The oldest continuously chartered town in Virginia holds macabre secrets

The Weems-Botts Museum & Annex is a historic house museum in Dumfries, Virginia. It was built in the late 18th century and was originally the home of Parson Mason Locke Weems, who was a famous author and clergyman. The museum is named after Weems and Benjamin Botts, a prominent lawyer and member of the Virginia legislature who lived in the house in the early 19th century. Weems is responsible for the widespread tale of George Washington admitting to cutting down his father's cherry tree with the remark "I cannot tell a lie." But it is the tragic ghosts of sisters Mamie and Violet who believers say haunt the old house. Though Mamie died at a young age, Violet lived long enough to spend her adulthood caring for her sick mother, who lived to the age of 98. They were the last inhabitants before the town of Dumfries acquired the property. Ever since, visitors and staff have reported a multitude of ghostly encounters, including windows rattling and opening and closing on their own, items moving around, and even full-bodied apparitions. #virginia #spooky #hauntedhouse