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| True Virginia Ghost Stories
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Haw Branch Plantation
Amelia, Virginia
For much of its history, the Haw Branch Plantation has been connected with the prominent Tabb and Mason families. Colonel Thomas Tabb purchased the land making up Haw Branch plantation in 1743. A small house, believed to be incorporated in the western part of the present house, appears in the record in 1748. The plantation reached 2700 acres in size by 1798. The house is thought to have been enlarged and given its present exterior appearance by John F. Ross Tabb, son of Colonel Thomas Tabb, after the Revolutionary War. Marianna, daughter of John Tabb, married William Jones Barksdale, a partner in Gallego Mills in Richmond, then the largest flour mill in the U.S., in 1815. Soon after, she inherited Haw Branch from her father and left it to her daughter Harriet, wife of John Y. Mason. Mason was Secretary of the Navy under presidents Tyler and Polk and Attorney General under President Polk. The property remained in the Mason family until 1872, when it was purchased by M. M. Blacker. Blacker was a wealthy Englishman who operated the plantation as a model and experimental farm. He is also responsible for adding the long north side porch to the building. He sold the property in 1903 and it passed through many hands until 1965 when it was purchased and restored by Cary McConnaughey and his wife, descendant of Colonel Tabb, Gibson McConnaughey. As a child, Gibson would visit her grandmother who lived in the house. By 1969 the house was completely restored and the McConnaughey family moved in. As a house warming gift the McConnaugheys received a hand painted photograph of Florence Wright, a distant relative. Gibson’s cousin created the artwork but was unable to finish because of Florence’s untimely death. The artwork, they were told was painted with beautiful pastels but when they received it there was only a charcoal drawing. The McConnaugheys hung the painting in the library, none the less. After the arrival of the painting, strange and eerie phenomenon began to take place. The owners began to hear voices coming from the library but they approached the room the voices would stop and the room was empty. This went on for months and then something even stranger started to happen. The painting began to colour itself. First, a rose started to turn pink and then Florence’s hair started to lighten and soon the entire picture was vibrant and colourful and the voices in the room ceased. This wasn’t the only strange happening the McConnaugheys encountered. One night while in their bedroom, they were awoken by a piercing shriek made by what sounded like a woman emanating from the attic. When they went to investigate nobody was found. The screams kept on for a while longer and each time upon investigation no one was found until one day following one of the blood curdling screams and apparition of a your girl in a long dress was spotted. She is believed to have lived and died in the house in its early days. Other entities encountered in and around the house include a deceased farmhand who is seen carrying a lantern around one of the outhouses and in the drawing room, the apparition of a former house keeper has been seen floating around.
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