucker sold Berkeley Plantation to John Bland. When Bland died, ownership of the plantation went to his son, Giles Bland, who had been involved with Bacon’s Rebellion. The short-lived and unsuccessful Bacon’s Rebellion was an attempt to forcibly remove Virginia governor William Berkeley from office.
During an unrelated event, Bland was arrested and brought before Governor Berkeley, who recognized him and had him hanged for his involvement with Bacon’s Rebellion. After Giles Bland’s death, Governor Berkeley took ownership of the property. In 1691, he sold the property to Benjamin Harrison III, who used his newly purchased property to build the first commercial shipyard on the James River to export tobacco grown on his plantations.
When Benjamin Harrison III died in 1710, his son, Benjamin Harrison IV, inherited the nearly 1,000-acre parcel of land. When he took ownership of the land, he built a three-story Georgian-style plantation house on the site in 1726. Today, the plantation house is one of the oldest standing brick mansions in Virginia.
Berkeley Plantation was influential in the early days of our nation’s history. The first Thanksgiving celebration took place on the land in 1619. The first bourbon whiskey was distilled on the property in 1621. In July 1862, “Taps” was played for the first time ever at Berkeley. Two United States presidents, William Harrison and Benjamin Harrison, lived at Berkeley Plantation at one point.
Although Berkeley has had its share of historical milestones, it has also had its share of tragedies since the mid-1700s that may have led to some of the hauntings that can still be experienced today.
During a thunderstorm in the summer of 1745, an upstairs bedroom window of the mansion blew open and heavy rain poured in, threatening to destroy the bedroom’s expensive furniture. Benjamin Harrison IV and his two daughters were in the room and ran to the window to close it when a large bolt of lightning struck the house, immediately killing all three of them.
After his father’s unexpected death, Benjamin Harrison V became caretaker of Berkeley Plantation, which was quite an undertaking, considering he was only eighteen years old. However, he not only successfully managed the plantation for several years, but he was also a signer of the Declaration of Independence, the governor of Virginia, and father of President Henry Harrison and great-grandfather of President William Henry Harrison.
The Civil War found the Harrison family no longer residing at the plantation. General George McClellan and as many as 10,000 Union troops were stationed at Berkeley. General McClellan occupied the mansion while Union soldiers were spread throughout the plantation’s 1,000 acres. Because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., President Abraham Lincoln personally visited General McClellan at Berkeley Plantation on at least two occasions during the Civil War.
While he was at Berkeley Plantation, General McClellan converted the mansion’s cellar into a holding cell for captured Confederate soldiers. Often the captured soldiers were harshly interrogated while imprisoned in the cellar. Many of the bedrooms of the mansion were also transformed into hospital rooms for wounded Union soldiers when they returned from the battlefield. Undoubtedly, many Confederate soldiers met their fate as a result of their stay in the cellar and many Union soldiers died in the bedrooms of the mansion.
After the Civil War ended, many of the Harrisons attempted to return to Berkeley Plantation but were unable to do so. Again, the property was abandoned and left to the elements for several years. James Jamieson, a Civil War veteran of Scottish descent, purchased the property in 1907 and spent months renovating the mansion to its former splendor. Today, the Berkeley Plantation House is a historical landmark that offers tours of the mansion and hosts several community events throughout the year. It can also be reserved for weddings and other special events.
With a history that has spanned four hundred years, the land and the mansion are believed to have several ghosts associated with them. Interestingly enough, most of the hauntings are not associated with Berkeley Hundred and its attack in 1622, but rather the mansion itself and its occupation during the Civil War.
Since Berkeley was renovated in 1907, people have heard the sound of loud footsteps coming from the attic. When investigated, there would be no obvious cause for the sound. For the skeptic, this could be explained by the house settling or other natural phenomena. However, the other paranormal events experienced at Berkeley Plantation are not so easily debunked.
In the upstairs bedroom where William Harrison IV and his two daughters were fatally struck by lightning, there have been several sightings of a young woman holding a baby in the window. This is most often seen from the outside, but there have been occasions when people have seen her standing at the window while they were walking by the open door of the bedroom.
