Williamsburg certainly is not the only haunted city in Virginia. Gloucester, on the other side of the York River, has its own set of creepy places. Death, violence, and misery were common in those times. Now, centuries after these violent times, the spirits of the dead often raise their heads to the living. The Rosewell Plantation in Gloucester, VA, is no exception.
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Are The Rosewell Ruins in Gloucester Haunted?
The old Rosewell Plantation mansion, which a devastating fire graciously converted into ruins, has been speculated to have been haunted for over a century. Phantom parties, strange lights, and even a ghost car are all commonly found in the ruins. These stories go hand in hand with strange temperature drops, EVP recordings, and other scientific evidence.
Gloucester County History
Gloucester County was founded in 1651 and is named after the third son of King Charles I, Henry Stuart. Henry earned the British royal title “Duke of Gloucester” at a very young age. Unfortunately, he died from smallpox one year after receiving dukedom.
Gloucester County’s close proximity to two significant bodies of water (the York River to its south and the Chesapeake Bay to its east) made it a hub of trade during the colonial era.
Slaves and commodity crops – especially tobacco – were exchanged on a daily basis on its watery thoroughfares. When not busy with mercantile activities, colonists were keeping a wary eye out for belligerent Native American tribes.
Prior to European occupation, the area was occupied by Algonquian-speaking peoples, many of whom were eventually swallowed up by the powerful Powhatan Confederacy. Thus, several archaeological excavations around Gloucester have unearthed Indian artifacts (such as arrowheads and ceramics) that date back to the early 16th century.
“Sufficient evidence” also supports that the famous Native American village of Werowocomoco was located there.
Now, many of the haunted places we have already posted about have pasts riddled with violent meetings between Natives and colonial settlers. But another common theme is the abuse of slaves. Slave labor was “an essential part” of Gloucester’s economy during the colonial times.
In fact, the family that owned its grandest plantation, the Rosewell Plantation, had been involved in slavery since the 1670s. The Page clan’s ancestor, Colonel John Page, was an agent at the Royal African Company, a “key player in the transport of Africans to the West Indies and Virginia.”3 In the 1680s, the Company was sending approximately five thousand slaves a year to the states.
The Rosewell Plantation
We’d included the Rosewell Plantation on our list of most haunted spots in eastern Virginia, but given its remarkable past (and current state of ruin), we figured the spooky, historic site deserves some more attention.
At the center of the 3,000-acre plantation once stood a beautiful, three-story mansion built between 1725 and 1738.
Architectural historian Daniel Drake Reiff said, “Rosewell was the largest and most advanced brick building in Virginia at the time; it was unique in being of London townhouse design.”Notable elements included carved stone keystones, intricate doorcases, and two octagonal cupolas. The red bricks of the house were laid in Flemish bond.
Rosewell Plantation was the home of the aforementioned Page family for over a hundred years.
The Page family was one of the earliest families of Virginia. Mann Page I (1691-1730) was the one who conceptualized Rosewell Plantation. Page’s goal was “to build a home that would not only rival the newly completed Governor’s Palace near Williamsburg but would surpass it in size and style.”
Unfortunately for Page, he died before the plantation was completed. His wife, Judith Carter, took over the estate. With the help of her son, Mann Page II, she completed the mansion in 1737.
Mann Page II and his second wife, Anne Corbin Tayloe, lived in the mansion for a while but left in 1765 to establish their own plantation in Spotsylvania County. Their son, John Page, immediately took over and moved in with his first wife, Francis Burwell Page.
John Page
John Page is probably the most famous of the Page clan. He has ties to several important historical figures, including Thomas Jefferson. The two were classmates at the College of William and Mary and remained very close friends after graduating.
When Jefferson ran for president in 1800, Page was more than happy to help out with his campaign, for instance. Jefferson was thus a frequent guest at Rosewell Plantation. According to legend, Jefferson wrote an early draft of the Declaration of Independence in one of the mansion’s bedrooms.
Image Source: Wow.com
After leaving school, John Page focused on serving his country. When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, he left his beloved Rosewell Plantation to join the Virginia state militia.
He started out as an officer but was eventually promoted to colonel. Then, after the war ended in 1783, John Page shifted his attention to politics. He held several important political roles, including the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, the Governor of Virginia, and the United States commissioner of loans for Virginia.
Before he left for the Revolutionary War, though, John Page worked with his first wife Francis to renovate and redecorate Rosewell Plantation.
