The Gurgling Ghost of Pocahontas

 

When an article is entitled "A Genuine Ghost Story," you've got to believe it, right? 

The tiny, but historic town of Pocahontas, Virginia has its roots as a mining community, a fact that seems to lend itself naturally to a strong sense of superstition. Pocahontas ran rampant with ghosts in the early 1900's (see my blog about the Ghost That Caused a Man to Faint), which in some cases, led to a disruption in the mines. 

According to a newspaper article, around 1900, the West Mine in Pocahontas had a section it called 'Bluefield.' This particular section was abandoned due to a water seepage that resulted in a fairly sizeable lake---200 feet in length, apparently. However, by November of 1907, the mine operators wished to cash in on this lucrative coal vein, and re-open Bluefield. To do so, the lake had to be drained. Pipes were laid and pumps were installed, but there was a problem. Workmen kept experiencing "strange and unseemly noises emanating from the lake." These noises consisted mainly of a furious and violent churning of the water. Despite investigation, no satisfactory cause was ever found for the eerie lake noises, and the company couldn't find men willing to stay on the job. The article concludes with the idea that further investigation would be held into the cause of the noises. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any follow-up as to whether or not the mystery of the gurgling ghost of Pocahontas was ever solved. I will, say, though, that I've been to Pocahontas a few times for an investigation of the Pocahontas Fuel Company's office building (blog for that coming soon!) and I don't remember seeing any lake. So, hopefully, they got that all worked out!

Bluefield Evening Leader
05 November 1907

Pocahontas Ghost Causes Man to Faint

 

Today, Appalachian Ghost Tours, aided by members of WV Unseen, will return to the Pocahontas Fuel Company's office building in downtown Pocahontas, Virginia for a public investigation. I'm going to wait until after that investigation to publish a blog post on that particular location, but while we're waiting, I thought I'd share one of the town's historic ghost stories I found in the newspaper archives.  The following tale, transcribed below, comes from the Clinch Valley News and Richlands Press out of Bristol, Virginia, and is dated February 8, 1901. I honestly have no idea what the heck is going on in this story. Is it a true account, and if so did the gentleman actually see a ghost, or just a misidentification of a lady in a giant hat? Is it a bit of fanciful fiction, or even some sort of social and/or political commentary? I'll let you decide...

A POCAHONTAS GHOST

On Saturday evening a friend came in about 10 o'clock, just as all were leaving for a stroll down town. "Don't let me detain you," was his remark, "as I will go up stairs and take a sleep." In a short time he heard some noise below, slipped down in his stocking feet to the bottom of the stairs, stopping concluded that he had been dreaming. Started back, when he heard another noise, pushed the room door and standing in the middle of the room was a ghost with a horse collar extending over the forehead, about the size of a small stove pipe. He fainted. Just at time a lady entered the front door, and finding him in this condition, gathered a pitcher of water, the only water on the place, it being a dry day in Pocahontas, dashed it in his face, which revived him. He thought he had fallen in Bluestone. When he revived he found a beautiful young lady dressed in a splendid dotted white dress, with a very fashionable pompadoure hat. Not being satisfied with her looking glass she had come over to consult her young friend as to her make up. My young friend is only seventy years old, and I doubt if he gets another horse collar scare whether he will ask any of the young ladies to marry him or not. The young lady being one of the most beautiful and popular in the town, and her magnificent appearance on this occasion would have made an older man than my young friend faint. 

Clinch Valley News and Richlands Press
08 February 1901

Aunt Pratt's Haunted Portrait--Shirley Plantation

Aunt 'Pratt'

Okay, so Haunted and Cursed Paintings Week on the blog hasn't gone as planned!  I've not felt well this week and with my boyfriend being out of town for work all week, I've been too busy with my son to really get much accomplished. But, here's another spooky painting to keep the ball rolling!

Shirley Plantation in Charles City, Virginia has a long, long history.  The plantation itself began in 1613 with Edward Hill I, and by 1638, it was a working farm with homestead.  However, in 1723, construction began on the Great House, a brick structure that would replace the old home and become the residence of Edward Hill I's great-granddaughter, Elizabeth.  Elizabeth married Robert Carter and the palatial home was completed by 1738.  Today, the home is still in the Hill-Carter family and is the oldest family owned business in the United States.  It was spared destruction during the Civil War by being turned into a field hospital for both Union and Confederate troops, and many of the deceased soldiers were buried in the plantation's cemetery.

With such a long history, especially one including involvement as a Civil War hospital, you'd expect the house and property to pick up a few ghost stories.  However, contrary to what one may think, the prevalent ghost tale of Shirley Plantation is NOT connected with the Civil War!  Rather, it has to do with a certain painting.

Elizabeth had a sister named Martha Hill (known to the family as Aunt Pratt) who left for England to study.  While there, she met and married a man named Hugh Gifford (also called Griffin or Griffith in various sources). She never came back to the United States to live, and died in England some years later.  Before she left, though, she left a signed portrait of herself in her second story bedroom.

By 1858, the current generation of Hill-Carters living in the home decided to remodel, and removed Aunt
Pratt's portrait to the attic.  Immediately, the family began to be plagued with horrible sounds coming from the attic each night.  The sound of shuffling and rummaging through boxes was overshadowed by severe knocking that progressively got worse. Whenever the family would investigate the source of the noises, they'd find nothing out of place in the attic.  They finally realized that Aunt Pratt, who was long deceased, was unhappy about being relegated to the attic space and wanted to return to her bedroom on the second floor.  There she remained happily until the outbreak of the Civil War, where once again she was sent to the attic.  With the home being used as a hospital and valuables being packed up out of sight, Aunt Pratt understandably kept pretty quiet and as a reward upon the end of the war, the family moved her portrait to a place of honor on the first floor.

Aunt Pratt was okay with that position for awhile, but soon longed for her own personal space and the knocking and rocking once again returned, only to stop when she was returned to her rightful spot on the second floor.  And, for over 100 years, there she stayed, with the family passing down the tales of Aunt Pratt's ghostly portrait to each new generation.

In 1974, the painting was taken to New York City for a special display in Rockefeller Center on haunted and cursed items.  Aunt Pratt made it quite clear that she was unhappy with the arrangement and her portrait began to rock and shake violently, being witnessed by many spectators.  One of those spectators was an NBC reporter on his way to lunch who happened to catch video footage of the painting rocking back and forth.  The painting would rock so violently that it was soon removed from the display and put into a locked box in storage.  Workers at the storage facility reported hearing banging and crying noises coming from the box and weren't really all that shocked to see that the painting had somehow escaped from the box and seemed to be trying to head for the door.

It was shipped back to Virginia, but before returning home to Shirley Plantation, the portrait was sent to Linden Galleries---Aunt Pratt had rocked herself so hard that she had damaged her own portrait's frame and it needed to be fixed.  She must have been pleased with the treatment received at Linden because workers there reported hearing the sounds of bells ringing in the vicinity of the painting.  Today, Aunt Pratt is right where she wants to be, and tours of Shirley Plantation are available to provide a glimpse of her.  Tour guides have been known to tell visitors not to block Aunt Pratt's view of the outdoors, and once or twice her spirit has been seen peering out the window.

Shirley Plantation Website

Article by Stacey Graham