The Apprehensive Woman, Peyton Randolph House - Williamsburg, VA
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NorStar
N 37° 16.345 W 076° 41.990
18S E 349290 N 4126447
In the Peyton Randolph House, one of the original houses in Colonial Williamsburg, there is a story about a ghost of a woman who seemed very agitated and wanted to warn guests of impending danger, and is cited today as an active paranormal site.
Waymark Code: WM803K
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 01/01/2010
Views: 17
In the Colonial Williamsburg section of Williamsburg, VA, there is a house known as the Peyton Randolph House. A portion of this house was built in 1715, which makes it one of the original buildings dating back to the Colonial era. This house was the house of the Randolph family which was a wealthy family that were the 'patriarchs' of the city. More about the house can be obtained from the link to the Colonial Williamsburg web site, included below.
There are several stories of experiences that guests of the home, tour guides, and tourists have recorded concerning the house.
The most well known story, which is docummented in detail in the book by L. B. Taylor, The Ghosts of Williamsburg...and Nearby Environs, several people have had experiences, is the one about an apprehensive woman ghost who appears to guests to warn them of danger. The most detailed account was from a woman named Helen Hall Mason in 1962 who was there for a wedding of a close friend. She stayed as a guest of its owner at the time in the oak paneled room, which is a bedroom on the second floor toward the back of the house. During the night, Mrs. Mason was awakened from a deep sleep to find a woman, who apparently had been calling her name, standing at her feet appearing very nervous and wringing her hands. Mrs. Mason had at first thought that it was the hostess of the house, but she noted the dress of this woman was not modern and later saw that moonbeams were shining right through her! Mrs. Mason told about her experiences the next morning. She didn't feel threatened by this woman but felt that the woman was trying to give a message of warning to her. Mrs. Mason had not been in the room before and had not heard of any stories associated with the woman or the house, but the hosts said that Mrs. Mason's story matched that of other stories over many years. Not much is known about the woman who might be haunting the room. The best guess is that she may be a servant of the house.
In another bedroom on that floor, a little girl was frightened by an appearance in room.
In another experience, one of the tour guides had observed a man dressed in colonial clothes sitting in a chair and then vanished soon afterward.
Another tour guide felt an 'evil presence' try to push her down the stairs.
A security guard investigated noises in the basement and found that the door was shut and locked behind him, and he, himself was unable to move until his supervisor opened the door from the other side.
None of these stories are told by the present day tour guides. To hear them, you can go on the The Original Ghosts of Williamsburg Candlelight Tour. A link to their web site is below.
In the tour I was on, we stopped to look at the house, while the guide told of the ghost stories associated with the house and mentioned that people have seen paranormal activity from the street, such as shadows looking out windows and glows. The next day, I revisited the location and looked at the house. My own observations from one night and two days visiting the house are 'inconclusive', but I'll state that many of the shadows seen in windows might have been actual room and furniture shadows that are framed by the curtains and blinds.
Sources:
Colonial Williamsburg:
(
visit link)
The Original Ghosts of Williamsburg Candlelight Tour:
(
visit link)
Book:
Taylor, L. B. The Ghosts of Williamsburg...and Nearby Environs.
: Progress Printing Co., 2006.