Poquoson's Dolly Mammy

Poquoson, today, looks like a typical suburban community. But, it wasn't so long ago that the Messick Marshes and the watermen's homes could bring a shiver to a lonely walker as dusk settled in.

Not only is the atmosphere conducive to shivery tales out on the marshes, but the sticky mud, the sink holes, the whipping wind blowing the long grasses, and the quicksand are just the things of which scary stories are made!

Dolly Mammy's story occurred in 1856.

A windy dusk was approaching and the rain was falling in heavy, blowing sheets. The cows were still out on the marsh. Dolly Mammy asked her two daughters to help fetch in the cows. They refused to go out in the cold and the rain.

Dolly Mammy (terrified of losing the cows to the marsh in the cold and rain) wrapped herself up and headed into the gloomy dusk. She did not return and the girls had to wait until morning before being able to tell the neighbors, as there was nothing anyone could do at night. The next morning a search party was formed among the neighbors, and they searched the area for the missing woman. To their horror, they found a leg sticking out of the mud at a place known as Bell's Oyster Gut. The grass surrounding the site had been torn away where the woman had desperately pulled and tugged at it in an attempt to free herself from the mire and to save herself. It was an awful site.

Not long after the death of the girls' mother, they were haunted by mysterious banging on the side of the house—as if someone were trying to knock the house down. Some stories claim that the two girls' hair was braided together while they slept in their trundle bed. Some stories claim that the girls' faces were covered with scratches. One story claims that the girls' trundle bed floated in mid-air.

Even the neighbors became terrified because the knocking and banging could be heard all throughout Messick. Finally, the army was called in to investigate.

The officer in charge searched the area but could find no cause for the banging and knocking. As dusk approached, he and his men joined hands and encircled the house. This, however, did not stop the mysterious noises; in fact, the noises were so loud that even the soldiers were frightened.

The officer relayed the event to his wife who suggested that a medium be called in to rid the house of the trouble. A seance was arranged, and the medium went into a trance. She called for the spirit to make itself known. A loud knock responded. When the spirit was asked to appear, a shadow of a woman in a rocking chair materialized on the wall. It began to rock and knit—rock and knit. A loud, shrilly moan broke through the air, causing the link to be broken. The ghost disappeared!

Some versions of the tale claim that the seance worked, while other versions claim that Dolly Mammy continues to appear. But, all versions have one like claim—the grass no longer grows on Bell's Oyster Gut where Dolly Mammy's leg was found sticking out of the mire!