THE STORY
Reported Haunting
Stratford Hall, birthplace of Robert E. Lee, is associated with reports of ghostly apparitions and unexplained activity tied to the Lee family. Visitors have described phantom footsteps, mysterious voices, shadow figures, and cold spots throughout the historic mansion. It is regarded as one of Virginia's haunted estates.
Stratford Hall Plantation was the home of the Lee family, including two Declaration of Independence signers, and it was Robert E. Lee’s birthplace. It is said to be haunted by Elizabeth McCarty Storke, rumored to have had an affair with Henry Lee, Robert E. Lee’s step-brother, when she was only 14. Elizabeth’s voice is said to have been heard by a medium saying “I didn’t do it!” Another ghost here is believed to be Madeleine, who had been in charge of taking care of children in the nursery. And in the wine cellar, ghosts of slaves are said to reside, hiding from a murder that once happened there. The ghosts told the medium the body was buried under the stairs.