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Mysterious America

Most Haunted Plantations in Virginia

Hidden away down tree-shaded lanes, stately manors remind passersby of a bygone era when parasol ladies in bright dresses strolled past enslaved workers tilling the fields. Today they are historic sites, museums, or private homes, but something from the past remains. Perhaps you can catch a glimpse of a smokey figure at one of these most haunted plantations in Virginia.

Elmwood

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Elmwood Plantation in Essex County, Virginia was established in the late 18th century by the Wickham family, who were prominent landowners in Virginia. The Wickham family lived in a large brick mansion on the plantation, which was likely built in the late 18th or early 19th century. The mansion still stands today and is a private residence. It was unoccupied for much of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, leading to widespread rumors of ghostly activity. The most notable occurrence is that of a spectral couple wearing extravagant clothes who appear in the midst of parties, dancing obliviously to the perplexed crowd. Their waltz takes them down the main staircase and into the garden, where they disappear.

Blandfield

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Blandfield is a Georgian-style plantation house in Essex County, Virginia. It was built around 1750 for William Beverley (1696–1756). As the house has been in possession of the Beverley family for over 250 years, it comes as no surprise that several family members are believed to haunt the grounds. An unknown male entity has been seen in the library, and the specter of a woman wearing a long dress appears upstairs.

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Historic America

Who was Isabelle Scott?

Isabelle Scott lived in Mattoon, Illinois from 1902 until her death in 1907. She died of tuberculosis at the young age of 30-32. In those short years, Isabelle was the notorious madam of a brothel on what was then called Railroad Street/Cottage Avenue. She rubbed elbows with notorious figures in Mattoon’s underworld, even a city alderman.

But who was she, really?

I came across this fascinating figure while researching Mattoon’s history for my book, Tales of Coles County, and later developed it into an essay for a nonfiction writing class at George Mason University.

Unfortunately, I don’t live in Illinois anymore and am only able to visit once a year, if that, so my time to visit Mattoon to conduct research is severely limited.

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Historic America Photography

The Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery

The Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery. Photo by M.A. Kleen

Slated for removal before the New Year, you may soon only be able to see this memorial in photographs.

Dedicated in 1914, the 32-foot Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery was designed and sculpted by Moses J. Ezekiel (1844-1917), the first Jewish graduate of the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. Ezekiel fought alongside his fellow cadets at the Battle of New Market, which is depicted in the film Field of Lost Shoes (2014). Until recently, nearly every U.S. president since Woodrow Wilson has sent a funeral wreath to be laid at the memorial, as a gesture of reconciliation and respect for the Confederate veterans buried there. After 109 years, it is slated to be removed. There are 32 bronze figures, including soldiers and civilians and two black slaves, one wearing a uniform accompanying his master to war. It is topped with a female statue representing the South. An inscription on the north face reads:

“Not for fame or reward, not for place or for rank, not lured by ambition, or goaded by necessity, but in simple obedience to duty as they understood it, these men suffered all, sacrificed all, dared all–and died.”

Randolph Harrison

Moses Ezekiel is buried nearby, as well as 264 other Confederate veterans. The memorial is supposed to be removed before the New Year. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin offered to move it to the New Market Battlefield, but its ultimate fate is unclear.

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Historic America

Gettysburg Campaign – Manassas Gap, July 23, 1863

Twenty days after the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s exhausted Army of Northern Virginia was marching up the Shenandoah Valley, trying to find a safe route into central Virginia. Union Maj. Gen. George G. Meade pursued with the remainder of his Army of the Potomac. The Blue Ridge Mountains separated both armies. Sensing an opportunity, Meade ordered the III Corps, now commanded by William. H. French, to cross the Manassas Gap towards Front Royal. There he hoped to cut off Lee’s escape. Light skirmishing occurred July 21-22, and then on July 23, 1863, French assailed a ridge called Wapping Heights with his entire corps. The ridge was defended by a single brigade of Georgia infantry.

The Georgians fought tenaciously, but they were outnumbered. French’s men captured the ridge and pressed on. Growing darkness, and Confederate reinforcements, checked his advance, however, and the opportunity slipped away. Lee’s army eventually crossed into central Virginia farther south, and the Gettysburg Campaign was officially over. It’s estimated that the belligerents suffered a combined total of over 60,000 casualties, and finished roughly in the same position where it all began. On August 8th, Lee wrote a letter to Confederate President Jefferson Davis offering to resign as commander of the army, but Davis refused to accept.

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Historic America

Gettysburg Campaign – Falling Waters, July 14, 1863

Though the Union Army of the Potomac’s senior officers voted against taking the offensive against Robert E. Lee’s beleaguered army entrenched around Williamsport, Maryland, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade ordered a reconnaissance in force. Lee was trapped by the Potomac River’s high waters, but by July 13, 1863, those waters had begun to recede, allowing his engineers to built a pontoon bridge to Virginia. By the time Meade’s scouts investigated the Confederate works the following day, they found them empty. The Confederate army was already crossing the river. Union cavalry commander Brig. Gen. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick seized the opportunity and headed for the crossing at Falling Waters, where Confederate Maj. Gen. Henry Heth’s Division was acting as a rearguard. In the fog, Heth mistakenly believed Kilpatrick’s troopers were Confederates until it was too late. Hand to hand fighting swirled around the Daniel Donnelly House, and one of Heth’s brigade commanders, James J. Pettigrew, was mortally wounded. Somewhere between 500 and 1,500 Confederates were captured, but most of Lee’s army had made it safely to the Virginia side of the river.

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Historic America

Gettysburg Campaign – Council of War, July 12, 1863

As Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia dug in around Williamsport, Maryland, Union Maj. Gen. George G. Meade weighed his options. Pressure from Washington, DC to attack Lee’s army while it was trapped in Maryland was enormous. Confederate engineers had erected an impressive network of earthworks, however, and the Union Army of the Potomac was still in bad shape after the Battle of Gettysburg. On the evening of July 12, 1863, Meade gathered his senior commanders at his headquarters at Antietam Bridge northwest of Boonsboro (today Devil’s Backbone County Park) for a council of war. By a firm majority, they rejected an outright attack and settled instead for a reconnaissance in force. This gave Robert E. Lee time to slip away.

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Historic America

Gettysburg Campaign – Hagerstown, July 12, 1863

By July 12, 1863, the Union Army of the Potomac had settled into a position opposite the Confederate trenches and fortifications around Williamsport, Maryland, but Confederate cavalry still threatened its right flank at Hagerstown. Acting on intelligence that 6,000 gray troopers occupied the town, Brig. Gen. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick’s division returned to Hagerstown, spearheaded by Brig. Gen. George A. Custer’s brigade. When Custer arrived, however, he found most of the Confederates had already withdrawn, leaving behind a skeletal force. It didn’t take long for Custer’s troopers to clear the town at a cost of only four wounded.