Bringing Back Sligo | Breathing new life into an Italianate home in Fredericksburg, Virginia. | Page 2

- Paranormal Activity or User Error?
  
  Posted at 12:22 pm by bringingbacksligo, on April 14, 2019
  
  I have hesitated to write about my possible paranormal experience at the house because I don’t want you all to think I am crazy (spoiler alert: I am). In all honesty, I cannot say whether I do believe in ghosts though I love a good, real-life ghost story. I have never experienced a haunting aside from the few times I have been walking up a set of stairs and my brain tells me someone is behind me and I race to the top to escape (and don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about).
  
  Last week I gave a tour of the house to my friend, her mom, and her mom’s sisters. We made it to the master bedroom area and from there you can look down, onto the porch roof. We added snowbirds to the roof which are there to stop ice from falling on a person’s head…I think…I mean, that’s the general idea. There could be more to them but that’s how I understand their existence. The ladies that were touring the house didn’t know what they were and suggested I take a picture to add them to the Instagram page with an explanation of what they are. I did just that, took a picture with my phone and then we moved on.
  
  Later that evening, I went back to look at the picture and post it to Instagram but it wasn’t there. No big deal. User error. I figured I would take another one next time I went to the house.
  
  Marcus and I went to the house this past Friday and I specifically ran upstairs before we left so I could take a picture of the snowbirds. I made sure to check that the picture had been taken and we left. Again, later that evening, I went to post the picture to Instagram and…it wasn’t there. Now I don’t know what to think. I mean, newfangled technology confuses me from time to time but taking a picture is pretty straightforward. To take a picture of the same thing twice and to somehow lose it twice is strange.
  
  What do you think? Is there a friendly spirit messing with me or is it user error?
  
  Posted in Haunted, Main House | 0 Comments
- Slavery at Sligo
  
  Posted at 12:11 pm by bringingbacksligo, on April 5, 2019
  
  I would be remiss to not mention the slaves that the Ferneyhoughs would have had during the 18th and 19th centuries. This isn’t to say that slaves were not present at Sligo prior to the Ferneyhoughs it’s just that the majority of our research has focused on the family who owned and operated Sligo for the longest period of time.
  
  In 1783 we know of Edmund Hollinger, the son of Barbara Hollinger a free woman, who is indentured to John Ferneyhough Sr. for training in coach making. I realize he is not a slave but I wanted to mention him all the same. By 1788 Edmund has turned 21. By 1806 it is verified under oath that Edmund is a free man and has appropriately served his apprenticeship.
  
  In 1799 we know that there is one runaway slave named Daniel. I plan to write what we know about his story in a separate blog post.
  
  In the early 1800s we have the names of Cornelius, Anderson, and Sally (listed as mulatto).
  
  In 1823 to 1824 the names of the slaves along with most of their ages are as follows: Mary (25); Joice (18); Betty (9); William (7); James (4); Aaron (2); Reuben.
  
  In 1833 the names of the slaves along with their ages (and in two instances their trade) are as follows: James (blacksmith) (45); Sally (cook) (35); Mary (16); Join (10); Juddy (12); Jim (7); Scipio (3); Bell (4); William (1).
  
  I am trying desperately to not confuse you by throwing out so many different dates but I also want to be sure that my information is corroborated by actual documentation. So, from the 1829 plat we know that there were at least four buildings on the property: The dwelling, a kitchen, a carriage shop, and a smith shop. With that being said, we know that by 1860 Sligo is 44 acres (according to John Ferneyhough Jr.s’ will). None of the plats mention slave quarters despite the fact that we know there are slaves.
  
  In the 1860 United States Census Slave Schedule in Spotsylvania County we know that John Ferneyhough Jr. owned 16 slaves ranging in age from 1 year old to 35. I do not know how any of these 16 slaves relate to the aforementioned slaves listed by name because no names are given, just their ages and sex.
  
  We also know the names of slaves thanks to varying documents such as John Ferneyhough Jr.’s will (1860) which leaves “one negro man named George,” a “negro boy named ‘Ned’,” and a “negro woman Corinna” to a daughter-in-law. Also, in the 1937 Works Progress Administration (WPA) of Virginia Historical Inventory we learn of an old slave referred to as “Uncle Isaac” who attempted to save some of the Ferneyhough’s belongings from the Union soldiers. The WPA also states that the Union soldiers burned “all but one of the out-buildings” and threw many of the Ferneyhough’s belongings in the well.
  
  After the Civil War I cannot say what happened to the slaves or where they went. However, on one of my many walks along the Rappahannock River Heritage Trail in downtown Fredericksburg I happened to stop and read an informational sign about the slaves of Fredericksburg during the Battle of Fredericksburg. It states that “many slaves saw opportunity in the resulting chaos (of the arrival of the Union army across the river at Falmouth)…(and) thousands of…African-Americans left their homes, seeking their own freedom through the Union lines.”
  
