The first mistress who presided over the mansion on the kekoor was Madame Yanovski, a daughter of Baranof and the wife of Lieutenant Yanovski, the third chief manager of the Russian American Company. Lady Wrangell was the first to come from Russia to preside as the First Lady of Sitka, and she was succeeded by Madame Kupreanof, who is said to have crossed Siberia and the Pacific Ocean to accompany her husband to his post. Sir Edward Belcher gives a spirited account of a ball given in his honor, in the castle, which was then, in 1837, just completed. He says: "The evening passed most delightfully," although "few could converse with their partners," English being spoken by few at that time in the capital of Russian America. Princess Maksoutoff, the wife of the last chief manager of the colonies, came from St. Petersburg, but died soon after her arrival, and the stone which marks her grave may be seen on the hill between the two cemeteries, near the site of the upper Blockhouse. Her successor, the second Princess Maksoutoff, young and beautiful, presided with grace and tact over the mansion until the transfer of the territory to the United States. She was one of six Russian ladies present at the ceremonies and is said to have wept when the Russian flag was lowered. There is a legend of a beautiful princess whose ghost haunted the Castle for many years. The story has been told by many at different times and is one of the romantic tales that cluster around the old metropolis of the fur trading days. Her lover was sent away or killed through the influence of an _ober offitzer_ who sought her hand in marriage. Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, who wrote so delightfully of Sitka in her journeys in Alaska in 1883, says that, "By tradition the Lady in Black was the daughter of one of the old governors. On her wedding night she disappeared from the ballroom in the midst of the festivities, and after a long search was found dead in one of the small drawing rooms."[14] [Illustration: The Grave of the Princess Maksoutoff.] The chief managers entertained lavishly, and the dinners in the Castle were events long to be remembered. They were well worthy the representatives of a rich and powerful company, a corporation with a domain that was greater than the realm of many a royal ruler. Into the sumptuously furnished and richly decorated dining-room came the bishop and priests, resplendent in the official robes, the naval officers glittering in their gold laced uniforms, the secretaries, accountants, storekeepers, all in the uniform of the Ministry of Finance, the masters and mates of the ships in the harbor; the guests in their best apparel; all gathered around the hospitable board of the chief manager. At times a hundred sat at the table and back of them dined the cadets of the naval school. After the dinner came dancing and until morning the gayety went merrily on, for Russian cheer is proverbial, and their hospitality is lavish.