Laura Wright 
Near Richmond, Virginia, stands an old plantation house known as Tuckahoe, sometimes called the Randolph family mansion.
The house has accumulated centuries of history, legend, tragedy, and ghost stories. Even its beginnings are uncertain.
Some records place construction in 1733 or 1740. Others claim the original structure was completed in 1710, while still earlier accounts date the house to 1690 or 1689.
An old windowpane reportedly complicated the mystery further. Scratched into the glass were the words:
“Thomas Randolph, 1698.”
Thomas Randolph was the father of William Randolph.
Whatever the precise age of Tuckahoe, the house would eventually become associated with one of Virginia’s most prominent families and some remarkably persistent ghost stories.
The Randolph Family at Tuckahoe
In the beginning, there was apparently no conventional deed to the property, only a declaration that Thomas Randolph owned land “west of Richmond.”
His son William eventually created the deed and divided the property. A portion went to his cousin, Peter Jefferson.
According to the original account, Tuckahoe was named for a friendly Native American tribe that once inhabited the area.
William Randolph eventually married Mary Page, sometimes called Maria.
The couple had four children.
Tragedy struck the family early. Mary died, followed by William only a year later, leaving their children orphaned.
Fortunately, William had arranged for family friends to care for them.
Those guardians were Peter and Jane Jefferson. They moved into Tuckahoe with their own young son.
His name was Thomas Jefferson.
The boy who spent part of his childhood at Tuckahoe would eventually write the Declaration of Independence and become President of the United States.
But Tuckahoe’s history contains considerably stranger stories.
Lady Mary of Tuckahoe
The oldest spirit associated with the house is said to be Mary Page, the original mistress of Tuckahoe.
Her story became heavily romanticized over the generations.
According to tradition, Mary was a young neighbor of the older William Randolph. William wanted to marry her, but Mary loved someone else.
Family pressure eventually prevailed.
Mary married William.
Although the couple had four children together, legend claims Mary suffered from a deep melancholy that followed her until her death in 1744.
Afterward, she became known as Lady Mary.
And Lady Mary supposedly never completely left Tuckahoe.
The Banshee of Tuckahoe
Mary’s spirit acquired an ominous reputation.
Rather than simply wandering the house, she was regarded as a kind of family banshee.
Her appearance warned of approaching death or disaster.
In that respect, Lady Mary became something more than a conventional ghost. Her presence served as an omen, linking the fortunes of the living Randolph family with a woman who had died generations earlier.
But she wasn’t the only Mary whose tragic story became connected with Tuckahoe.
Another Mary and the Family “Mania”
William Randolph’s granddaughter was also named Mary.
During her adolescence, Mary fell in love with one of the family’s bailiffs.
He loved her in return.
Her family was horrified.
Her brothers, relatives, and even neighbors threatened the young couple if they attempted to pursue the relationship.
Mary and her lover ignored them.
They fled Tuckahoe together.
A Family Comes for Mary
For a time, the couple successfully escaped the family’s interference.
They lived together on Elk Island in the James River and eventually had a child.
Then Mary’s relatives discovered where they were living.
According to the story, members of the family broke into their home during the night.
They murdered Mary’s husband.
They murdered her child.
Then they physically carried Mary back to Tuckahoe.
The experience shattered her.
What the family described as a “mania” emerged after the tragedy and became a recurring problem throughout the remainder of Mary’s life.
Parson James Keith
Years passed.
Eventually, Mary’s family decided that she had recovered.
She was married to Parson James Keith, with whom she had eight children.
For a time, Mary apparently managed her life and family successfully.
Then Keith died.
And sometime afterward, a letter arrived.
A Letter From the Dead
The letter contained an astonishing claim.
Its author identified himself as Mary’s supposedly murdered first husband.
According to the message, the bailiff had actually survived the attack on Elk Island.
He had fled the country and lived abroad for years.
Now he had returned.
But after discovering that Mary had remarried and created a large family, he supposedly decided not to interfere with her life.
The letter might have been a cruel joke.
It might also have been written by relatives attempting, however misguidedly, to relieve their guilt over what had happened years earlier.
Whatever its origin, the message had disastrous consequences.
Mary Searches for Her Lost Husband
Mary believed the letter.
She began searching for the man she had loved years earlier.
There was nothing else to guide her.
No second letter arrived.
No husband appeared.
Her melancholy returned with tremendous force, and Mary eventually became what contemporary accounts described as “deranged.”
She never recovered.
The Randolph family had another tragic legend.
This one resembled something from a fairy tale.
The Tuckahoe Fairy Tale
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, tradition supposedly held that only a true Randolph descendant could marry inside Tuckahoe’s oak-paneled room.
