Are you washed in the blood,
In the soul-cleansing blood of the lamb?
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?
— “Are Your Washed in the Blood?” by Elisha Hoffman (1878)
Church Hill (private)
John Clayton Memorial Highway (VA 14)
Gloucester Courthouse, Virginia
Along the banks of the Ware River, Mordecai Cooke established his plantation in 1658, calling it Mordecai’s Mount. Towards the end of the 17th century, Cooke’s son donated a small parcel of land to the local parish to construct a church and thus Ware Episcopal Church was built a short distance away from the home. The house on a hill above the church soon earned the name, Church Hill.
With the marriage of a Cooke daughter, the estate passed into the hands of the Throckmorton family. The home may have been rebuilt several times before the current frame structure was built in the 19th century. While the house may have changed, a legend has persisted involving one of the young Throckmorton daughters.
Young Elizabeth Throckmorton traveled to London with her father at a young age. The impressionable girl soon found herself in the thrall of a young English gentleman. After her return home, she continued corresponding with him, despite her father’s objections. Thinking that the young man might only be interested in his fortune, Elizabeth’s father began quietly intercepting the letters.
Distressed by the sudden end to the love letters from across the pond, Elizabeth fell into a depression. As she pined for her English gentleman, her health deteriorated. As the first cold winds of winter blew in November of that year, Elizabeth fell into an eternal sleep. Her family dutifully washed and cleaned her body in a light gown and placed her into a simple coffin barefoot. A grave was dug on the edge of the garden and the coffin lowered after a simple service likely led by the rector of Ware Church.

Following the burial of their beloved daughter, the family retired to their home to bundle up as the first storm of winter blew in. However, local grave robbers had their sights set on the fresh grave and the young lady who may have been buried with family jewels. In the dead of night, they stole into the small family burying ground to disinter its newest resident.
Once the pine coffin was pulled out the ground, the lid was pried off and the body of the young lady was exposed. Her earrings and necklace were easy to remove, though her ring was steadfastly held on her swollen finger. The thieves turned to using a knife to cut the ring off. After several strokes, the thieves were surprised when the body seemed to jerk to life, coughing and sputtering and crying out in pain. The frightened thieves fled the bloody scene.

In confusion and pain, Elizabeth rose from her coffin and blindly began to make her way towards the house. The freezing wind blew, and her light gown gave no protection from the cold. Her feet were frozen by the newly fallen snow in her path as she unsteadily crawled towards the dark hulk of her family’s home.
As the family’s enslaved people woke in the dark of the morning a lump under the snow at the door was revealed as the frozen form of young Elizabeth with blood congealed around her mangled hand. Further grief-stricken by the gruesome discovery, the family reburied their daughter’s remains, though her spirit continues to walk beyond her grave.
Legend tells us that Elizabeth’s wraith continues to walk when the first snows of the season come. Within the house, inhabitants have heard the sounds of her light footsteps and preparations being made in the home’s fireplaces. Shortly the crackle of fires is heard issuing from the cold and empty chimneys. Often the next morning, drops of fresh blood are found in the snow outside leading from the cemetery up to the doorstep. Later inhabitants of the home have also reported that the empty house has been seen ablaze with light on dark and stormy nights. Perhaps trying to warm the young girl who froze to death several centuries before.
Church Hill is a private home. Please respect the privacy of its residents, both the living and the dead.
Sources
- “Church Hill.” Colonial Ghosts Blog. 15 August 2017.
- Lee, Marguerite DuPont. Virginia Ghosts, Revised Edition. Berryville, VA: Virginia Book Company, 1966.
- Taylor, L. B., Jr. Ghosts of Virginia’s Tidewater. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2011.