{"id":2603,"slug":"scotchtown-beaverdam-virginia","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Scotchtown is the '19 — the '1719' that's the Chiswell, the 'largest one-story' that's the Virginia. The 'Patrick Henry' is the '71-78 — the 'Liberty or Death' that's the conceived, the 'first governor' that's the elected. The 'Dolley' is the child — the 'Madison' that's the future, the 'lived here' that's the before.","The 'barn-like' is the plain — the '8 rooms' that's the passage, the 'jerkinhead' that's the roof. The '1958' is the rescued — the 'Preservation Virginia' that's the acquired, the 'restored' that's the Henry. Scotchtown is the only — the 'original standing' that's the home, the 'orator' that's the Revolution.","The file keeps Scotchtown: the 1719 house, the Patrick Henry years, the Dolley childhood, and the 1958 rescue.","Scotchtown is the archive's Virginia file — the orator's home."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["Scotchtown is the archive's Virginia file — the liberty's birth.","A barn keeps its orator — the file's suggestion being that Scotchtown's hold is the conceived: the 'Liberty or Death' that's the written, the 'only surviving' that's the standing, and the 'Dolley' that's the before."]}],"name":"Scotchtown","aliases":[],"type":"MANSION","type_label":"Mansion","cats":["LOCAL_FOLKLORE","HAUNTED_PLACE","HISTORIC_ESTATE"],"groups":["hauntings","historic-sites","legends"],"desc":"Patrick Henry’s Hanover house—\"give me liberty\" written in its rooms.","full_desc":"A mansion in Beaverdam, Virginia, Scotchtown is filed here for what the record attaches to it. Patrick Henry’s Hanover house—\"give me liberty\" written in its rooms. HauntHunt files it with local folklore and haunted places. Ask the file who haunts it and it answers: Patrick Henry. The dossier holds 2 reported claims, 1 legend and 1 documented fact, with the verified spine filed separately from the lore. The site is open to visitors.","address":null,"city":"Beaverdam","county":null,"state":"Virginia","postal":null,"region":"South","lat":null,"lon":null,"coord_kind":null,"status":"ACTIVE","access":"PUBLIC","access_notes":null,"ownership":null,"website":null,"phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":null,"current_use":"Historic site / park","research_notes":"VA battlefields batch; VERIFY task auto-queued.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":59.4,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.65,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":0.3999999999999999,"paranormal_claim_provenance":0.8,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0.7,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[{"id":2122,"type":"NAMED_GHOST_LEGEND","description":"Henry is reportedly seen in the house. The figure answers to Patrick Henry in the retellings. A house with Beaverdam's history behind it gives the reports a setting that needs no exaggeration. 'Scotchtown' preserves the telling; the record keeps it filed where it belongs, as lore. The account appears in 'Scotchtown'. A ghost with a name outlasts a ghost without one; the reports keep it employed.","evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","evidence_label":"Documented legend","entity":"Patrick Henry","where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Scotchtown","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotchtown_(plantation)","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]},{"id":2123,"type":"APPARITION","description":"Reported a presence in the rooms. The house's rooms are where the accounts concentrate — old houses keep their stories in the walls they were built around. Witness accounts, no evidence file: the claim is anecdotal and stays that way. It is the sighting the place is known for, and it hasn't stopped.","evidence":"ANECDOTAL","evidence_label":"Anecdotal","entity":null,"where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Scotchtown","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotchtown_(plantation)","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]}],"history":[{"description":"Henry lived here 1771-1778; the house is preserved. Scotchtown's documented history is the record the rest of the file stands on. It's verified history: the dossier's load-bearing detail. The record appears in 'Scotchtown'. It anchors the timeline the rest of the file hangs from. The report keeps its place in the record.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":"1771","date_end":"1778","confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Scotchtown","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotchtown_(plantation)","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"legends":[{"name":null,"summary":"Henry is reportedly seen in the house. Scotchtown wears the claim the way old houses do: visibly, and without comment. The story is documented as legend — recorded and retold, never verified as fact. Sources including 'Scotchtown' keep the claim in circulation. The tale is the site's other archive — oral, embroidered, and outlasting the documents.","earliest":null,"evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","source":{"name":"Scotchtown","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotchtown_(plantation)","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"entities":[{"name":"Patrick Henry","claimed_identity":"Patrick Henry","verified":null,"summary":"Henry is reportedly seen in the house. The presence goes by Patrick Henry. A house with Beaverdam's history behind it gives the reports a setting that needs no exaggeration. 'Scotchtown' carries the account. A named spirit outlasts an anonymous one; the file's name is Patrick Henry. The reports keep the address on the map.","behavior":"Henry is reportedly seen in the house.","area":null,"first_ref":null,"source":{"name":"Scotchtown","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotchtown_(plantation)","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"tour_availability":"Verify before visiting","notes":"Historic mansion; check the official site for tour times.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-18 11:32:55","source":{"name":"HauntHunt generic access guidance","url":"https://haunthunt.com/about#access-guidance","publisher":"HauntHunt editorial","type":"DIRECTORY","authority":2}},"sources":[{"name":"Scotchtown","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotchtown_(plantation)","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":2,"history":1,"legends":1,"entities":1,"sources":1}}