The sound of footsteps in the parlor has been heard. The footsteps are often accompanied by the apparition of a man that fits the description of William Harrison IV. Although most believe that it is his apparition, others speculate that the ghost of General McClellan is responsible. Although unrelated, the chandelier crystals have been known to move on their own and the door to a linen closet in the room open and closes by itself.
The ghosts of Union and Confederate soldiers have been seen near Berkeley Mansion. One Union soldier has been seen looking out over the nearby James River. Other soldiers have been seen standing near the front of the main entryway of the mansion. A Confederate soldier has been seen near the cellar where McClellan held prisoners for questioning.
Finally, there have been hundreds of sightings of an unidentified boy about ten years old standing near the edge of the Harrison family cemetery. There is sometimes a tall Union soldier standing beside him.
Edgewood Plantation
Charles City
Edgewood Plantation was originally part of Berkeley Plantation until 1849 when Spencer Rowland purchased several hundred acres and founded his own plantation. Rowland, who moved to Charles City from New England a few years previously, purchased the property because he realized its income potential due to its proximity to the James River. A grist mill had been built by earlier owners of the property in 1725. Over a century later, Rowland saw that it was still in very good condition. Five years after purchasing his new plantation and grist mill, Rowland built a three-story Gothic Revival house at Edgewood in 1854.
Rowland put the grist mill to use, and plantation owners from miles around visited Edgewood to grind their corn into meal because many planters did not have grist mills on their property. Interestingly enough, during the Civil War both Confederate and Union troops took turns using the mill to grind their own corn meal.
During the Civil War, Confederate troops used the plantation house as a lookout and signal post to spy on approaching Union soldiers. General J.E.B. Stuart made a brief stop at Edgewood while en route to visit General Robert E. Lee in Richmond to inform him of the advancing power of the Union forces. While Stuart had coffee and refreshments inside, many of his Confederate soldiers waited patiently outside.
Over the years, Edgewood Plantation has served not only as a Civil War lookout but also as a post office, a nursing home, and a restaurant. In the 1970s, the Edgewood Plantation House was renovated into a comfortable and hospitable bed-and-breakfast.
At least three ghosts haunt Edgewood Plantation. Two of the three ghosts have been positively identified as people connected to the plantation, while the identity of the third ghost remains unknown at this time.
The most prominent ghost at Edgewood is that of Elizabeth “Lizzie” Rowland, the only sister of plantation owner Spencer Rowland. While living at Edgewood, Lizzie met and fell in love with Bernard Carter, the son of the owner of nearby Shirley Plantation. Bernard and Lizzie were inseparable and started to make wedding plans when the Civil War broke out. Feeling that it was his patriotic duty, Bernard volunteered to fight for the Confederacy. He asked Lizzie to wait for him and when he returned they would be married. Lizzie agreed and the two parted ways, never to see each other again.
After Bernard’s departure, Lizzie spent hours looking out a second-floor window hoping to see her fiancé return from the war. One day while waiting for him, she carved her name into the wooden windowsill, which can be seen to this day. After months of waiting, Lizzie fell into a deep depression but never gave up hope that Bernard would one day return to her. She died at forty-seven years of age on February 6, 1870, still waiting in vain for his return. Upon her death, Lizzie was buried in the Westover Church graveyard a few miles from Edgewood Plantation.
Only a few months after her death, people who lived at Edgewood started to see Lizzie’s ghost. Originally, the apparition of a woman in her mid-twenties to early thirties was only noticed near the windowsill where Lizzie had carved her name while waiting for her fiancé’s return. Visitors have looked up to the second-floor window and have seen the apparition of a very sad, dark-haired woman looking down toward them. Eyewitnesses have also seen Lizzie’s apparition from the inside as they reach the top of the stairs and look in the direction of the window. This story is very well documented in Marguerite Du Pont Lee’s 1930 book, Virginia Ghosts.
After some time, Lizzie was witnessed in several parts of the house, including the kitchen and main stairway. People who have seen Lizzie’s ghost have always said that she is very friendly and is most often seen on the first floor of the house.
In 1978, the plantation was purchased and converted into a very cozy bed-and-breakfast. In 2001, a guest who was a self-proclaimed sensitive visited Edgewood and requested a secluded area in order to ensure her privacy. The next morning, the woman complained to the bed-and-breakfast’s owner that the room she stayed in was haunted by a young woman and demanded a room that did not have any ghosts, because they had a tendency to speak with her.