  If anyone has more information to share about the slaves at Sligo I would love to hear from you. Especially any descendants or further information of their stories since so little is known.
  
  Posted in Ferneyhough, History, Slaves and Servants | 0 Comments
- New Sligo Video
  
  Posted at 10:27 pm by bringingbacksligo, on March 22, 2019
  
  Thank you so much to our friend who created this YouTube video featuring Sligo and the surrounding buildings. I have ~~completely erased from my memory for self-preservation purposes~~ all but forgotten just how bad the house looked when we first purchased it. Enjoy!
  
  Posted in Barn, Cottage, Main House, Video | 1 Comment
- Termagant
  
  Posted at 2:35 pm by bringingbacksligo, on March 21, 2019
  
  “Termagant” is one of my new favorite words. From the Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary “termagant” is a noun and defined as “an overbearing or nagging woman.” If you follow the Facebook page then you’ll know my children, if they knew of the word, would define me as a “termagant.” But let’s be honest, just about every woman could be defined as such at some point in their lives, such is our burden.
  
  If you were accused of being a termagant up through the 19th century you faced the risk of being sentenced to the ducking stool, a very primitive way of dealing with us hysterical women. In the picture below you can see what a sentence by ducking meant and to be perfectly honest if I wasn’t a little crazy before I would certainly be after. The Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. (HFFI) wrote a recent blog post about ducking stools and their history in Fredericksburg which is what led to our discovery that there is a loose connection between John Ferneyhough Jr. and termagants.
  
  I don’t know about you but I think if strapped to this thing I would become more of a shrew…
  
  As we know, John Ferneyhough Jr. was a prominent carriage maker in the city of Fredericksburg. It turns out he was a handy guy because he was also very likely the last person commissioned by the city to construct a ducking stool. It’s very worth clicking on the HFFI blog post above because I am not one to plagiarize and they did a very nice job pulling up old articles relating to one termagant in particular, why it was deemed that women should not be nags (hint: it hurts the men’s feefees) and the method of using a ducking stool, plus evidence of John Ferneyhough Jr. making one.
  
  Posted in Ferneyhough, History | 1 Comment
- Haint Blue
  
  Posted at 9:30 pm by bringingbacksligo, on March 17, 2019
  
  The exterior work is really moving along and one of the biggest changes has been with the wraparound porch. The columns have been repaired, the banisters have been leveled, and everything is getting a fresh coat of paint. I have learned that tradition dictates for the the porch floor to be painted grey and the porch ceiling painted blue. And it is the blue ceiling that I am here to write about because I learned a little something Southern that I had never known before (yes, I’m a Virginia girl don’t judge, there are just a few too many Southern traditions and I can’t keep up with all of them…plus this one originates just a little farther south).
  
  The ceiling of our porch has been painted Benjamin Moore’s Harbor Haze which is a beautiful shade of pale blue that is so pale it almost looks as if the blue of the siding is reflecting onto the ceiling. I have tried to capture it in a photo but it is so hard to do it justice with a cell phone (I’ll still share it but wanted to make sure you all understand I am not a photographer). Take my word for it, it’s beautiful but so understated that when you finally do notice it, you point it out to everyone walking by even though they know fully well that the porch ceiling is blue because they were there when it was painted in the first place.
  
  So, now, on to the “why” the porch ceiling is painted blue. Some of you may know this answer already so bear with me because I find it fascinating and I think some of our relatives in the North and Midwest will think so as well. There are actually a few reasons it is said porch ceilings are painted blue. One is that it keeps the bugs away because they think it is the sky. That’s cool but kind of boring and I have yet to discover if that’s true or not.
  
  The second reason porch ceilings are painted blue comes from the Gullah-Geechee people in the Lowcountry of the South. The Gullah would paint the ceilings of their quarters blue (along with doors, windows, and shutters) in order to ward off ghosts. The Gullah believed that the blue would confuse the ghosts into thinking it was water which they could not pass through. The word “ghost” in the Gullah language is “haint” which is where the term “haint blue” comes from. Eventually, white Southerners adopted the tradition and while it has since lost much of it’s spiritual significance the influence is still there.
  
  Oh gosh, now that I see this on a computer screen it’s hardly clear at all that the ceiling is blue. If you look closely, you can see the blue over-spray on the white trim…that may help. Otherwise, you’ll just have to stop by and take a look for yourself.
  