In 1771, they reached out to John Norton & Sons, Merchants of London and Virginia, for materials. Thanks to the couple’s efforts, Rosewell Plantation became even more luxurious than ever before. With new “carved marble mantels” and “wainscoted mahogany wall panels,” the mansion became the epitome of class.
A Curse Falls On The Gloucester Rosewell Plantation
John Page’s second wife, the famous American poet Margaret Lowther, would host lavish literary sessions at Rosewell Plantation. But she also had many children to raise – five of her own and seven of Francis’.
The slaves owned by the family thus had chores both inside the mansion and out. “From the Colonial Period to the Civil War, slaves of African descent toiled in Rosewell’s fields, worked as house servants, and plied skilled trades such as blacksmithing.”
According to his own records, John Page owned some thirty-five slaves – ten field hands, twelve domestic laborers, four elderlies, and nine children. His father, Mann Page II, had even more – county tax assessments concluded that he had a grand total of seventy-six!
Perhaps one of these slaves placed a curse on Rosewell Plantation.
In 1916, the mansion was gutted by a terrible fire. Today, only four chimneys, one wall, and its cellar remain. The family who owned it at the time of the horrible inferno was the Taylors. They did not try to restore the building.
Left to the elements, the once-grand home quickly became unlivable. In 1979, the Gloucester Historical Society donated it. Since then, the foundation has worked hard to stabilize, preserve, and study the ruin.
Hauntings of The Rosewell Plantation
Today, the Rosewell Ruins in Gloucester are open to visitors. Many of them have experienced strange things there. This includes feeling sudden drops in temperature and hearing disembodied voices.
Female ghosts are also frequently seen roaming the estate’s grounds. The basement, of course, is especially active. We’ve picked up electronic voice phenomena there. If you have an EVP detector, we highly recommend you bring it with you when you visit the ruins! Many believe that the cellar is where the Page family buried their deceased slaves.
Music has been heard playing from nowhere, harkening back to the lavish parties the Page family once held. There have been reports of men with lanterns ushering guests into what’s left of the front doorway. Others have reported a haunting woman descending the steps of the front doors.
But, the most disturbing encounter at the Rosewell Plantation involves a mysterious black vehicle in the middle of the night. The details remain murky and, until this day, unexplainable, but one evening, a man named Raymond West reported meeting “an old black car with 1930s license plates” near the ruins.
The stare of a woman with coal-black hair and an ashen-gray face rose up from the vehicle. Her gaze did not once break. West and his unfortunate companion left that night with a new understanding of what haunted Virginia may hold. There was no indication of a car ever being there when they came back to check the site the next morning.
Haunted Williamsburg
The mysteries and turbulent past of the Rosewell Plantation are just one of many hidden along the colonial streets of Williamsburg. Join Colonial Ghosts on a Williamsburg ghost tour to look into the past! Visiting Colonial homes in Williamsburg and Virginia’s most haunted places couldn’t be more fun!
In the meantime, read up on these storied haunts on our blog! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for even more spooky content from across the United States!
Sources
- Cosgrove-Mather, Bootie. “Powhatan’s Tribal Village Found.” CBSNews.com. 7 May 2003. Web. 19 March 2016. Para. 5.
- “Plantation Life and Slavery.” The Rosewell Foundation, n.d. Web. 19 March 2016. Para. 1.
- “Rosewell Ruins.” PCwinery.com. PDF upload, n.d. Web. 19 March 2016. Page 2.
- “Top Ten Haunted Spots in Eastern Virginia.” Colonial Ghosts. 30 December 2014. Web. 19 March 2016.
- Reiff, Daniel D. Houses from Books: Treatises, Pattern Books and Catalogs in American Architecture, 1738 – 1950: A History and Guide. University Park, Penn State Press: 2010. Page 348.
- Matrana, Marc. R. Lost Plantations of the South. Jackson, University Press of Mississippi: 2009. Page 5.
- “Rosewell’s Timeline.” The Rosewell Foundation, n.d. Web. 19 March 2016. Para. 8.
- “Plantation Life and Slavery.” The Rosewell Foundation, n.d. Web. 19 March 2016. Para. 1.
- “Rosewell Ruins.” PCwinery.com. PDF upload, n.d. Web. 19 March 2016. Page 2.
- “Rosewell Ruins.” PCwinery.com. PDF upload, n.d. Web. 19 March 2016. Page 1.
- https://www.southerngothicmedia.com/the-rosewell-plantation