The Restless Spirits of Rotherwood

“Ghosts bridge the past to the present; they speak across the seemingly insurmountable barriers of death and time, connecting us to what we thought was lost. They give us hope for a life beyond death and because of this help us to cope with loss and grief. Their presence is the promise that we don’t have to say goodbye to our loved ones right away.””

— Colin Dickey, "Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places"

One Home, Two Very different Spirits…

On the west side of Kingsport, Tennessee is Rotherwood, an old antebellum mansion overlooking the spot where the two forks of the Holston river come together. Today this red brick structure is privately owned, but according to local lore, it is home to more than just the living.

For the last half a century, stories have placed at least two spirits on the ground of Rotherwood Mansion. First is the beautiful “Lady in White,” Rowena Ross who is forever searching for her lost love who died before they had a chance to marry. Second is the notorious Joshua Phipps who is said to have delighted in the torture of his enslaved workforce and ultimately died a horrifying death. But what is the truth behind the legends of Rotherwood, we may never know.

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

• Listen to Brandon’s Interview on the Me & My Friends Podcast

• Watch current owner Dr. Lenita Thibault discuss the history of Rotherwood (2016)

Sources:

Barton, Steve. “Cold Spots: Rotherwood Mansion.”Dread Central. July 15, 2019. https://www.dreadcentral.com/cold-spots/12474/cold-spots-rotherwood-mansion/.

Brown, Alan. Haunted Tennessee: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Volunteer State. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2009. 

Dickey, Colin. Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places. New York: Viking, 2016.

Dugan, Nick. “Haunted Tri-Cities: Tales from Kingsport’s Rotherwood Mansion.” WJHL News. October 29, 2021. https://www.wjhl.com/haunted-tri-cities/haunted-tri-cities-tales-from-kingsports-rotherwood-mansion/ 

Dykes, Pete. Haunted Kingsport: Ghosts of Tri-City Tennessee. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing Inc., 2008. 

Hendricks, Nancy. Haunted Histories in America: True Stories Behind the Nations Most Feared Places. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2020.

Leonard, Austin. “The Legends of Rotherwood Mansion.” The Kayseean. March 11, 2021. https://thekayseean.com/life-and-culture/the-legends-of-rotherwood-mansion/. 

Ross, Rev. Frederick Augustus. The Story of Rotherwood from the Autobiography of Rev. Frederick A. Ross., D.D. Edited by Charles C. Ross. Knoxville, TN: Bean, Warters & Co., 1923. Google Books. https://books.google.com  

Rotary Club of Kingsport, Tennessee. Kingsport: The Planned Industrial City. Kingsport, TN: Kingsport Press, Inc. 1946. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/kingsportplanned00rotarich/.

Scoggins, Katherine. “History on display at Rotherwood’s bicentennial celebration.” Kingsport Times News. September 16, 2018. Updated July 6, 2020. https://www.timesnews.net/.

Simmons, Shane. A. Legends and Lore of East Tennessee. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing Inc., 2016. 

“Will of Joshua Phipps.” Hawkins County Genealogy & History. Updated March 10, 2014.  https://tngenweb.org/hawkins/phipps-joshua-will/

Madame Félicité Chretien

A Real Life Scarlett O’Hara

Just north of Lafayette, Louisiana -- in the small town of Sunset -- is Chretien Point, a beautiful creole style two-story mansion that once served as the centerpiece to a vast cotton plantation known as Chretien Point.

Today, the enduring legacy of Chretien Point is not in its bricks or furnishings, but in the story of its mistress, Félicité Neda Chretien. Commonly referred to as a ‘real-life’ Scarlett O’Hara -- Madame Félicité Chretien was confident, strong-willed, intelligent, and beautiful.

Félicité learned how to successfully run a plantation from her father, and it was she who saw Chretien Point Plantation through its most prosperous days, and it was Madame Chretien who saved it from its darkest.

Gaineswood's Ghostly Piano

In 1843 Nathan Bryan Whitfield began construction on a grand mansion in Demopolis, Alabama.  The beautiful home, which he named Gaineswood, still stands as part of Whitfield's legacy; but some claim that echoes of a tragedy that occurred here remain as well.  Echoes that purportedly come in the form of a mysterious, disembodied piano.

Skeleton of Longwood Mansion

In 1860, Dr. Haller Nutt began construction on a palatial estate in Natchez, Mississippi. Unfortunately the outbreak of the Civil War put a halt to progress, leaving Dr. Nutt's vision incomplete for over a century and half.

Phantom Flames of Tuscaloosa

Dr. John R. Drish began construction of one of Tuscaloosa's first plantation homes in 1835.  Unfortunately, after he and his wife Sara's deaths, the home fell to ruin; giving life to claims that the tower that looms over this once stately plantation home is often the sight of eerie apparitions.