Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 21, 1993 TAG: 9307210261
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: HEIDI NOLTE BROWN ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium
And Virginia, which figured prominently in the Revolutionary War and Civil War, has proved to be a fertile hunting ground for spectral stories.
The Williamsburg writer is working on his fifth book documenting the folklore and legends of haunted places around the state.
"Wherever you have a lot of history, a lot of old houses, a lot of tragedy and trauma - these are spawning grounds for ghosts," said Taylor, 60. "I came across so many colorful legends and experiences of people in Virginia and right around Williamsburg."
His first book, "The Ghosts of Williamsburg," has had nine printings since it came out in 1983.
If ever there was a site ripe for spiritual hauntings or unrestful souls, it would be Carter's Grove in James City County, Taylor said. On the grounds, archaeologists uncovered the remains of a colony of 17th century settlers who were massacred by Indians in 1622. But the real ghost of the plantation resides in a parlor that has become known as the Refusal Room.
It was in this room that a young woman, Mary Cary, allegedly rejected George Washington's marriage proposal. Years later, Rebecca Burwell turned down Thomas Jefferson.
Whenever white carnations are used to decorate the room, the petals are ripped to shreds and strewn about the room the next morning. Some people speculate that one of the women's spirits has returned and rips up the flowers in a fit of anger at what might have been.
Carl West has been a museum interpreter at Carter's Grove for 12 years.
"I have never seen a ghost," he said, "although I have gotten a creepy feeling in some dark rooms."
Taylor's Williamsburg book was followed by "The Ghosts of Richmond" in 1985, "The Ghosts of Tidewater" in 1990, "The Ghosts of Fredericksburg" in 1991 and "The Ghosts of Charlottesville/Lynchburg" in 1992.
Taylor said he relied heavily on a 1930s book by Marguerite duPont Lee, "Virginia Ghosts," at the outset of his research.
"I included some of the stories she originally developed, dug into them more and updated them," he said. "I start in the library with newspaper clippings. Every Halloween there's a spate of stories."
Taylor makes it a point to inspect the houses and talk to the inhabitants about their experiences.
"The people of Virginia have been most gracious and generous to me," he said. "I've been in the cemeteries and I've been in the bedrooms."
But despite all his research and visits to haunted places, Taylor said he's never encountered a ghost.
"It's not unusual that I haven't seen anything," he said. "I'm not psychically sensitive. But I deeply believe in the sincerity of the people I interview. I'm talking about everyone from the homeless to college presidents to the grandson of a U.S. president."
Harrison Tyler and his wife, Payne, own Sherwood Forest, the impressive plantation home of President John Tyler along the James River in Charles City County. A persistent spirit known as the "Gray Lady" walks through parts of the house and often rocks in an invisible rocking chair in the early morning hours.
"It is thought that she was a governess who had charge of a small child at one time here," Tyler said in the book. "She would take the child from a first floor bedroom and walk her up through the hidden staircase to a second-floor nursery. She would rock the child on her lap in a rocking chair."
According to legend, the child was ill and soon died and the Gray Lady's spirit remains because of her guilt about not having saved the child.
"These legends are a lost art," he said. "The ones I look into are the ones that are ghostly related and they can't find a rational explanation for it."
One of his favorite stories is a Virginia Beach psychic's search for Chief Black Foot of the Crow Indians. Victoria Mauricio began having visions of the chief in 1975, which culminated in the discovery of Black Foot's bones in Montana and the return of his remains to the Crow Reservation in 1978.
Taylor hopes to publish his fifth book, "The Ghosts of Virginia," by Halloween. It draws upon legends from his regional books, and adds a few new stories about Woodlawn and Belgrove plantations in Northern Virginia; Gadsby's tavern in Old Town Alexandria; and Gunston Hall, George Mason's home in Lorton.
"There's a mystery and that's intriguing. When combined with the history of the house, it's a wonderful way to teach history," he said.
by CNB