Katina is a comforting spirit at historic Fredericksburg mansion

Date published: 10/26/2002

ALL HILL sits on a hilltop in Fredericksburg, high above the natural fall line of the Rappahannock River. However, the river is hidden from view and the roar of its waters is muffled by the thick, dense forest of ancient oaks and tulip poplars that shroud the mansion.

Although bordered by roads, traffic and ever-encroaching development, Fall Hill remains isolated by acres of trees, trenches, thickets and steep riverbanks. Legend has it that the mansion, built in the early 1700s, was set back from the river to protect the family from the pirates that sailed the waters of the Rappahannock at that time. In this setting, Fall Hill presents a feeling of quiet calmness that many attribute to the haunting presence of its longtime "resident," Katina.

Katina was a Sioux Indian princess who was given as a gift to Gov. Alexander Spotswood while he was living in Williamsburg. When Spotswood moved to the Germanna settlement, he brought Katina along with his family. At his death, she was passed on to the Thorntons, whose family had intermarried with the Spotswoods.

The Thorntons had settled in Fredericksburg where they built a small home named The Falls, located where the George Washington Executive Center now stands on Princess Anne Street. They soon built Fall Hill, where they were living when Katina joined the family, raising three generations of the family's children during her long life.

Katina was a much-loved member of the Thornton family, serving as nanny to the family's young. When she died in 1777, at a very old age, the family grieved as if they had lost one of their own. According to family legend, one son, Francis Thornton, was inconsolable at her passing.

Katina was buried under six massive oaks at Fall Hill. The actual grave site is a family secret handed down to only a very select few. Butler Franklin, longtime resident of Fall Hill, said that when she was 9, she came to live at the estate that would be her home for most of her life. When she arrived at Fall Hill, her grandfather took her by the hand and told her that he was going to show her the grave of their old family nurse. He showed her a little grave marked by a granite stone. There was no inscription as Katina, although much loved by the family, was still a slave at that time, and the family had to be careful not to show partiality by engraving her gravestone.

Sightings of Katina have been documented throughout the years and her presence is still very obvious today. Many years ago, author Marguerite DuPont Lee devoted an entire chapter in her book, "Virginia Ghosts" to Fall Hill's Indian governess.

Date published: 10/26/2002