Carter Hall’s Ghostly Carriage: A Tale of Love, Loss, and Lingering Spirits
Nestled in the Shenandoah Valley of Clarke County, Virginia, Carter Hall stands as a stately mansion with a rich history dating back to Colonial times. Built in 1790 by Colonial Nathaniel Burwell, the mansion boasts a breathtaking view of the Blue Ridge Mountains and proximity to a nearby spring.
Before settling at Carter Hall, Nathaniel Burwell, grieving the loss of his first wife Susanna, sought companionship. In 1788, he married Lucy Page, a young widow from the Page family mansion, Rosewell, in Gloucester County. Despite this second union, Burwell continued to mourn Susanna’s death until his passing in 1814.
In the years following Burwell’s death, a peculiar phenomenon unfolded at Carter Hall. Numerous owners reported hearing distinct sounds of a large coach arriving at the mansion’s front door. However, upon investigating, they found no trace of any visitor. Townsend Burwell, a resident in the early 1900s, attributed these mysterious occurrences to a limestone cave beyond the bluff, suggesting the sounds were carried through the cave.
Townsend’s scientific explanation, though plausible for the sounds, fails to account for an extraordinary vision witnessed by Lucy Burwell Joliffe and her sons nearly a century earlier. According to historical accounts, Lucy and her sons observed a big old-fashioned coach with heavy wheels, two large horses, and a coachman and footman during their visit to Carter Hall. To their astonishment, the footman lowered the steps, opened the door, and, despite their watchful eyes, no one descended. The footman then closed the door, raised the steps, and the coach disappeared into the night with a crack of the whip.
This vivid account aligns with the coaches once owned by Nathaniel Burwell. While the limestone cave may explain the audible aspects of the phenomenon, it falls short in explaining the apparition witnessed by Mrs. Joliffe and her sons. The lingering mystery of Carter Hall’s ghostly carriage adds an intriguing layer to the mansion’s history, intertwining love, loss, and the unexplained.
