A Note from the G’Author:
I love a good ghost story. I also love good research. Rotherwood has accumulated nearly two centuries of history, tragedy, and folklore, and over the years the lines between them have sometimes blurred. In researching this story, I have separated documented historical facts from local legends whenever the available evidence allows me to do so.

Historical information in this article comes primarily from City of Kingsport preservation records, official Kingsport historical resources, and archival material. The supernatural traditions have been traced through documented folklore and published retellings.

Throughout the article, you’ll see three distinctions:

DOCUMENTED HISTORY — Supported by governmental, archival, historical, or other credible records.

LOCAL LORE — A story preserved or repeatedly told as part of the area’s folklore but not established as historical fact.

PARANORMAL CLAIM — A reported supernatural experience that cannot be independently verified.

Because sometimes the truth is every bit as interesting as the ghost story.

If you’ve spent much time around Kingsport, you’ve probably heard of Rotherwood.

Maybe you’ve seen the stately brick mansion from across the Holston while fishing on the riverbank or while walking along the town’s Green Belt trail. Maybe someone told you about the heartbroken Lady in White who supposedly wanders the grounds. Or perhaps you heard the considerably darker story about a cruel plantation owner, a swarm of flies, and an enormous black hound that appeared at his funeral.

Rotherwood has been collecting stories for roughly two centuries.

Some of them are true.

Others belong to that wonderfully murky territory Appalachians know well: the place where history ends and lore begins.

The House Above the Holston

DOCUMENTED HISTORY

The story begins with the Ross family.

According to the City of Kingsport’s historic-preservation documentation, the land surrounding the Rotherwood Mansion was originally settled by David Ross, a Scottish-born merchant, entrepreneur, and land speculator who accumulated substantial land holdings in Virginia and Tennessee. After his death, his son, the Reverend Frederick A. Ross, purchased his siblings’ shares of the estate and began building what would eventually become the Rotherwood Mansion.

In 1818, Rev. Ross began construction on two residences, one of which became known as Rotherwood I. At approximately the same time, construction began across the road on what would become Rotherwood II, which is the mansion that survives today, presiding hauntingly over the foggy banks of the Holston River.

And the house wasn’t originally built as a single grand structure.

The city’s preservation records describe Rotherwood II as developing in stages. The northern third was a two-story brick building. A separate, parallel two-story wing was constructed to the south, probably around 1820. During the middle of the nineteenth century, the two buildings were joined by a taller three-story central structure.

The magnificent Classical portico we associate with Rotherwood today came later.

So the mansion itself mirrors its extensive folklore: built in layers added over time.

A Mansion Named for a Novel

DOCUMENTED HISTORY

Given my love for books and creepy gothic mansion, I was delighted with the discovery that the Rotherwood Mansion was named after a literary estate.

According to Kingsport’s official history of the mansion, Frederick Ross named the property after Rotherwood, the home of Cedric the Saxon in Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe.

How cool is that? An old Appalachian mansion surrounded by stories of ghosts and tragedy was named for a place in nineteenth-century literature. I couldn’t have planned it better myself.

And the best part of all? The tragic history of the Rotherwood Mansion and one particular inhabitant is a story worthy of Bronte’s Thornfield Hall or Poe’s House of Usher.

Allow me to introduce you to Rowena Ross and share her tragic story.

Rowena’s Beloved Bridegroom

DOCUMENTED HISTORY — WITH FOLKLORE THAT FOLLOWED

Frederick Ross had a beautiful daughter named Rowena, whose tragic story earned her a place in local folklore. And at least part of the heartbreaking story associated with her wedding day is supported by Kingsport’s own historical material.

According to local records, Rowena’s unnamed bridegroom died in an accident before their wedding. Some accounts say it was a few days before. Others contend it was only hours before their wedding. One account I found detailed that her bridegroom drowned the day before the wedding, and his body was recovered the very hour the ceremony was to take place. While the exact date and details of the tragedy vary, historical records confirm this sad event really occurred.

This hopelessly romantic tragedy is this G’author’s idea of the perfect research project and also appears to be the seed from which one of Rotherwood’s most enduring legends grew. Exactly what happened to Rowena’s bridegroom on the day of their wedding and what happened afterward becomes much harder to separate from folklore.

In fact, folks in Kingsport have celebrated Rowena’s story as a foggy boundary between history and lore for more than a century. As you can imagine, as the generations passed, this story has acquired additional tragedies and increasingly supernatural details that make my black heart happy.

And this story is especially compelling in its ongoing heartbreak and tragic nature. Following the death of her bridegroom, Rowena Ross eventually became known as The Lady in White.

The Lady in White

LOCAL LORE / PARANORMAL CLAIM

According to legend, the young and beautiful Rowena Ross was devastated by the loss of her intended husband. What truly happened to her lost love has long been lost to the mystery and intrigue surrounding his disappearance.

In the accounts I’ve heard, Rowena’s intended went out on the river in a rowboat with some friends the day before he was to be married. However, the strong and unpredictable current of the Holston caused the boat to capsize. The bridegroom’s foot was trapped between two rocks, and, unable to break himself free, he tragically drowned. His body was recovered at the very hour the two were supposed to wed.

Rowena—young, beautiful, and heartbroken—never recovered.

However, like other women of her era, Rowena did eventually marry. However, she never recovered from the loss. Local legend details that she eventually was overcome by her melancholy and took her own life. As a child, I can recall my grandmother telling me about how Rowena looked out the high windows of the mansion overlooking the Holston, put on the wedding dress she was supposed to wear for her late bridegroom, and waded into the Holston to drown.

While historical records do support that Rowena died by suicide, there is no evidence she actually died at the Rotherwood Mansion or in the Holston River.

But whether she died at the mansion or not, she returns to the river on moonlit nights in her wedding gown, eternally searching for her lost love. Over the years, local fishermen, rail walkers, late-night drivers, and nearby residents have reported seeing her wandering the riverbank as though searching for her beloved bridegroom.

Over the decades, Rowena Ross has become known simply as the Lady in White.

Is the woman in white really Rowena Ross? I like to think so.

Sources & Further Reading

I believe in telling a good ghost story—but I also believe you should be able to see where the history ends and the folklore begins.

City of Kingsport — Historic Design Review Guidelines: Rotherwood Historic District

My primary source for Rotherwood’s architectural development and ownership history, including Frederick Ross, Joshua Phipps, the destruction of Rotherwood I, twentieth-century ownership, use by the U.S. Army during World War II, and later restoration.

Read the City of Kingsport Historic Design Review Guidelines

Kingsport Greenbelt — Rotherwood Mansion

Official local historical material covering Rotherwood’s construction, the origin of its name in Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, and the death of Rowena Ross’s bridegroom shortly before their wedding.

Read the Kingsport Greenbelt’s history of Rotherwood Mansion

City of Kingsport — Dobyns Day Celebration

Additional historical context concerning James Wiley Dobyns, Kingsport Farms, Rotherwood, and Dobyns’s appointment as Kingsport’s first mayor.

Read the City of Kingsport’s Dobyns history

Brigham Young University Folklore Archive — The Rotherwood Mansion

A 2022 entry in a Southern Appalachian folklore collection preserving a Northeast Tennessee version of the Joshua Phipps and black-dog legend. This source is especially useful because it documents the story as folklore rather than presenting the supernatural events as historical fact.

View the archived Rotherwood folklore entry

Please Respect Rotherwood!

Rotherwood is a private residence.

Its history and legends can be appreciated without entering the property. Please view the area only from appropriate public spaces and respect the privacy of the people who call this historic place home.

Curiosity about Appalachian history never requires trespassing.