Attack of the Bunny Man

While some versions of the Bunny Man legend have his story extending back more than a century, the oldest recorded account of the Bunny Man appearing dates back to October 1970. On October 18, 1970, a Virginia couple had their vehicle attacked but what appeared to be a man in bunny suit with a hatchet (see Bunny Man: First Encounter at Guinea Road). Less than two weeks later the mysterious man in a bunny suit would once again appear, vandalizing property and menacing a security guard with an axe (see Bunny Man: Second Encounter at Guinea Road). If this indeed is the genesis of the Bunny Man legend, then the legend turns 40-years-old next year.

The legends of the Bunny Man vary from a mentally ill young man hacking up his family at Easter to a malevolent spirit that has haunted a Fairfax County culvert for nearly a century and likes to kill victims at the stroke of midnight on Halloween. Whatever the story, it is always bad news for those who see the Bunny Man.

Pay a visit to Bunny Man Bridge to learn more about the legends, but should you spot a rabbit... Run away! Run away!

-Tom GPS: Feel free to let loose with the Monty Python quotes.

Crazy Bet

As of today, it has been 109 years since the death of American Civil War Spy Elizabeth “Crazy Bet” Van Lew. During the war, Elizabeth was a young lady living in what had become the capitol city of the Confederate States of America (also known as the Confederacy). She garnered a reputation for being “hysterical” due to her very outspoken support of the Union both before and during the war. Her blatant support for the other side led others to believe her insane – something that Elizabeth Van Lew picked up on and used to her advantage. She purposely let her hair go scraggly and wore unkempt clothing to further the misconception that she was mentally ill, leading to her nickname “Crazy Bet.” Elizabeth wasn't insane, but she was crazy like a fox as they say.

Due to her falsely perceived insanity and the social status of her family, Van Lew was allowed access to Union soldiers captured and imprisoned nearby. She would bring them care packages and books – allowing secret messages to be slipped back and forth by using pins to mark under letters on pages of the books, spelling out information beneficial to the Union. The Confederacy's arrogance in underestimating the intelligence of both African Americans and women added significantly to their downfall. Van Lew's servants (former slaves she'd freed who chose to work for her) were included in her spy ring. Elizabeth even managed to place one servant spy, Mary Bowser, directly into the home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. There, Mary risked her life as one of at least two spies posing as slaves in the Davis home (the other was a man named William Jackson). Jefferson Davis so underestimated the intelligence of African American slaves that he left important classified papers laying about and conducted military planning discussions right front of slaves in his household. Davis assumed the slaves were all dull and illiterate. Not only could Mary Bowser read, it was stated in some accounts by those she relayed information to that Mary possessed a photographic memory, enabling her to retain every word in the documents without having to worry about being caught transcribing.

Elizabeth Van Lew and her servants were the first to proudly fly the United States flag once again in Richmond, Virginia when the Union retook the city from the Confederacy.

Pay your respects at Shockhoe Hill Cemetery to learn more about Elizabeth Van Lew and others who are buried there.


-Tom G

No Justice in the Death of George Wythe

On this date in 1806, the so-called "Father of American Jurisprudence" passed away from arsenic poisoning. Wythe earned that moniker as the first professor of law at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, but he has other historical accomplishments as well. In addition to being one of the Virginia delegates to sign the Declaration of Independence, he was also one of three to draw up the rules and procedures for the Constitutional Convention.

Later in his life, Wythe became an abolitionist and followed through by freeing his slaves. Taken his new viewpoint one step further, Wythe amended his will to provide for his former slaves, Lydia Broadnax and her son, Michael Brown - today there is speculation that she was his lover and the boy was his son. The news did not set well with his grandnephew, George Wythe Sweeney, and other heir to his fortune, who decided to take the matter into his own hands and devised a plan to poison them with arsenic. Wythe and Brown received a fatal dosage of arsenic, while Broadnax survived. Due to bigoted laws that forbade testimony of blacks against whites, Sweeney was acquitted of the crime. However, Wythe had survived the poisoning long enough to write his grandnephew completely out of his will - administering the only justice they would receive.

Wythe is buried in the cemetery at the St. John's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia - the historical site of Patrick Henry's famous "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech. Wythe is one of many historical figures buried there, including the mother of famed horror author, Edgar Allan Poe.

Read more stories of the Richmond St. John's Episcopal Church.

-Casey H.

How Sad Was the Career, How Dark the Fate...

On today's date in 1885, the Actors Guild of New York a monument to Edgar Allan Poe that the guild had commissioned years prior. The ceremony was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where the monument was originally displayed. The ceremony to honor the deceased poet and author featured multiple speeches and music performances. Perhaps the greatest speech given at the event was very long and thoughtful observation on the life of Poe by the Reverend William Rounseville Alger. The following is a small excerpt from the speech (which is 21 pages in length in its entirety):

