Extra Credit Questions

[BettyO]

Thanks, Laurie! Shirley is magnificent and features a "flying staircase" - no visible means of support. It also had one of the first hot air conductible furnaces ever- which was put into the house in the early 19th Century. The original vents are still used to this day - and the Carter family still own the plantation. The James River Plantations, Shirley, Westover, Berkley, Sherwood Forest and Edgewood are all beautiful - and you can actually stay at Edgewood - it's a bed and breakfast (and haunted to boot! You may even meet the resident Civil War era ghost, Lizzie!)

Gene - the reason Mrs Lee left her husband was because he was a spend-thrift who, through his gambling habits, lost their home, Stafford Hall Plantation and died deeply in debt. Even though he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Lee attempted to escape his creditors by fleeing to "The Continent" i.e. Europe. Mrs.Lee returned to her childhood home, Shirley, and it was there that she had the spell which resulted in her "premature burial."