Bringing Back Sligo

Category: Grounds

• The Mystery of the Caged Skeleton

  Posted at 10:20 pm by Lauren Tepaske, on February 21, 2019

  If you are an avid reader of this blog (Hi, Mom!) then you may remember a little tidbit about the petrified remains of a soldier being found in a cage on the grounds of Sligo.  The quote I used was from the 1937 Works Progress Administration (WPA) of Virginia Historical Inventory.  Obviously, 1937 was quite a few years after the Civil War and over 150 years after the Revolutionary War.  So, really, the information given had to be taken with a grain of salt if the person was indeed a soldier.

  A very kind reader (surprisingly not my mom because I could have sworn she was the only person tuning in) sent me a list of articles pertaining to Sligo which sent me back to the Virginiana Room at the local library.  I received a fantastic tutorial on how to use the microfilm machine and a whole new world opened up.  As I was searching for articles I had a great time scanning what was news for the late 1800s.  My personal favorite was what appeared to be an opinion piece lamenting the fact that women wanted to be more like men and, if that’s the case, then could they please give up all of their fancy hats with feathers because the bird population is suffering?!

  Anyway, that’s not why we’re here.  We want gore!  Not “birds being killed to make elegant hats” gore but “men being left in metal cages” gore!  So, as it turns out, in 1899 there was indeed the remains of a man found in a metal cage though not on the grounds of Sligo.  Whew!  I mean, I am sorry that a person died and was put in a metal cage but at least it wasn’t at Sligo.

  The part of the story that is really disturbing is the cage was in the shape of a human body and most likely the person in it was deemed a “lunatic.”  I question who it was that deemed the poor soul a lunatic and I question the tactics used for treatment.  Thank God, mental health wellness has come such a long way in the last 130 years because just a few short months ago someone might have been shoving me into a metal cage, citing lunacy.

  Below is the article which gives more information about the finding of the body and that a first body had been similarly found in King George (neighboring county) a few years prior.

  

  Article retrieved from the Fredericksburg Daily Star, April 14 1899.

   

  Posted in Grounds, Haunted, History | 2 Comments

• A Little More History

  Posted at 9:40 pm by Lauren Tepaske, on September 5, 2018

  We have made it past the first round of the Virginia Landmarks Registry evaluations and are now working towards the second round.  As such, we have been asked to do a little bit more research which involves me getting off my ass and actually going places like the library *gasp* instead of getting to do research online.

  I was tasked with the job of doing said research (naturally, I mean what else do I have to do all day but eat bonbons and watch soap operas all day) so I took the girls to the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. (HFFI) who then directed me to the local library.  It was there that I discovered the property used to fall under the name of “Lee Hill Farm” which was owned by P. L. Shannon.  While owned by P. L. Shannon (who, if you’ve been keeping up was Sydney Shannon, Jr.’s grandfather) the farm was a cattle farm which sold Angus.  I have yet to discover any more information about Lee Hill Farm other than it sold a very expensive Angus in 1956 which brought in $11,900 (May 12, 1956, The Free Lance-Star) which I’m guessing, for that time, was a lot of money.

  After our visit to the library’s Virginiana room, I was directed to the City of Fredericksburg courthouse for further research but, it had already been a few hours and I had the girls with me so we were kind of a ticking time-bomb at that point and I planned to go later.  As it turns out, I was able to delegate that order of business to Marcus who discovered that all records prior to 1955 are in Spotsylvania County’s courthouse because it was during that year the land was annexed.  So, wish me luck!  Tomorrow I hope to find out more information of the house and possibly who the architect was.

  Posted in Grounds, History | 0 Comments

• Excitement

  Posted at 10:11 pm by Lauren Tepaske, on August 26, 2018

  We had a little excitement over the weekend when ADT called to inform us of a potential break-in at Sligo.  As luck would have it, we were close and able to meet the police at the property.  Also as luck would have it, I was about three beers and two glasses of wine into the afternoon (before you judge, it was my girlfriend’s birthday and I don’t drink like that all of the time…I mean, I might do that every other day, but definitely not every day) and was looking especially cute.  I only mention that last part about looking cute because, as it turns out, the responding officers were extremely good looking and it was just really a nice chance to meet the friendly neighborhood enforcers of the law, possibly exchange numbers, find out if they’re single, and overall get a really nice sense of community.  I should mention that I did not drive myself, Marcus was with me and he was sober and even he admitted the police were attractive because he’s that confident in his masculinity and our relationship.  Also, my going on and on about exactly just how cute these police officers were had nothing to do with my alcohol consumption.

  

  I’m not saying the officers looked like Channing Tatum but they looked like Channing Tatum (at least in my drunken mind).

  To get to the real meat of the story (see what I did there?), it turns out it was a false alarm or, if someone had been trying to get in, they were gone by the time we got there.  Unfortunately, someone shattered a storm door on the Cottage House, I’m guessing in an attempt to get in.  The best part about that is one entire side of the Cottage House is covered with a tarp and the perpetrator(s) could just as easily have lifted the tarp and entered that way but, I suppose criminals aren’t always known for their common sense.

  It isn’t surprising that people are still coming onto the property.  It has been vacant for so long and the Cottage House was clearly a place that squatters would frequent.  From day one I have been concerned that as work starts, people will come along and trash what we have done.  At the moment, one or two more broken window panes won’t hurt but once the real work starts and they start messing with my home, well, then I may have to send a petrified British soldier after their asses.

   

   

  Posted in Cottage, Grounds, Life, Main House | 6 Comments

• The Grounds

  Posted at 9:25 am by Lauren Tepaske, on July 30, 2018

  One of the things that really appealed to Marcus when he found this property is that it is surrounded by the City of Fredericksburg’s Parks and Rec fields.  The house itself sits on an unheard of 1.5 acres within the city limits and next to that are soccer fields, a walking trail, and a public pool.  Personally, this was less than appealing to me.  I don’t necessarily care to wake-up to the sounds of early morning soccer games but I’m also not what one would call a “morning person” so pretty much any sound (with the exception of coffee brewing) is annoying.

  Along with the soccer fields, having a pool within walking distance is also appealing to Marcus and most definitely appealing to our girls but it all sounds tedious to me.  Personally, I’ve been having daydreams about lounging next to our own pool which would also serve as a babysitter in the years to come (because, let’s be honest, we are going to live for the rest of our lives in this house).

  Naturally, having been vacant for 10 years the 1.5 acres of the property itself is very overgrown though there is a beautiful magnolia tree that I can’t wait to free.  I also hope to bring-in my horticulturist sister-in-law (hi, Eleis!) to help lay-out a plan for a naturally beautiful and ecologically friendly landscape design.  We have a lot of work ahead of us.

  Posted in Grounds | 1 Comment

• Recent Posts

  • Preoccupied December 20, 2021
  • The “Haunting” of Sligo August 4, 2021
  • Rehabilitation Tax Credits April 27, 2021
  • Put Me in Blogger Jail April 6, 2021
  • Virginia Historic Registry and the National Landmark Registry August 6, 2020
  • My Good Boy, Axel July 14, 2020

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