LOCATION:
Mansion is located in Alexandria,
Virginia on Oronoco St. which is a quiet, side street in Alexandria, Virginia.
Address:
Boyhood Home of Robert E.
Lee, 607 Oronoco Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314.
DESCRIPTION:
This old, lovely southern mansion
was General Robert E. Lee's boyhood home. The mansion was administered
by the Lee-Jackson Foundation, and tours were given for a fee, until the
museum was sold in March 2000 to Mark and Ann Kington of Alexandria, VA
to be used once again to be a private residence, no longer open to the
public.
Never been able to see this mansion?
You can still take a great virtual tour of the mansion, by visiting leeboyhoodhome.com,
a web-site with lots of interesting information about Lee's boyhood home.
In 1967, the mansion was owned by
a Henry K. and family. The K family moved into the mansion on June 10th,
1962, and immediately experienced ghostly occurrences.
MANIFESTATIONS:
A) In 1967,
the mansion was owned by a Henry K. and family. The K family moved into
the mansion on June 10th, 1962, and immediately experienced ghostly
occurrences.
1) Always during the daylight hours,
the whole family heard the pitter-patter of running, little feet of
a young child and a delightful giggling coming from the upstairs, as
well as up & down the stairway, leading to the upper floors of the
mansion, and the front hall. This unseen child of about 4 yrs., (Mrs.
K estimates), also liked to walk along with the various family members,
giggling, sometimes circling around them at the level of their knees,
at the three above mentioned places. These occurrences happened 2 to
3 times a day, almost every day for 6 months straight. The occurrences
tapered off after the 6 months, though they still happened sporadically,
much to the family's disappointment.
2) A lost cigarette lighter suddenly
came flying out of nowhere and landed right at Mrs. K's feet.
3) Mr. & Mrs. K, as well as
a neighbor, have all seen a happy, tail-wagging black dog apparition,
with a long body, short legs and short, floppy ears, trotting around
their well-fortified backyard. The K's two beagles, who would normally
chase anything that dares to get into their yard, didn't even react
to this ghostly trespasser. Perhaps, they realized that this friendly,
unseen pooch wasn't of their world of the living.
4) The K's experienced an awkward,
social moment one day, when their new neighbors came to visit. All of
a sudden, their lady guest found herself getting wet from a snow fall
which began about a foot above her head, as she sat in the K's living
room. She finally got up to leave, gracefully excusing herself because
she was all wet.
5) Both Mr. & Mrs. K have heard
at different times, waves of beautiful, music made from an unidentified
string instrument, which came from the upstairs part of the mansion.
Some unseen resident loves stringed music and willingly shared it with
the rest of the family.
B) These occurrences continued
with other owners of this house.
6) The giggling little voice of
the four year old was heard all over the house. His presence is most
often felt in the downstairs hall, right underneath the second floor
landing.
7) This little fellow still enjoys
playing jokes on the living. Ringing the doorbell, moving objects around,
and dropping snowflakes on visitors on at least 2 occasions has happened.
8) More recently, residents of the
neighborhood have seen the apparition of the little boy playing with
this black dog in the backyard.
9) In recent years, witnesses have
seen the ghosts of two little girls as well.
PSYCHIC OBSERVANCES:
Psychic-sensitive Susy Smith visited
the K's mansion and felt a prickly sensation along her spine, as she was
walking onto the back part of the downstairs hall, which was under the
second floor landing. It wasn't a scary, dreadful feeling, but more like
"delicious goosebumps".
There are three theories concerning
the Identity of the ghost-child
1) Some feel that this cheery little
one could be Lee's 4 year old son who fell down the stairs and died
at Lee's other house, which was about 50 miles away in Stratford, Virginia.
However, this tragic incident happened long after Lee or any member
of his family had lived in this Alexandria mansion. At least, the ghost-child
had at least one other unseen presence, as well as a ghost dog and the
K family, to keep him/her company, in 1967.
2) Some feel that this little rascal
could be Robert Lee, coming back as a child.
3) Some feel that this little fellow
is Lee's brother Phillip, who died at age 4, perhaps in this house.
This theory may be the correct one.
Identity of the two little girl ghosts.
It is thought that the little girl
apparitions are Lee's sisters who also died in childhood, perhaps here
in this house.
Still Haunted?
Yes.
While the Lee-Jackson Foundation officially
denied that the house was haunted, past owners, visitors, neighbors and
probably some tour guides have experienced the above manifestations. The
Kingstons now own the mansion and will find out soon enough about the
spirits which come along with the place.
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