What's Lurking Around Williamsburg?

battlefields

Governors Palace

One of the places we visited while in Virginia in 2005 was Colonial Williamsburg. The temperature was hot with the humidity even worse. I am from a dry desert state so the humidity was hard to deal with but I hung in there. If my 83 years old uncle could handle it, then so shall I. Williamsburg was an amazing place to visit with so much history in its many buildings and grounds, and is worth a visit.

Williamsburg was mostly a wooded area during the time of the English colonists in Jamestown, in the area known as the Colony of Virginia, in 1607. It was located in the territory of the Native American group known as the Powhatan Confederacy. In 1638 people started to settle in Williamsburg but it was known as Middle Plantation and was located on the high ground between the James and York rivers. Jamestown was the original capital of Virginia Colony but was plagued with mosquitoes and burned down. Governor William Berkeley regained control and took over Middle Plantation as a temporary location while Jamestown was being rebuilt. Four years later in 1698 the Statehouse in Jamestown burned down again causing the Governor to take over Middle Plantation once again. In 1699 the colonial capital was permanently moved to Middle Plantation and was renamed Williamsburg in honor as King William III of England. In 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, the capital of Virginia was moved from Williamsburg to Richmond. The Governor feared that the location of Williamsburg might make it vulnerable to British attack. Williamsburg did see its share of war battles especially during the spring of 1862. The Battle of Williamsburg on May 5, 1862, saw the defenders successful in delaying Union forces long enough for the confederates to reach the outer protection of Richmond. Many souls were lost during this time. Williamsburg, also known as Colonial Williamsburg has the College of William & Mary, the second oldest university in the United States, and Eastern State Hospital, the first known mental hospital, nearby. Nowadays, Colonial Williamsburg enjoys many tourists wandering though its historical buildings and grounds, learning about its history and colonists that called this place home.

Many of the employees, workers, reenators and tourist have also report other activities around Williamsburg of the paranormal kind. Apparently there are many ghosts that are still hanging around either repeating the same actions over and over, or trying to get the attention of the living. In the Carter’s Grove Plantation, spirits from the 17th century colonists killed in an Indian massacre are seen roaming the grounds. On the Colonial grounds, an apparition of a slave has been reported wandering around looking for his family. He likes to make an appearance at the nearby hotels and bangs on the doors hoping to find his long lost family. The maze behind the Governors Mansion seems to be haunted by a civil war soldier while the wall in the front of the mansion has the ghost of an escape insane patient from the mental institution that was nearby. The Governor’s Palace Green and another house nearby have a ghost of a young woman witnessed by several people. She has been seen dressed like she was attending a ball. In the Kings Arms Tavern, the regulars have reported a female ghost who likes to haunt the place. They think she is from the 1700’s and her name is Irma and her presence is usually heard and felt as supposed to being seen. Irma is usually heard whispering to the staff and blowing out candles because some believe she may have died because of a fallen candle. In the Magazine building a tidy ghost is seen walking up the stairs putting his gun away. In the Peyton Randolph House there are many stories of ghostly sightings while The Mill seems to be haunted by the many spirits of the victims of a serial killer. The College of William and Mary also has its share of ghostly activity. In the Brafferton Building the sounds of screams, crying, footsteps, drums and the sighting of an apparition of a young boy have been reported. The story goes that the building was used to house many Indians after the massacre of the colonists in the 1700’s. The young Indian boys were taken away from their families and forced to live amongst the other colonists as if they belonged, leaving their families in agony. Another story is of a young boy that liked to escape his room every night to run on the fields, and was found mysteriously dead. This could explain the apparition of a boy running on the soccer field late at night. Another college building is Tucker Hall were the ghost of a girl that committed suicide in 1980 can be seen roaming the halls and dorm rooms. The Williamsburg Theatre was once the home of the Wade family. This building has the ghost of a Union soldier wandering its halls looking for his Confederate brother who died in the home. They say that his guilt might be why this wary soldier’s spirit will not leave the theatre. The Presidents House or Wren Building is a place haunted by a French soldier from the Revolutionary War. This building was used as a makeshift hospital for all the wounded soldiers. There is also an unknown spirit that seems to be haunting the place. Many believe that it is the ghost of the mystery person whose bones were found buried in the walls.