To accommodate her wishes, the guest was moved to the slave quarters where there had been no prior reports of hauntings. The next morning, the woman decided to check out because she had spent most of the night speaking with the ghost of a Confederate soldier named Aaron Young.
Word got out, and a few years later, Edgewood was featured on a fourth-season episode of Ghost Hunters. Although the ghost hunters found some ghostly activity associated with Lizzie, the epicenter of the activity took place in the slave quarters. Again, the name Aaron Young came up during the investigation. Historical records were searched and it was discovered there had been a Confederate soldier named Aaron Young III who belonged to Virginia’s Twentieth Regiment, which passed near Edgewood Plantation. Although Young was identified as the ghost, it is uncertain why his ghost haunts the plantation, considering he moved west after the Civil War and died in Wirt County, West Virginia, in 1913.
A third ghost associated with Edgewood Plantation is that of an unidentified man who is only seen in a guest room known as Jeb’s Room. Unlike Lizzie and Aaron, there has been no documentation found to help identify this man. He has been described as rather tall and slender. When his apparition is seen, the man is usually standing by the bed. When he is approached or after a few seconds, the ghost disappears.
Fall Hill Plantation
Fredericksburg
In February 1720, Francis Thornton acquired approximately 8,000 acres of property near Fredericksburg, and he built the first of two plantation houses on the property fifteen years later. The plantation was passed through four generations until it came into the ownership of Francis Thornton V, who in 1790 built a two-story brick Georgian mansion as a wedding gift to his wife, Sally Innes.
The property remained in the Thornton family until 1845, when Francis Thornton V died without a will naming someone to inherit Fall Hill. The plantation went up for sale and was bought by Dr. John Taylor, who kept the property in his name until 1870.
During the Civil War, the plantation house was in danger of being demolished by Confederate General Robert E. Lee when he and his troops were stationed in the Fredericksburg area. The property near the plantation house was close to the Rappahannock River, which gave Lee a vantage point to observe the Union forces that were approaching the plantation. Lee considered burning the mansion to keep it from falling into Union hands, and the only reason that Lee did not destroy the house was that the Union troops he was spying on changed direction.
After the Civil War, Dr. Taylor returned to Fall Hill, where he repaired the mansion from damage caused by Confederate occupation. At this time, he also married a descendant of Francis Thornton V, which brought the property back into the Thornton family. Fall Hill remained in the Thornton family until 2003, when the last descendant passed away at 103 years of age.
For over 200 years, residents of and visitors to Fall Hill have experienced the ghost of a caretaker named Katina. Although stories of Katina’s ghost were initially shared among family and close friends, one of the first documented accounts of paranormal phenomena at Fall Hill goes back to the 1920s, when a visitor wrote about her own encounter and shared it with her friends. Soon, Katina’s story became widely known throughout the state.
Katina’s ghost is described as an older, dark-complected woman with long, straight, graying hair. Unlike with some ghosts, those who have seen Katina usually feel a strong sense of peace and love. Sometimes, people who have seen Katina get the impression that she is either lost or looking for something. The sound of children laughing and playing can be heard in the nursery room and in the adjacent hallway from where Katina’s ghost is usually seen.
Sometimes, Katina’s ghost has been accompanied by a little boy about five years old. When he is seen with Katina, he is always holding her right hand. As with other apparitions, Katina’s ghost will disappear if approached or confronted directly.
Haw Branch Plantation
Amelia
Haw Branch Plantation was founded in 1735 when Colonel Thomas Tabb purchased a tract of land outside of present-day Amelia, Virginia, for his wife, Rebecca. Over the next several years, Colonel Tabb and his wife expanded the property by several hundred acres. From 1745 to 1748, Tabb built a moderately sized Federal-style plantation house to live in while he oversaw the daily business of the plantation. By 1798, the property grew to over 2,700 acres. After Colonel Tubb’s daughter Marianna inherited the property as a wedding gift when she married William Barksdale in 1815, the house was renovated once again. More of the surrounding property was purchased, and Tabb’s daughter and her husband expanded their plantation to over 10,000 acres by the beginning of the Civil War.
