From: Haunted History History & Haunting of: Chatham Manor, Stafford County, Virginia, Chatham Manor is the Georgian-style home completed in 1771 by farmer and statesman William Fitzhugh, after about 3 years of construction, on the Rappahannock River in Stafford County, Virginia, opposite Fredericksburg. It was for more than a century the center of a large, thriving plantation. Flanking the main house were dozens of supporting structures: slave quarters, a dairy, ice house, barns, stables. Down on the river were fish traps. According to the legend, the wealthy young woman had fallen in love with an English commoner. Hoping to break up the relationship, her family brought the woman to Chatham, but her suitor followed. The two made secret plans to elope, but some servants-in-the-know squealed, and word got back to George Washington, who was also a guest in the home. The woman used a rope ladder to climb out the window of her room, but instead of falling into the arms of her beloved—who’d planned to escape with her down the river—she ended up face to face with Washington. Her lover was arrested, and she was returned to her family, who ultimately married her off to someone of equal social standing. According to the tale, she vowed on her death bed to return to Chatham and walk the path toward the river where she’d intended to meet her beau. Witnesses first claimed to see her ghost on June 21, 1790, the day she died, and some say she’s come back every seven years since, between noon and midnight. The 1,280-acre (5.2 km2) estate included an orchard, mill, and a race track where Fitzhughs horses vied with those of other planters for prize money. Fizhugh named the mansion after the British parliamentarian William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who championed many of the opinions held by American colonists prior to the Revolutionary War. In January 1805, the plantation was the site of a minor slave rebellion. A number of slaves overpowered and whipped their overseer and assistants. An armed posse of white men quickly gathered to capture the slaves. They killed one slave in the attack, and two died trying to escape. The posse deported two other slaves, likely to a slave colony in the Caribbean. Fitzhugh owned upwards of 100 slaves, with anywhere from 60 to 90 being used at Chatham, depending on the season. Most worked as field hands or house servants, but he also employed skilled tradesmen such as millers, carpenters, and blacksmiths. Little physical evidence remains to show where slaves lived; until recently, most knowledge of slaves at Chatham was from written records. In January 1805, a number of Fitzhughs slaves rebelled after an overseer ordered slaves back to work at what they considered was too short an interval after the Christmas holidays. The slaves overpowered and whipped their overseer and four others who tried to make them return to work. An armed posse put down the rebellion and punished those involved. One black man was executed, two died while trying to escape, and two others were deported, perhaps to a slave colony in the Caribbean. A later owner of Chatham, Hannah Coulter, who acquired the plantation in the 1850s, tried to free her slaves through her will upon her death. Her will provided that her slaves would have the choice of being freed and migrating to Liberia, with passage paid for, or of remaining as slaves with any of her (Coulters) family members they might choose. Chathams new owner, J. Horace Lacy, took the will to court to challenge it and had it overturned. The court denied Coulters slaves any chance of freedom by ruling that the 1857 Dred Scott decision by the U.S. Supreme Court had declared that slaves were property, and not persons with choice.[citation needed] Ellen Mitchell was the enslaved laundress at Chatham who knew of and counted on Mrs. Coulters promise of manumission. When Lacys court case took her freedom away, Mitchell was irate and loudly proclaimed how unfair this denial was. To be rid of her (and the problem she represented), Lacy sold her to a slave trader, James Ayler, in Fredericksburg. Ellen Mitchell continued to loudly protest the unfairness of her situation. Like Lacy, Ayler was unsure what to do with Mitchell and gave her a 90-day pass to leave Fredericksburg in early 1860 on a tour during which she attempted to raise money to buy her freedom. He sent her on her way with the understanding that she would return. She gave speeches in Washington City, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, raising enough money to return to Fredericskburg and buy not only her freedom but that of her children, as well. Ayler was so impressed that he also freed Mitchells mother. The Mitchell family moved to Cincinnati in the free (i.e. slavery-prohibited) state of Ohio. In the 1860 census, Ellen Mitchell was listed as running a laundry business. Today, some of her descendants still live in that area of Ohio. Slavery at Chatham ended in 1865 as a result of the Civil War, upon the passage of the constitutional amendment abolishing the institution. Recent research, led largely by National Park Service historians, has revealed a sketch made by a Unionist New Jersey soldier during the Civil War that showed other buildings at the Chatham site.[citation needed] Historians had previously thought that most slave dwellings were likely to be in the rear, or the field-side area of the estate. This area had been cultivated since the slave days and in the 20th century new structures were built there. The recently discovered sketch shows structures to the south side of the manor house, in an area across a ravine away from the central area of the property. Re-examination of old photographs shows the faint rooflines of structures in that area, which may indicate the location of heretofore unconfirmed slave dwellings. More of the slave-era story at Chatham may now be discovered. During the American Civil War, the site was briefly a Union headquarters but then the major hospital during the horrific Battle of Fredericksburg. The War was not kind to the building and it fell into great disrepair. By the time the Civil War ended in 1865, Chatham was desolate and severely damaged. Blood stains spotted the floors, graffiti marred its bare plaster walls and sections of the interior wood paneling had been removed for firewood. In addition to the damaged house, the grounds had suffered. The surrounding forests had been cut down for fuel, the gardens and several of the outbuildings where damaged or destroyed, and the lawn had been used as a graveyard. In 1868 the Lacys returned to their home. Unable to maintain it properly, they moved to their house known as Ellwood and sold Chatham in 1872. The property had a succession of owners until the 1920s, when Daniel and Helen Devore undertook its restoration (and made significant changes). They literally saved the house. Saved from total destruction by monied northerners at the turn of the 20th Century, Chatham was refurbished and became the grand showpiece that it still is today. ttp://en.wikipedia.org/
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 08:04:14 +0000
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