~The following group of posts is plagiarized from one of my other blogs, and was first related by me last year at this time~
Old House Woods -- Part I
Old House Woods might very well be the most haunted location in Virginia. Located in Mathews County, on the shore of the Bay at the end of the Middle Peninsula, Old House Woods is the subject of almost three centuries worth of oral history tales, containing psychic phenomena so bizarre that it's hard to believe they are entirely invented.
There are a few possible explanations for the concentrated activity in this remote location. Local lore states that the crew of a pirate ship came ashore here in the 17th century, buried their loot, and returned to sea where they all died in a storm. This would explain the strange figures seen digging furiously in the woods by the light of tin lanterns. Another theory is that Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, intercepted this group of men as they were hiding their treasure and murdered them all.
It's also possible that the treasure here belonged to Charles II of England, who following his defeat at Worcester in 1651 considered coming to Virginia. In preparation, a group of his followers loaded a ship with several chests of money, plate, and jewels, and the ship set sail for Jamestown. It never arrived. For reasons unknown, the ship sailed further up the Chesapeake Bay and anchored at the mouth of White's Creek near the Old House Woods. The treasure was offloaded, but before it could be hidden, the Royalists were set upon by a gang of escaped indentured servants. All of the Royalists were murdered and the bondsmen escaped by boat with part of the money, planning to return later for the rest. They weren't that lucky. Their ship, too, was caught in a storm, capsized, and everyone on board was drowned.
The third possible reason for the hauntings dates to 1781, when a small group of British soldiers were sent with a large amount of money and treasure to safeguard it prior to the battle at Yorktown. They headed north through enemy lines, hoping to find a british ship anchored in the Bay. They did manage to hide the treasure in the Old House Woods before they were found and killed by a unit of American cavalry.
Perfectly credible citizens over the years have reported seeing not only the lamplit diggers, but completely freaky sights including full-rigged ships floating above the woods or in the marsh at the mouth of White's Creek, luminescent skeletons in translucent plate armor carrying lanterns and strange primitive firearms, and horses and cows which appear and disappear into thin air before their eyes.
A local fisherman and farmer, Harry Forrest described several personal experiences before he passed away in the 1950s. "Once I went out on a brilliant November night to shoot black ducks," he reported, "I found a flock asleep in a little inlet where the pine trees came down to the edge of the water. As I raised my gun to fire, instead of them being ducks, I saw that they were soldiers of the olden time. Headed by an officer, a company of them formed and marched out of the water." Recovering from his shock, he hurried to his skiff tied on the other side of the point, only to find a man in a red uniform sitting in the stern. Frightened but angry, Forrest ordered him out of the skiff and threatened to shoot. The soldier replied "Shoot and the devil's curse to you and your traitor's breed," beginning to draw his sword. "Then I threw my gun on him," says Forrest,"and pulled. It didn't go off. I pulled the trigger again. No better result. I dropped the gun and ran for home, and I'm not ashamed to say I swam the creek in doing it, too."
Old House Woods -- Part I
Old House Woods might very well be the most haunted location in Virginia. Located in Mathews County, on the shore of the Bay at the end of the Middle Peninsula, Old House Woods is the subject of almost three centuries worth of oral history tales, containing psychic phenomena so bizarre that it's hard to believe they are entirely invented.
There are a few possible explanations for the concentrated activity in this remote location. Local lore states that the crew of a pirate ship came ashore here in the 17th century, buried their loot, and returned to sea where they all died in a storm. This would explain the strange figures seen digging furiously in the woods by the light of tin lanterns. Another theory is that Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, intercepted this group of men as they were hiding their treasure and murdered them all.
It's also possible that the treasure here belonged to Charles II of England, who following his defeat at Worcester in 1651 considered coming to Virginia. In preparation, a group of his followers loaded a ship with several chests of money, plate, and jewels, and the ship set sail for Jamestown. It never arrived. For reasons unknown, the ship sailed further up the Chesapeake Bay and anchored at the mouth of White's Creek near the Old House Woods. The treasure was offloaded, but before it could be hidden, the Royalists were set upon by a gang of escaped indentured servants. All of the Royalists were murdered and the bondsmen escaped by boat with part of the money, planning to return later for the rest. They weren't that lucky. Their ship, too, was caught in a storm, capsized, and everyone on board was drowned.
The third possible reason for the hauntings dates to 1781, when a small group of British soldiers were sent with a large amount of money and treasure to safeguard it prior to the battle at Yorktown. They headed north through enemy lines, hoping to find a british ship anchored in the Bay. They did manage to hide the treasure in the Old House Woods before they were found and killed by a unit of American cavalry.
Perfectly credible citizens over the years have reported seeing not only the lamplit diggers, but completely freaky sights including full-rigged ships floating above the woods or in the marsh at the mouth of White's Creek, luminescent skeletons in translucent plate armor carrying lanterns and strange primitive firearms, and horses and cows which appear and disappear into thin air before their eyes.
A local fisherman and farmer, Harry Forrest described several personal experiences before he passed away in the 1950s. "Once I went out on a brilliant November night to shoot black ducks," he reported, "I found a flock asleep in a little inlet where the pine trees came down to the edge of the water. As I raised my gun to fire, instead of them being ducks, I saw that they were soldiers of the olden time. Headed by an officer, a company of them formed and marched out of the water." Recovering from his shock, he hurried to his skiff tied on the other side of the point, only to find a man in a red uniform sitting in the stern. Frightened but angry, Forrest ordered him out of the skiff and threatened to shoot. The soldier replied "Shoot and the devil's curse to you and your traitor's breed," beginning to draw his sword. "Then I threw my gun on him," says Forrest,"and pulled. It didn't go off. I pulled the trigger again. No better result. I dropped the gun and ran for home, and I'm not ashamed to say I swam the creek in doing it, too."
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