After the Civil War ended, the plantation house lay vacant for several years. Most of the acreage of the plantation was sold to pay off a number of debts accrued by the Tabb family during the Civil War. Within a decade, Haw Branch Plantation dwindled from over 10,000 acres down to only 120 acres.
In recent years, Haw Branch has developed the reputation of being haunted, with ghosts ranging from farmhands to former residents.
The first ghost is that of a man carrying a gas lantern near where the plantation’s barn stood. He is described as a tall, thin man with a pronounced limp. His apparition shows up randomly and appears to be simply making certain that the barn is secure. Similarly, the ghost of a female housekeeper or servant has been seen standing on the porch. As with the farmhand, her apparition is seen on occasion and does not appear to be malicious in any way.
A third ghost at Haw Branch Plantation appears to be located in the attic and the stairway leading to the attic. Over the years, several witnesses have heard the loud scream of a woman who sounds as if she is in extreme pain. The screaming is fairly predictable in that it only manifests once every six months. Most accounts report that the screams can be heard on or near May 23 and November 23 of each year. The screams always take place in the middle of the night, and when someone is brave enough to go to the attic to investigate, it is always empty.
Occasionally the screams are accompanied by the apparition of a young woman wearing either a nightgown or a long dress standing at the bottom of the stairway that leads to the attic. In the room adjacent to the attic stairs, people have noticed the smell of either roses or a rose-scented perfume just before the screaming takes place. It is believed that the ghost is of a girl who lived at the mansion shortly after it was built and that late one night, she fell down the attic stairs and died. Those who follow this train of thought believe that the anniversary of her death is either on May 23 or November 23, which would explain why her screams are only heard on those dates.
Kenmore Plantation
Fredericksburg
Kenmore is a 1,300-acre plantation, located near Fredericksburg, Virginia, that was originally owned by Colonel Fielding Lewis. Construction of the Georgian-style plantation house began in 1752 and was completed in early 1776. While the mansion was being constructed, Colonel Lewis, his wife, and their eleven children stayed on the property. The plantation stayed in the Lewis family from the early 1750s until it was sold out of the family because of financial difficulties in 1797.
An interesting bit of history associated with Kenmore Plantation is that Fielding Lewis’s wife was Betty Washington Lewis, sister to first president of the United States, George Washington. As Lewis’s plantation was not far from George Washington’s own plantation, Mount Vernon, it was not uncommon to see him there on a regular basis to visit his sister.
Fielding Lewis grew and sold crops such as corn, tobacco, and wheat on the 1,300-acre plantation. Being a devout patriot, Lewis believed so much in the principles of the emerging American government that he invested most of his money into financing the Fredericksburg Arms Manufactory, which provided weapons and ammunition to colonists during the Revolutionary War. Lewis was promised by Virginia’s government that he would be recognized and reimbursed for his generous contribution to the American cause. However, the money that Lewis invested was never repaid, which all but destroyed him financially. Lewis died at the age of fifty-six in December 1781. Some believed that he worried himself to an early grave because of his financial concerns.
After Lewis’s death in 1781, his widow gained control of the plantation until her death sixteen years later. Still in considerable financial straits after Lewis’s investment in the Fredericksburg Arms Manufactory, his sons sold the mansion and surrounding acreage in 1797.
The property went through a few owners until it was purchased in 1819 by Samuel Golden, who named the plantation Kenmore after an ancestral home in Scotland. After purchasing the property, Golden made several modifications to the mansion and lived there until the beginning of the Civil War.
The ghost of Fielding Lewis is believed to haunt the second-floor bedroom that he had converted into an office. In this room Lewis spent many sleepless nights trying to find a way to make enough money to ensure that he and his family would be financially secure. Sometimes, Lewis’s ghost appears to be holding a piece of paper or parchment. Even if the apparition is not seen, the sound of heavy footsteps, described by some as pacing, can be heard from within this room, especially at night.
Piney Grove at Southall’s Plantation
Holdcroft
In the late 1700s, Furneau Southall purchased approximately 300 acres outside of Holdcroft, Virginia. After founding the plantation, Southall acted as deputy sheriff of Charles City County. He also was one of the men responsible for administering the first official census of the area in 1790.
