The Spirits of Virginia

The Berkeley Plantation Mansion is located in Charles City, Virginia near the James River. The mansion has 3 stories and is built of brick. Today it is a museum where one can see the inside of the mansion itself and the extensive grounds. In 1790 Benjamin Harrison VI at the direction of his friend and colleague, Thomas Jefferson did himself the beautiful Adam woodwork and the double arches of the „Great Rooms". The mansion is furnished with 18th century antiques. The grounds have five terraced gardens (dug during the Revolutionary War) which lead from the house to the James River.

Benjamin Harrison built the existing Berkeley Plantation Mansion in 1726. General McClelland used the mansion as his headquarters during the Civil War and President Lincoln used to visit him there. At one time there were 140,000 Union soldiers on the property. The cellar was used as a holding cell for Confederate soldiers and the rooms for a hospital. The Berkeley Plantation Mansion began to fall in neglect until finally a private citizen purchased the plantation and restored it.

A terrible accident occurred in on of the upstairs rooms in 1744. It was a stormy evening and William Harrison IV with his two daughters was trying shut a window in a bedroom overlooking the James River. Suddenly a fluke bolt of lightening hit through the window. It struck all three of them, killing them at once but missed Harrison’s infant son Benjamin Harrison V, who was being held by one of the daughters. The surviving son, Benjamin grew up to be an important leader and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was also the father and grandfather of two US Presidents; William Henry Harrison (9th) and Benjamin Harrison (23rd).

In the attic of the mansion footsteps can be heard pacing about. At the window of an upstairs bedroom where the tragedy occurred a girl with a baby in her arms can be seen standing there. At times the window will shut by itself or when a visitor is told of the tragedy. The entity of William Harrison IV can be seen walking across the parlor. He enjoys playing jokes on the staff. The door to the linen press occasionally swings open hitting an unsuspecting tour guide on the shoulder and sometimes the door swings back and forth on will. His presence can also be felt in the dining room. Fruit from a fruit bowl has been known to fly through the air and return to the bowl or roll on the table. Apples have fallen on the floor as if someone was tossing them.

An apparition of a tall, gaunt soldier can be seen walking along the river sometimes if the company of a drummer boy.

In Alexandria, Virginia on Oronoco Street one can find the lovely, southern style mansion that was the boyhood home of General Robert E. Lee. It is now the private residence of Mark and Ann Kington.

When the mansion was owned by a Henry K. and family in 1967 they experienced ghostly occurrences. During the daylight hours the family could hear the patter of a little child’s running feet and hear giggling coming from upstairs and up and down the stairway. Mrs. K estimated that the child could be about 4 years old. The entity walked along with various family members and hugged them around the knees. This happened about 2 or 3 times a day for almost 6 months straight and then tapered off.

A cigarette lighter which had been lost came flying out of nowhere and landed at Mrs. K’s feet. The family also saw a black dog apparition trotting around the backyard. The K’s two beagles didn’t react to this ghostly intruder. When new neighbors came to visit the lady guest suddenly found snow falling on her head in the living room and she began to become wet. Both Mr. and Mrs. K have heard beautiful music coming from and unidentified string instrument somewhere upstairs.

With other owners the giggling voice of the four year old has also been heard all over the house and his presence is most felt in the downstairs hall, underneath the second floor landing. The doorbell has been rung and no one has been there, objects have moved about and snowflakes dropped on more visitors. More recent residents have seen a little boy playing with a black dog in the backyard and two little girls have been seen as well.

When psychic-sensitive Susy Smith visited the mansion she felt goose bumps as she walked about the downstairs hallway. There are three theories as to the identity of the ghost child – one is that supposedly he could be Lee’s 4 year old son who fell down the stairs and died at Lee’s other house some 50 miles away, some feel that this could be Lee himself returning as a child and others think it could be Lee’s brother Philip who died at the age of 4 in this house. The little girls could be Lee’s sisters who also died here in childhood.