  Posted in Haunted, History, Main House | 0 Comments
- The ICEE Machine Acquisition Story
  
  Posted at 11:12 pm by bringingbacksligo, on March 8, 2019
  
  Since work is progressing on the house but nothing really exciting is going on I thought I would write about the ICEE Machine acquisition of 2017 as alluded to in my last post. I’ve known Marcus for 13 years and sometimes when I write about him I forget that many people haven’t known him as long and haven’t been privy to his shenanigans. So, to sum up Marcus: If it’s free, not matter what “it” is, Marcus is going to take it. Anything more than free and you (as in I) will hear some grief.
  
  So, on to the ICEE Machine. In Williamsburg there was a convenience store at the front of the neighborhood which went by the name of “Kwik Out.” There were many times we would ride bikes up to the store and the girls would go in with their little wallets and then walk out with a lollipop that the man gave them for free I think mostly to keep the line moving because they weren’t very good at counting out their money and also because they’re cute, little blondies. I would usually go back in to make sure it was OK that they had a free lollipop and something wasn’t lost in translation between two little girls who barely knew their left from their right and an elderly, Middle Eastern man.
  
  Anyway, this all to say that at some point Marcus struck up a rapport with the Kwik Out guys and one day he noticed an ICEE Machine sitting outside of the store, near the dumpster. For a week it sat out there and, I swear to God, I didn’t even have to be in the car to know Marcus was eye balling it every time he came in and out of the neighborhood. Finally, one day, he said “I wonder what they’re planning on doing with that ICEE Machine?” “It doesn’t really matter, does it,” I replied, “because no matter what it’s their problem.” He feigned indignation as if he was not the one who had already brought home a broken arcade game, numerous TVs, and a couple of jet skis. (In fairness, I should add that many of the broken things he has brought home have been fixed but at that particular time in our lives we were still in the process of renovating our Williamsburg home which left very little time for tinkering)
  
  After what I believed to be a hard”no” (although I’m now realizing my “hard no” needs a little more work because we now own a 130 year old home) I thought the subject had been dropped. So, about a week goes by and I’ve been out of the house for an hour when I get a text message from Marcus. I look down and I see a picture of an ICEE Machine sitting in our driveway with the words “How much do you love me” and an obnoxious amount of smiley emojis. “What. The. Fuck?” I say. I text it, too, and not the cute “WTF?” It was the full text.
  
  Needless to say, I was not amused. Granted, he was able to haggle a half-broken ICEE Machine for free but what in the actual hell were we going to do with it?! Obviously, and I say this as I roll my eyes, most everyone else thought it was great which kind of fits the theme for just about everything Marcus does but which brings me great consternation. “Oh, you got a broken ICEE Machine?! It’s gonna be great!” “You found a broken, old-school, Ivan Stewart Off Road arcade game?! It’s gonna be great!” “You bought a 130 year old, derelict home?! It’s gonna be great!”
  
  So, super long story short, for nearly one year, the ICEE Machine sat in the garage, moving from one corner to the other, still partially filled with ICEE liquid and smelling of a Kwik Out (which one might be wondering how the smell of grease can permeate metal and I’m here to tell you it can). Finally, as it became clear that we were moving and the ICEE Machine could not move with us, Marcus put it on Craigslist and someone, probably some other husband with an equally weary wife, picked it up and is hopefully making better use of it than we ever did.
  
  ICEE Machine in our driveway.
  
  Posted in Life | 2 Comments
- Furniture
  
  Posted at 10:30 pm by bringingbacksligo, on March 1, 2019
  
  A few facts about us: Marcus is a penny pincher (which is strange given he bought a giant house needing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of renovations but I’m trying hard not to beat that dead horse anymore). I, on the other hand, like pretty things (as I’m typing this I’m watching a documentary about Tiffany & Co and this is going to take a lot longer to write than I anticipated…). I’m going to assume most couples have the same dynamic though sometimes Marcus can take things a little further than most (does the ICEE Machine acquisition of 2017 ring a bell? No? That will have to be a post for another time).
  
  This is all to set-up the story which is a recent conversation we had about furnishing the house. First of all, I would guesstimate that about 75% of our furnishings are second-hand, either handed down or purchased through Craigslist, yard sales, and consignment stores. I’m not knocking it, I’m just stating the facts here. And while I have often dreamt of a house filled with Pottery Barn I have come to accept that some things will just never happen.
  
  I feel, though, as if I have found a common ground for my love of pretty things and Marcus’s love for savings and that’s at one of my most favorite stores in Fredericksburg by the name of Seven Nine Designs. They have some of the most beautiful and unique pieces that have been restored by folks who have way more business restoring furniture than I do (believe me, I’ve tried and it ain’t pretty). The other thing I love about Seven Nine Designs is that the prices are reasonable, not Pottery Barn prices.
  