The plantation remained in the Southall family from 1790 until 1857, when Furneau’s grandson, John Stubblefield, sold the property to Edmond Saunders. After purchasing Southall Plantation, Saunders opened a general store on the property and called it the Piney Grove Store, hence the name Piney Grove at Southall Plantation. Saunders’s business was fortunate in that it was not greatly affected by the Civil War. Saunders kept fairly neutral during the war, which is likely one of the reasons that the Piney Grove Store remained in operation until 1915.
The property was sold two times from 1915 until the current owners renovated the plantation house and other buildings from 1984 to 1989. Today, the main plantation house is a bed-and-breakfast that offers tours and hosts local events throughout the year.
Compared with other plantations, such as the Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana, Piney Grove at Southall Plantation does not appear to have a remarkable history when it comes to the paranormal. However, there have been a few stories passed down through the years about a former clerk who is believed to haunt the store that was central to the plantation’s success.
Thomas Fletcher Harwood, a clerk at the general store at Piney Grove from 1874 to 1915, is believed to haunt the store. During the Civil War, Thomas lost his leg because of cannon fire at the Battle of Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862. After surviving the amputation of most of his leg, a prosthetic leg was made for him by colleague and fellow veteran Jim Hanger. After being discharged from the Confederate army, Harwood returned to Piney Grove and became a clerk at the general store until his death in 1915.
Since Harwood’s death, people have heard the distinct sound of footsteps on the front porch and inside the store. Sometimes the footsteps have been accompanied by a shadowy apparition. It is believed that the ghost is that of Mr. Harwood, based on the distinct sound of the footsteps. An encounter with Mr. Harwood’s ghost so inspired one poet that she wrote a poem about not only his death, but also a family member’s personal account of his encounter with his ghost.
Rosewell
Gloucester
After buying property to start a plantation in 1725, Mann Page built a 12,000-square-foot, three-story, Flemish bond brickwork mansion. Wanting his plantation mansion to be unique, Page hired and brought a renowned architect from England to ensure that the plantation house was built exactly to his specifications. When it was completed, Rosewell Mansion was one of the largest and most elaborate mansions built in Virginia at the time. Page imported building materials, trim work, paint, and many other supplies directly from England. The foundation walls were over three feet thick, which made it not only one of the most elaborate mansions in Virginia, but also one of the sturdiest.
Mann Page died shortly before his mansion was completed. Upon his death in 1730, his widow, Judith Carter Page, inherited the mansion and construction was suspended until Page’s son, Mann Page Jr., inherited Rosewell. He followed his father’s architectural style and the mansion was completed in 1738.
There is a great deal of historical significance associated with Rosewell Plantation. Thomas Jefferson was a good friend of the Page family and visited them whenever he could. It is believed that an early draft of the Declaration of Independence was written by Jefferson in a guest room at the mansion.
In 1837 Rosewell Plantation was sold to Thomas Booth. After removing and selling most of the imported materials used in the mansion’s construction, he gave the mansion to his cousin, who sold it a few years later to Josiah Deans in 1853.
Unlike most plantations in Virginia, Rosewell remained unharmed during the Civil War. After the Civil War, Rosewell was abandoned and left to the elements for nearly fifty years. In 1916, Rosewell mansion burned to the ground, still abandoned at the time of the fire. Today, the mansion ruins are open to the public and can be toured.
There appear to be four separate hauntings associated with Rosewell Plantation, which include two women, two boys, and several unexplained sounds.
Although the mansion is no longer standing, the apparition of a young woman is seen near where the stairs to the front entrance once stood. She is always seen at dusk and only appears for a few seconds before disappearing.
In the same general vicinity as the young woman are the apparitions of two young boys seen standing near the front entrance where the phantom woman is encountered. Both boys are described as about twelve years old and wearing similar outfits. The boys appear to be holding lanterns in front of them, which was not uncommon during parties at plantations. Young boys held lanterns and helped guests enter and exit their carriages. Sometimes the sound of horse hooves can be heard in conjunction with the apparitions of the two boys.
A third apparition seen at Rosewell Plantation is of another young woman described as wearing a long red dress. Sometimes she is seen standing in front of the mansion ruins, but more frequently she is seen walking through the area where the Rosewell rose garden once stood.
In addition to these apparitions, there are also sounds that cannot be explained. Behind the plantation house ruins, muffled voices in hushed conversation have been heard. It has been suspected that these voices belong to the ghosts of slaves coming in from the fields.