The Martha Abounds with Memories, Legends, and… Ghosts
Abingdon, VA
Many of The Martha Washington Inn’s most poignant legends evolved during the Civil War. Some are but memories handed down, some are based on original fact, and some, perhaps, have been embellished upon throughout the years. Yet all steadfastly persist!


United In Death Not As Enemies But As Lovers...
Tradition tells us that a Yankee officer, Captain John Stoves, was captured near the inn and carried, badly wounded, to the third floor. He was tenderly cared for by a Martha girl, known today only as Beth. Late one evening, however, his strength ebbed, and he called out, “ Play something, Beth, I’m going.” With trembling fingers she played the sweet southern melody on the violin that had comforted him so often during his illness. To an attending physician Beth lamented, “He has been pardoned, sir, by an officer higher than General Lee. Captain Stoves is dead.”

Shortly after his death, a weakened Beth was stricken with typhoid fever and died. The two are now united in death in Abingdon’s Green Springs Cemetery. The story insists that on nights of the full moon, Beth’s haunting violin melodies may often be heard on the third floor.

A Riderless Horse Awaits His Master...
The Union Army raided Abingdon many times during the Civil War, but on the first such occasion a legend was born. It seems that one evening around sunset in December of 1864, Union forces under the command of General Stoneman rode into Abingdon. Nearby Confederates had been alerted, but as they rode into town two of the Union soldiers escaped. The third soldier rode west, and, as he turned in the alley east of The Martha Washington College for Women, he was struck by a Confederate bullet. The wounded soldier was carried inside and there died at midnight.

For hours the horse roamed the campus grounds waiting in vain for his master. The next day a town-wide search showed no signs of the animal. We are told that to this day, on moonless nights, a ghostly, rider-less horse can sometimes be seen on the inn’s South Lawn.

Love Everlasting
This tale recalls a time when the Union forces were encamped to the east of town, while the Confederates were stationed some miles to the west. A young Confederate soldier was given documents describing the strength and position of the Union forces and ordered to take them post-haste to Lee’s army. In love with a Martha girl and fearing the dangers he faced, the young man crept up a secret stairway to bid his sweetheart goodbye. Unfortunately, Union troops soon appeared unexpectedly in the stairway. The frightened soldier drew his pistol in defense but was shot dead before his sweetheart, staining the floor at her feet with his blood. Attempts through the years to remove the stain were futile for the stain persisted, or, as some say, stubbornly reappeared. Eventually, the unyielding stain had to be covered over with carpet. The unfortunate drama played itself out on a spot that is near the Governor’s Suite.