Do headless ghosts startle unsuspecting travelers near this Virginia cemetery?

An unassuming family cemetery sits along U.S. Route 11 in Rockbridge County, Virginia. This graveyard hides an interesting piece of colonial history, a piece that may have been forgotten entirely if not for the strange tales told in its vicinity. During the mid-1730s, Sir William Gooch, colonial governor of Virginia, negotiated a treaty between the Iroquois Confederacy and their southern enemies, which opened up the Shenandoah Valley to European settlement. The new settlers and the Iroquois did not always get along, however, and in 1742 open conflict erupted. Capt. John McDowell and over a dozen others were killed in what became known as the "Massacre of Balcony Downs". McDowell's remains now lie in this graveyard surrounded by a low brick wall. Visitors to the otherwise lovely spot report feelings of dread and of being watched by unseen eyes. An old legend states that the headless ghosts of Capt. McDowell and his men appear in the graveyard, lamenting their grisly fates. #virginia #haunted #paranormal #ghoststories #hauntedplaces #supernatural #spooky #creepy