Today, Colonial Williamsburg is largest tourist attraction in Virginia and is the cornerstone of the Historic Triangle with Jamestown and Yorktown. Next time you visit, take the ghost tour and see what unseen beings are living there still.

Governor's Palace Green

Brafferton Building

Peyton Randolph House

The Magazine (My daughter, Uncle & Me) 2005

Live Re-enactors or Ghosts?

battlefields

In 2005 I took a two week vacation with my Mother, daughter and cousin along the East coast. Our vacation started in Virginia, then Washington DC, New York City, Philadelphia, Rhode Island and Boston MA. Since many of the places we went to have so much history and reports of ghostly activity, I thought that I would do a blog series on that vacation. I will start with Newport News, Virginia, where my Aunts, Uncles, many cousins live, and where my Father grew up. On one of the evenings of our visit, several of my cousins came over and we chatted about our lives. I found out that one of my cousins was a Civil War re-enactor. He and many others would put on Confederate and Yankee uniforms and meet on the battlefields where all the action took place. He is a southern boy so he would wear a full Confederate uniform, from head to toe, with whatever pistols or fighting gear was necessary for the re-enactment. These battles were carefully orchestrated by historians and other Civil War experts. A distance away from the battlefields was the spectators or news media, watching the whole event as it unfolds. I think it would fun to watch them re-enact a battle. He told us the stories about the night before the battle that turned out to be just as fascinating as the battle recreations themselves. Some of the private owners of the plantation properties around the area, allowed some of the participants to pitch tents or sleep in the cabins that are on the property as long as they respect the land. (I'm sorry but I can't remember the name of the plantation that he stayed on and haven't seen him since 2005.) The cabins were where the plantation owner's slaves would live. It was well known to those that have camped on one particular property for several years. that one of the cabins near the back of one of the property is haunted. No one ever stays there because whatever is there doesn't want visitors and is not shy in letting them know. One time a new member to the re-enactment group was staying in the cabin next to the "haunted" cabin. There was lots of noise in that cabin and he couldn't sleep. He thought that someone was partying in the cabin and went over to tell them to be quiet. My cousin was staying in another cabin nearby and watched this all unfold. He saw the guy march to the cabin angry, go inside, and then ran out like his britches were on fire. The man said that someone or something told him to 'get out' in an angry voice but no one was in there. He never went near the cabin after that. My cousin said that the night was like a dead calm, eerie quiet and pitch black unless there was a full moon. While you are lying in bed, you were overcome with the feeling like you are not alone, almost like some unseen thing was in there with you. Some have reported seeing apparitions walking through the property, ignoring the living, moving around and repeating the same thing over and over. No one felt threatened by any of the spirits that may still reside on the property, so they didn't mind staying there. As for the "haunted" cabin, they just respected the angry ghosts wishes and stayed away.

On the day of the battle recreations, the feeling and reported sightings of ghosts have been witnessed on the battlefields as well. While the battle was going on, or after it was over, some say they noticed opaque soldiers on the field still fighting the battle. For some of the re-enactors they do this because they love it and others to honor those who lost their lives in the war, perhaps a family ancestor. With all the bloody deaths from the Civil War in Virginia, it’s not surprising that along with the human re-enactors that some of the ghost soldiers from the war are joining in on the fighting too.

There have been many sightings of battle scenes being played out by witnesses on many famous battlefields like Gettysburg. Many visitors have thanked the park managers for the wonderful and realistic re-enactments of battles or soldiers marching in formation for them. In every case, there was never a re-enactments going on. I would love to hear from anyone who has done battlefield re-enactments or has seen one done by ghosts of the battles' past.
--Julie--