Mysterious Virginia

By Sherman Carmichael and Jason McLean

Explore the lore of the Old Dominion.

From colonial-era witches to modern sightings of Bigfoot, the history of the Old Dominion is filled with creepy tales. Cemeteries, battlefields and inns host haunts from Virginia's earliest days. Some appear as corporeal figures, and some as lights or ghostly noises. Delve into the sad and scary stories of patients who still linger in Victorian-era sanatoriums. Unexplained sightings of mysterious creatures, from Bigfoot to werewolves, are widespread in the western part of the state, and Chessie rears her head in the Bay--for the lucky few! Even prominent buildings like the Executive Mansion in Richmond have their own uncanny legends.

Join master storyteller Sherman Carmichael as he tells spooky tales of the Old Dominion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Oct 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781439676585

Sherman Carmichael

Sherman Carmichael has been dabbling into things that are best left alone since he was seventeen, like ghosts, UFOs, monsters and other strange and unusual things. He has seen, heard and felt things that defy explanation. Carmichael's many books have centered on ghosts and the strange and unusual, hovering objects and strange lights in the sky. Carmichael has traveled throughout the United States visiting haunted locations, including Roswell, New Mexico. He has also traveled to Mexico and Central America researching Mayan ruins. Carmichael worked as a journalist for many years, thirty years as a photographer, thirty years in law enforcement and twelve years in the movie entertainment business.

Book preview

1

FORT MONROE

Fort Monroe is the largest stone fort ever built in the United States. Construction on the fort began in 1819. President James Madison named French military engineer Simon Bernard as supervisor over the construction. The fort was completed in 1834. It is the only fort in the United States circled by a three- to five-foot-deep moat. Its irregular hexagonal shape makes it the only fort of its kind in the United States. Located in Hampton, Virginia, the fort has been continuously occupied since 1823, although some form of fortification has existed at the site since 1609. The fort was named for the fifth president of the United States, James Monroe.

The location of Fort Monroe was considered necessary for the defense of the Chesapeake Bay, Hampton Roads and the navigational channel that connected them. The point of land on which Fort Monroe stands became known as Point Comfort. Hampton Roads is one of the world’s largest natural harbors.

The granite for the walls came from Virginia and Maryland. The other building materials were supplied locally. The walls are ten feet thick. Casemates were built so soldiers could fire the cannons in relative safety. The fort covers sixty-three acres, with the walls reaching 1.3 miles around the fort. Fort Monroe cost nearly $2 million.

Jefferson Davis was a lieutenant in the United States Army and later went on to become president of the Confederacy. Davis held the position of secretary of war at Fort Monroe and was later held there as a prisoner. After the Civil War was over, Davis was accused of treason, plotting the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and ill treatment of captured union soldiers. In May 1865, Davis was arrested and escorted to his casemate at Fort Monroe. Davis was chained by the ankle for three days. Davis remained in the casemate for six months before being moved to a better cell inside Carroll Hall. Davis was released a year and a half later, after Horace Greely, Garrit Smith and Cornelius Vanderbilt posted $100,000 bail. Davis was never tried for the crimes of which he was accused. Some say Davis was wrongly accused.

Robert E. Lee was a lieutenant and was stationed at Fort Monroe. Lee was responsible for directing large engineering projects.

In 2011, Fort Monroe was decommissioned, but some of its buildings are protected as national historic landmarks.

THE GHOSTS OF FORT MONROE

Among the ghosts that are reportedly seen at Fort Monroe are the ghosts of Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Chief Black Hawk, Edgar Allan Poe and Abraham Lincoln.

Many apparitions from the Civil War era are seen and heard around the fort. Jefferson Davis’s ghost has been seen walking around the ramparts at night. Quarter no. 1 is reportedly visited by the ghost of Abraham Lincoln.

A voice recording of a little girl calling her cat was caught at the fort. The ghost of a gray cat is often seen disappearing around corners. Some have reported seeing the cat walk through a bookcase.

The sounds of disembodied voices and horses’ hooves are often heard around the fort. Pictures with orbs in them have also been taken there.