  Anyway, it was on a rainy day of Facebook browsing when I saw their latest offerings and the most amazing hall tree that I had ever seen (which is saying a lot). Marcus has a weird hall tree fetish and I’m very well aware that he would love to put one in the hall of Sligo. Honestly, I can take or leave a hall tree but I saw the one for sale at Seven Nine Designs and immediately had to share it with Marcus. As much as he hates to spend money he would have to admit that this piece was perfect for Sligo and maybe, just maybe, he would tell me to go ahead and get it.
  
  That’s not quite the reaction I got. Instead I received an email response about waiting until we have somewhere to actually put the hall tree and that we need to “…ensure we appropriately curate house furnishings…” I shit you not. This coming from the master of Craigslist. I wrote him back, wondering if someone had just taught him the word “curate” and if they challenged him to use it in a sentence. When the answer was “no” I then wondered if he considered purchasing someone’s used furniture as “curating” because the word, to me, implies actually spending money not just looking for the cheapest thing that will do. He laughed at that and I’m still waiting for an honest answer on how he plans to furnish Sligo.
  
  Posted in Life, Main House | 1 Comment
- The Mystery of the Caged Skeleton
  
  Posted at 10:20 pm by bringingbacksligo, 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 First Person Look Inside the House
  
  Posted at 2:06 pm by bringingbacksligo, on February 20, 2019
  
  For the third time this winter it has snowed. For the third time this winter it has snowed and the girls are out of school. For the third time this winter it has snowed and the girls are out of school and Marcus is on travel. It’s no wonder I woke-up with a headache. It was as if my body was preparing for the day. But, with the snow, comes a day full of nothing and gives me the chance to write.
  
  A few months back, quite a few months back actually, a friend took some really neat videos of Sligo using his drone. I have been meaning to cut down the videos and possibly add music to them but it turns out my skills are strictly limited to cutting. I think I might have learned how to add music in PowerPoint but I’m not here to give a presentation on the health benefits of not purchasing a 130 year old home so we’ll just have to do without.
  
  Now, the first video is shot from the ground floor up to the second floor and is pretty straightforward. The second video is my personal favorite because if you can pretend like that’s you drunkenly stumbling from room to room you get a real sense of the layout of the house. That is until the very end when “you” crash into the door jamb and collapse on the floor (inches away from the kitchen which is where you were probably trying to get to in order to get some coconut water to chase away that headache and induce vomiting because that stuff is nasty).
  
  (Thank you to Carl Lynn for bringing over his drone and helping capture Sligo in the state in which we acquired her.)
  
  Posted in Life, Main House, Video | 0 Comments
- Sligo Build Date
  
  Posted at 9:37 pm by bringingbacksligo, on February 13, 2019
  
  As I sit here typing our youngest is in our bedroom, refusing to go to bed. In an effort not to throttle her I’m doing my best to ignore her presence and type a new post. She is what doctor’s have referred to as “spirited.” If any of you reading this are parents and are currently parenting or have parented one of these “spirited” children then I raise my glass to you because that is the shit that makes a person drink.
  
  Anyway, I got off track there. I just needed you to know the frame of mind I’m in and I apologize for any potential profanity (the above “s” word included) or threats of violence.
  
  Now, how do I segue nicely into this relatively exciting development in the quest to discover the age of the house. I guess that was it…
  
  Our Dovetail consultant made a really neat find about a week ago when she came across two newspaper articles detailing the fire that destroyed the original house at Sligo and the construction that followed. Both articles were published in 1888 which confirms that the first house burnt down in 1888 and the second house began construction the same year. The articles are below:
  
  Article retrieved online. Free Lance, 21 August 1888
  
  Article retrieved online. Fredericksburg Star, 12 September 1888
  
  How neat is this?! First of all, it corroborates what the Ferneyhough descendants told me which is the first house burnt down in 1888 and the second house was built the same year. It does stand to reason that the second house was not complete until the following year giving it a completion date of 1889. Also, the fire broke out three times? How could there have been anything left? Second of all, there is an “ancient” brick somewhere?! I have yet to lay eyes on said brick and honestly, there’s kind of a A LOT of brick so it’s going to be like searching for a needle in a haystack but it’s worth a shot. Finally, we have a potential source of the name “Sligo” and that is Gen. Posey. You probably don’t remember but I mentioned him in my very detailed and very accurate timeline of past Sligo owners. He didn’t come across in any of my reading as someone important to the property but it may be worth another look into who he was.
  
  That’s all I have for now. Miraculously, in the time it took me to write this the youngest is in her own bed and happily alive (though that’s solely because her father loves her more than I do at the moment).
  
  Posted in History, Main House | 6 Comments
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Lauren Tepaske
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