Charlottesville has a rich history that dates back to
English Colonial times and includes such notables as Thomas Jefferson, James
Monroe, Edgar Allan Poe and William Faulkner. But unbeknownst to many,
Charlottesville was also home to a Claimant to the Grand Duchy of Russia.
In
July of 1918 the Bolshevik Revolution summarily executed the Czar and his
family, purging the country of its de-throned monarchy. A mass grave was found
in 1991 which held the remains of the Tsar, his wife and three daughters, but the
bodies of Alexei and one of his sisters - either Anastasia or her older sister
Maria, were not to be found.
Persistent rumors of her survival circulated for
decades with multiple claimants to her legacy, most notable of which was Anna
Anderson.
Between 1922 and 1968, Anderson lived in Germany and the United
States with various supporters and in nursing homes and sanatoria, including at
least one asylum. She emigrated to the United States in 1968, and shortly
before the expiry of her visa married Jack Manahan, a Virginia history
professor who was later characterized as “probably Charlottesville’s
best-loved eccentric”.
Jack became interested in Anna - who was 21 years
his senior - through Gleb Botkin. Gleb himself was the son of the late
Czar’s family physician who had been killed by the Bolsheviks along with
the Royal Family in 1918. Botkin had known Anastasia as a child and supported
Anna’s claim to be Anastasia. Botkin had escaped Russia during the early months
of the revolution and came to New York, later moving to Charlottesville to be
near his Daughter. He also served as Jack’s Best Man in his wedding to
Anna.
Anna and her husband lived out their lives as Charlottesvillean
notables, not just for her claim but also for their eccentricities. Anna
believed that KGB was trying to kill her and, as one her many aversions, would
not eat from anything metal. This resulted in their car being regularly
littered with empty styrofoam trays. The Daily Progress notes that
Jack often ordered food from Ken Johnsons’s Cafeteria (located near what is now
the site of Ruby Tuesday’s along Emmet Street) and would then stuff his pockets
with condiments. He and Anna would then eat in in their car parked out side of
the restaurant. 
They resided in a small Italianate house on 32 University
Circle for their entire marriage, which ended with Anna’s death in 1983.
After the collapse of communism in
the Soviet Union,
the locations of the bodies of the Tsar, Tsarina, and all five of their children
were revealed and multiple laboratories in different countries confirmed their
identity through DNA testing. DNA
tests on a lock of Anderson’s hair and surviving medical samples of her tissue
showed that Anderson’s DNA did not match that of the Romanov remains or that of
living relatives of the Romanovs.
So, if you are looking at homes for sale inthe City of Charlottesville, take a close look, you might be buying a piece of
history along with the home.
Please contact me, I would love to be a help to you!
Quinton Beckham
Keller Williams Realty
434.242.6212
Jack became interested in Anna - who was 21 years
his senior - through Gleb Botkin. Gleb himself was the son of the late
Czar’s family physician who had been killed by the Bolsheviks along with
the Royal Family in 1918. Botkin had known Anastasia as a child and supported
Anna’s claim to be Anastasia. Botkin had escaped Russia during the early months
of the revolution and came to New York, later moving to Charlottesville to be
near his Daughter. He also served as Jack’s Best Man in his wedding to
Anna.
Anna and her husband lived out their lives as Charlottesvillean
notables, not just for her claim but also for their eccentricities. Anna
believed that KGB was trying to kill her and, as one her many aversions, would
not eat from anything metal. This resulted in their car being regularly
littered with empty styrofoam trays. The Daily Progress notes that
Jack often ordered food from Ken Johnsons’s Cafeteria (located near what is now
the site of Ruby Tuesday’s along Emmet Street) and would then stuff his pockets
with condiments. He and Anna would then eat in in their car parked out side of
the restaurant. 
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