"How sad was the career, how dark the fate, of the proud dazzling, ill-starred unspeakably afflicted genius we are this day commemorating - overwhelmed with poverty, unappreciated by his contemporaries, beset with calamity, the lights of paradise and the flames of perdition contending in his breast. He was not a bad man in the proper sense of the term; that is, one who willfully preys on others. According to all the evidence, he has been a constant victim of misinterpretation, now ignorantly abused, now unfairly caricatured, now wantonly belied. He had many qualities which compel admiration, and many traits which are worthy of love - his extraordinary intellectuality, his imaginative worship of beauty, his ideal enthusiasm for literary art, his ineffaceable memory of the dead, his unfailing devotion to his wife and mother. He was not in any sense or in any approach a man of deliberate depravity. The worst that can be justly said against him is that he was stained with vicious wickedness - was variously defective and sinful; while his life was a series of trials, griefs, disappointments and tortures which in their intense and fearful array appeal irresistibly for the compassion of every chivalrous nature and the charitable judgments of mankind. Terribly indeed did he atone for his faults such as they were. For more than ten years he gave the world the dread sight of his genius, a kinglier Laocoön, constricted and strangling in the coils of the crueler serpents, pride, appetite, and neglect. And he was deeply and darkly conscious of it, impotently struggling against it, til the divine torch, lighted at first in the sky, went out at last in the gutter."

Reverend Alger's speech was the second to last given at the ceremony. The first speech was delivered by the brother of an infamous assassin.

Pay a visit to The Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia (where the monument now stands) and learn the identity of the opening orator that day long ago.

-Tom G

The Jack Bauer of the American Revolution

March 15 is known as Peter Francisco Day in the states of Virginia, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Who is Peter Francisco, you ask? Have you ever heard that joke that emerged following the popularity 24, that goes something like - "Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas when he goes to bed"? Well, if half of the stories of Francisco are true, both of those icons might want to rethink their nightly attire. A basic checklist of Francisco's accomplishments might look something like this:

Arrive in America in a shroud of mystery and be taken in by an affluent family - Check.

Attend Patrick Henry's famous "Give me Liberty or give me Death!" speech - Check.

Join the Colonial Army and fight battles in Brandywine, Germantown, Fort Mifflin, and Monmouth - Check.

Be injured multiple times in above battles and bounce right back - Check.

Survive the harsh winter at Valley Forge - Check.

Get surrounded by the British militia at the Battle of Camden, spear a British soldier, steal his horse, break through enemy lines, give said horse to his injured commanding officer, and carry an 1,100 pound cannon on his shoulders to assure it did not fall in enemy hands - Check.

Encounter nine to eleven British soldiers in a Virginia tavern and single-handily fight them off in what is now known as "Francisco's Fight" - Check.

Witness the British surrender at Yorktown - Check.

Be called a "One-Man-Army" by General George Washington - Check.

Of course, Bauer and Superman are fictional heroes, while Francisco was the real-deal, as is witnessed by his tombstone at Shockoe Hill Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia - After finally being struck down of appendicitis while in his 70s. The above are only a few of the miraculous accounts of the heroics of Peter Francisco, which few historians have attempted to shoot down. It is enough to make one wonder why Hollywood hasn't turned his life story into a feature film just yet. With that in mind, read more of the stories of Francisco's feats at the link below and feel free to play a casting agent here and let us know who should play Francisco on the big screen when the time comes.

Pay a visit to Francisco's grave at Shockoe Hill Cemetery.

-Casey H.

Happy 200 to Edgar Allan Poe!

On this date in 1809, Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts. By his death on October 7, 1849, Poe's tales of madness and horror had left a permanent park on the literary world, which has resulted in a reverence today that was absent during his career. Indeed, he is even credited as single-handily inventing the detective-fiction genre with the publication of The Murders in the Rue Morgue.

Poe led a fairly transient lifestyle as evidenced by the many cities holding celebrations today in his honor and attempting to claim the ownership of "Poe's Hometown". Interestingly enough, Boston has not traditionally been one of these cities, despite being the city the author was born in. That is about to change. In addition to the city's main intersection of Boylston and South Charles will soon be officially named as "Poe Square," Boston College held a two-night event over last week to celebrate the life and works of their hometown author.

In Richmond, Virginia, The Poe Museum is holding a 24-hour birthday bash that got underway in the early morning with a séance attempting to contact his spirit. In addition to the museum's exhibits and even birthday cake, the museum is also hosting Segway tours of Poe sites, a later candlelight walking tour, and reading of Poe's works.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site closed its doors in December in order to prepare for this bicentennial event. The new exhibit opened this weekend with new lighting, carpets, and artifacts to celebrate the opening of their new exhibits that explore the author's life.

Over in The Bronx, New York, actor Tristan Laurence will be assuming the identity of Poe for a series of readings of the author's works - reportedly even taking questions from the audience. The event will be hosted at the Poe Cottage.

Finally, the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in Baltimore, Maryland is teaming up with the Commission for Historic and Architectural Preservation and the Baltimore City Department of Planning for a series of events throughout the rest of January. These events include performances by actor John Astin (who adopted Poe's persona for the critically acclaimed and highly successful play, Edgar Allan Poe: Once Upon a Midnight), a theatrical performance of Poe's Hop Frog, and much, much more. The events will all be hosted at the Old Westminster Burial Ground, where Poe was buried following his death.

Of course, the cemetery is also the site of the annual early morning pilgrimage by the so-called "Poe Toaster" who traditionally leaves three red roses and a half-bottle of Cognac on the author's grave - successfully eluding the various spectators who gather to watch. The news from Baltimore this morning reports that the tradition continued again this year, though the Toaster did not leave a note (as they have done in the past) to acknowledge the milestone anniversary.

-Casey H.