June Polonsky lived in a house across the street from the fort. One night, she took her dog outside and sat down to wait for it. A little while later, she heard a knocking on her back door. She started through the house to see who was at the back door. To her surprise, she encountered a man wearing a uniform shirt from another period standing by the fireplace. He looked at her and disappeared.

Polonsky’s son reported seeing a strange mist in his bedroom. The people who live there now have also reported seeing the strange mist.

The white lady is one of the better-known ghost tales from the fort. It seems that she was married to a captain who was not a very good husband. When he was away one weekend, his wife and a young soldier got together. The husband returned rather unexpectedly and caught his wife and her soldier friend in bed. The captain shot and killed his wife. She has since been seen wandering around the fort in a white night gown.

The second Chamberlin Hotel (1928–2003), located on the fort’s grounds, also has a female ghost called Esmeralda. She is thought to have been a captain’s daughter and has been seen moving around on the eighth floor of the hotel. A ghost in a top hat has also been seen on the hotel porch and is believed to be the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe.

A family moved into a house on the base that was built in the early 1900s. Strange and unusual things started happening not long after they moved in. The first strange thing to happen was the disappearance of a camera from where it was kept; it later reappeared under a sink in the downstairs bathroom. Doors have been heard closing when nobody was there. Disembodied footsteps and voices are often heard around the house. In one of the upstairs bedrooms, a woman in Victorian era dress has been seen standing by a crib. The ghost of Abraham Lincoln has been seen standing by the fireplace, deep in thought. Ulysses S. Grant has also been seen in the house.

The ghostly spirit of a woman is often seen staring out of a second-story window across from the casemate where Jefferson Davis was held. It is believed to be the spirit of his wife, still watching for him.

Residents of the house that was home to Robert E. Lee often hear disembodied footsteps and voices.

In one of the houses on the base, a family was watching television when a Victorian table with a heavy marble top went flying across the room.

There were workmen in the attic of a house who commented that the little boy was watching them work as he colored. But they said it didn’t bother them at all.

A family who lived in a house on the fort’s grounds with a broken organ planned to get it fixed. They hired a local company that was family-owned. But there had been a death recently, and no one was available to repair the organ. A few days later, a man showed up at the house to fix the organ. He fixed it and left without being paid. When the lady of the house called the company to inquire as to how to make a payment, the company said it hadn’t sent anyone out to fix the organ. After getting a description of the man, the company’s representative realized it was her father who had just passed away.

2

GRACE SHERWOOD

Witch of Pungo

Grace White was born around 1660 to a carpenter, John White, and his wife, Susan White, in Pungo, Princess Anne County, Virginia. Today, what was then Princess Anne County is now part of Virginia Beach. In 1680, Grace White married a planter named James Sherwood. Grace White’s father gave the Sherwoods fifty acres of land to get a start on their married life. In 1681, when John White died, the Sherwoods received the remainder of the Whites’ estate. James and Grace Sherwood had three sons, John, James and Richard.

In 1698, James and Grace Sherwood sued their neighbors John and Jane Gisburne and Anthony and Elizabeth Barnes for slander. They had accused Grace of being a witch and claimed that she ruined their crops, killed their livestock and conjured storms. Grace was constantly in court, either fighting witchcraft charges or suing her accusers of slander. Other accusations said that she rode her neighbor and went out through a keyhole or a crack in the door like a black cat. After Grace’s husband died around 1701, her fights with the townsfolk continued.

In January 1706, Luke Hill charged Grace Sherwood with witchcraft. In March 1706, Princess Anne County impaneled a jury of women to search Sherwood’s body for witch marks. Two marks were found, and Sherwood was put in jail to await trial.

On July 10, 1706, Sherwood stood trial in the second Princess Anne County Courthouse. She consented to the traditional trial by water. She was bound and thrown into the western branch of the Lynnhaven River from a boat. She managed to free herself and rise to the surface, proving that she was a witch. She managed to get ashore. Again, a woman’s jury searched Sherwood’s body for witch marks. Two black marks were found on Sherwood’s body. Sherwood was then sent to jail to await another trial. (The theory behind the water test is that with the feet and hands tied, after throwing a person into water, if they sank, they were presumed innocent, although they would drown. If they floated, they were presumed