True Ghost Stories

The Woodlawn Plantation

June 16, 2014 |  2 comments
Image Credit: CC BY 2.0 Ed Schipul In my youth I had some people tell me I had some kind of psychic ability. I would kind of poo poo at it back then, but as the years went by I began to have some experiences. Here is one such account.

In the 1990s I decided for the first time to visit Woodlawn Plantation In Va. Living in the DC Metro area, I had always visited other historic homes like Mount Vernon on school trips, but never visited some of the lesser popular ones. So I went to tour it one afternoon with my Mom.

The house was a wedding present for George Washington's stepdaughter, Nellie Custis. Nellie was somewhat known as a party girl who loved to play hostess to Washington's society parties. George Washington was a military man who did not like to entertain much and often complained that the job of President was to be a "Tavern Keeper" for dignitaries. (this was before the White House was built) Compared to Mount Vernon which is more a house from Revolutionary days, Woodlawn was a sunny home which seemed to exhibit a sense of hope and modernization for the future.

Woodlawn is a little tricky to find. It is located near a bust Virgina highway intersection on a corner, not far from Mount Vernon. It is well hidden by a lush tree laden driveway. Before Mom and I took a tour of the house, we headed to the Gift Shop to look it over. You will notice in the gift shop that there is a well to provide the home with water. The Gift shop was originally the kitchen. It was sort of a modern convenience for a well to draw water on the INSIDE of the house. In this, the occupants do not have to go outside the house to draw water. Anyway, looking down this well, I had a strange sensation.Indian Folklore has stated that earthbound spirits travel by rivers, springs and wells. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I kept thinking over and over, "They come from here","They come in the house this way." Suddenly I felt another sensation, the sales lady in the gift shop was watching me kind of with wonder. I shrugged red faced and saw a book by the counter entitled "Ghosts of Woodlawn" Wow! I picked it up and paid for it - interesting reading for later.

On the tour, the house is very beautiful. There is a large winding staircase leading upstairs (again very modern looking) large windows that provide light and a large Grand Music Room or Ballroom. Nellie must have had some helluva times in here. On the upper level, I remember 4 rooms. One room called the Lavette room was a bedroom with very masculine decor. Here I have heard they have had some hauntings. There are a lot of stuffed birds which have fallen or moved to other sides of the room. The next bedroom is a child's bedroom with a splendid doll house. The room on the other side of the hall is a guest bedroom with a connecting door that goes to the other wing of the house.

While we were in the guest bedroom part the door connecting to the west wing suddenly opened and creaked slowly. The crowd drew silent then erupted in nervous laughter and titters. One man said "Hah they didn't tell us there would be ghosts", followed by more laughter, but the nervous crowd quickly exited the room except me. Seeing this door opening, I suddenly saw in my mind's eye or imagination a young blond preteen girl in an 18th century dress laughing like she played a prank and scared some people. Entertaining my imagination further I said in a low voice...."Okay, Okay....you had your fun, but you shouldn't scare people." I shook my head with a tsk tsk and left.

The real scare came when I started to read the book "Ghosts of Woodlawn" when I got home. One chapter described the well in the gift shop. The author wrote about the Indian folklore idea (lost souls travel by water) and said the well was believed to be a source of psychic activity. But the real kicker came when the author claimed a spirit haunted the house that loved to play tricks like hiding things and opening doors. It was said that the spirit was described as a young blond teenage girl....

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