One legend tells of a beautiful Randolph maiden named Dahlia.
Dahlia had suffered considerable misfortune.
Her father remarried a woman named Ivy, who already had a daughter from a previous marriage.
Her name was Rose.
After Dahlia’s father died, she was left with an abusive stepmother and stepsister.
There was one person who continued to care for her.
A family servant called Mammy Mahalia.
Rose Steals Dahlia’s Beau
Eventually, Rose stole the man Dahlia loved.
The couple decided to marry.
Rose insisted that the wedding take place inside Tuckahoe’s oak-paneled room.
Dahlia objected.
She reminded everyone of the family tradition that only a true Randolph descendant could marry there.
Ivy ignored her.
Preparations for an elaborate wedding began.
Meanwhile, Dahlia’s health deteriorated.
Her treatment at the hands of Ivy and Rose became worse as she grew weaker.
Finally, Dahlia died.
She was buried in a lonely section of the family cemetery.
Then everyone returned their attention to the wedding.
Fire in the Oak-Paneled Room
On the night of the ceremony, guests gathered for an elaborate meal.
Suddenly, someone shouted:
“Fire!”
The oak-paneled room was engulfed in flames.
By the time the fire was extinguished, the entire room had been destroyed.
Almost everything inside it was gone.
Almost.
One object survived.
A painting had fallen from the wall during the blaze.
It was Dahlia’s portrait.
According to the story, the painting was completely unharmed.
Mahalia Saw What Happened
Afterward, Mahalia finally revealed what she had witnessed.
She claimed she had seen the spectral figure of Dahlia appear and start the fire.
The wedding was moved elsewhere.
And another supernatural story joined the legends of Tuckahoe.
The Murdered Peddler
One of Tuckahoe’s chambers was supposedly connected with a particularly violent death.
According to legend, an unsuspecting peddler was murdered inside a southeastern room.
After his death, terrible sounds began emanating from the chamber.
People heard cries.
They heard agonized moans.
The noises became so disturbing that the eighteenth-century owners supposedly decided there was only one solution.
They sealed the room completely.
The chamber was closed.
And with it, they hoped, the murdered peddler’s cries were finally contained.
George Washington and Cornwallis
Even Tuckahoe’s staircase has a ghost story.
According to tradition, George Washington and his enemy Lord Cornwallis once stayed at Tuckahoe on consecutive nights.
Not long afterward, a violent storm swept across the property.
The family living inside the house witnessed something extraordinary.
A figure appeared upon the staircase.
It was Cornwallis.
But this was no ordinary visitor.
The Phantom Chase
The spectral Cornwallis raced down the staircase wearing blood-covered clothing.
Smoke trailed behind him.
Then another phantom appeared.
George Washington.
Washington’s spirit triumphantly pursued Cornwallis down the steps.
The following day, according to the legend, the family learned that Cornwallis had fallen and America was free.
The supernatural scene had supposedly announced the victory before the news itself arrived.
The Gray Lady
Around the beginning of the twentieth century, another female apparition began appearing at Tuckahoe.
She became known as the Gray Lady.
Her identity remains uncertain.
Perhaps she was Lady Mary Page.
Perhaps she was the later Mary whose lover and child had supposedly been murdered.
Or perhaps she was someone else entirely.
Unlike some of Tuckahoe’s darker spirits, however, the Gray Lady wasn’t always dangerous.
In at least one story, she actually saved a woman’s life.
The Ghost Who Gave a Warning
The Gray Lady suddenly appeared before one of the household servants.
The apparition startled him so badly that he cried out.
Hearing the commotion, the mistress of the house rose from where she had been sitting and hurried toward the servant.
At that moment, a large section of ceiling plaster crashed onto the exact place where she had been seated.
Had she remained there, the blow might have killed her.
The Gray Lady had appeared only moments before the accident.
Whether intentionally or not, the ghost had apparently provided a warning.
The Spirits of Tuckahoe
Few old houses acquire only one ghost story.
Tuckahoe accumulated generations of them.
Lady Mary became a banshee who warned of approaching death.
Another Mary endured the supposed murder of her lover and child, only to receive a mysterious letter years later claiming her lost husband still lived.
Dahlia returned from the grave to destroy a wedding room by fire.
A murdered peddler cried from a chamber until the room was sealed.
The ghosts of Washington and Cornwallis supposedly reenacted America’s victory upon the staircase.
And the Gray Lady appeared just in time to save a woman from a falling ceiling.
History and folklore have become thoroughly intertwined at Tuckahoe.
The house remains standing.
And so do the stories.
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