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The Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana bills itself as “One of America’s Most Haunted Homes”. It operates as a bed and breakfast, so for as little as $115 a night (plus tax), you can stay there and see for yourself how haunted it really is.
The Myrtles Plantation house was built by David Bradford, who had been a respected lawyer in Pennsylvania until he took part in the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. Wanted for arrest, he fled to Louisiana, leaving his family behind, and bought 600 acres of land on which he built a house called “Laurel Grove”. After a pardon in 1799, he brought his wife and children to live there.
The property passed to Bradford’s son-in-law Clark Woodruff who lost his wife and two of his three children to yellow fever. Legend has it that during Woodruff’s reign at the plantation, he had a relationship with a slave girl named Chloe while his wife was pregnant. Chloe became paranoid when Woodruff ended the affair, and he allegedly cut her ear off as punishment for eavesdropping. From that point, Chloe always wore a turban to cover the scar. Image by Flickr user stevesheriw.
Chloe later poisoned a birthday cake for one of the children. Woodruff ate no cake, but his wife and children did and subsequently died. The other slaves of the plantation were so upset over the incident that they hanged Chloe from a tree. Now the ghost of Chloe and the children all roam the plantation house, although there is no solid evidence that she ever existed. This famous picture taken by Myrtles owner Teeta Moss in 1995 shows the ghost of Chloe between two buildings.
Ruffin Grey Stirling purchased the plantation in 1834 and expanded the main house to twice its original size and renamed it The Myrtles after the crape myrtles that grew there. Stirling and his wife Mary Cobb had nine children, five of whom died young. The Civil War saw The Myrtles robbed of many fine furnishings and expensive accessories. The family fortune was wrecked, as most of it was tied up in Confederate currency. After Stirling’s death, his son-in-law William Winter oversaw The Myrtles. On January 26, 1871, an unknown man approached the house and shot Winter dead on the front porch. It is the only confirmed murder at the plantation. Legend says that Winter staggered through the house as he died, climbing 17 of the stairs before he collapsed. Today, footsteps can be heard on those stairs when no one is there. Image by Flickr user stevesheriw.
In 1886, the family lost ownership of the plantation forever due to crippling debts. Harrison Milton Williams purchased the home and passed it to his heirs, who subdivided the property. Marjorie Munson bought the main house in the 1950s, and at that point the ghost stories began.
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The Long Hot Summer, a 1985 TV movie starring Don Johnson, Cybill Shepherd, and Jason Robards was filmed in part at The Myrtles. The film crew reported that when they moved furniture for a scene, someone would move it back to its original places! No one had been reported in the room at the time. They had to move the furniture several times in order to get the shots they needed, and were glad to be finished.
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Current owners John and Teeta Moss are comfortable with the ghosts of residents past. They find the apparitions to be helpful and caring.
Visitors who stay at The Myrtles Plantation report a wide variety of paranormal manifestations. There is a grand piano that reportedly plays a single lonely chord on its own, in the middle of the night with no one in the room. This, of course, has nothing to do with the presence of a family of cats who have the run of the plantation. There are also reports of spirits touching people and giving them the sensation of being tucked into bed, as well as children’s voices. Image by Flickr user Corey Ann.
There are many pictures of The Myrtles Plantation that show strange orbs or auras, especially at night. This photo, taken by Janie Miller, appears to show British redcoats. The British army has no direct link to The Myrtles, but 700 troops were killed nearby during the 1815 Battle of New Orleans.
A mirror in the hallway reportedly shows faces of the dead from time to time. The smudges that were thought to be responsible had been cleaned over and over but still returned, even after the glass was replaced! It has been posited that imperfections in the wood behind the glass could be to blame. A French woman in a black skirt has been seen dancing with her feet slightly above the floor. Children’s voice are heard, and sometime a baby is heard crying. Image by Flickr user Corey Ann.
If you can’t get reservations to stay the night by Halloween this year, you can take a tour of The Myrtles, or enjoy dinner in the plantation restaurant.
See also: The Haunted Hospital
Comments (18)
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So, I’m confused. Did Woodruff’s wife and children die of yellow fever or poisoned birthday cake? Did the birthday cake involve a second family later in Clark Woodruff’s life? Or was one story concocted as a cover for the other?
posted by Chelsea on 10-20-2009 at 10:51 am
I have visited the Myrtles. Quite a beautiful place, actually, though I didn’t get any creepy vibes or score any ghosty photographs.
As for Chelsea’s question, the legend goes that Chloe poisoned the cake “a little” so that she could nurse Woodruff’s wife and children back to health and win back his favor after the eavesdropping incident. She put in too much and so, according to the story, they died as a result.
posted by Ashley on 10-20-2009 at 10:59 am
I have stayed at the Myrtles. It’s beautiful and the food was great. Didn’t see anything but still had a great time.
posted by Rachel on 10-20-2009 at 11:18 am
Chelsea, they died of yellow fever. Then there is a legend about the slave Chloe, which makes a great ghost story, but there’s no evidence that it ever happened.
Most sources I read said although the stories of murder are mostly BS (only one documented murder -that of William Winter), a lot of people died in this home over the years from disease and other causes.
posted by Miss Cellania on 10-20-2009 at 11:26 am
This is awesome – I just read about this on Sunday while flying in one of those magazines in the back of the seat.
posted by FrankieA on 10-20-2009 at 12:00 pm
The picture of the “redcoats” is silly. The Battle of New Orleans took place over 100 miles from St. Francisville.
posted by Quentin on 10-20-2009 at 12:05 pm
Is there any way you could write up a piece on the ghosts of San Diego County? Surprisingly, SD County is supposedly the most haunted county in America.
posted by Oneita on 10-20-2009 at 12:45 pm
I also have a question- “A French woman in a black skirt has been seen dancing with her feet slightly above the floor.”
How can you tell the Gohst’s nationality?
posted by Brit on 10-20-2009 at 6:04 pm
Brit, I wondered the same thing! I thought there might be a story behind the French ghost, but I haven’t yet found it.
posted by Miss Cellania on 10-20-2009 at 6:44 pm
I second the request for a piece on haunted San Diego county!
posted by Nerak on 10-20-2009 at 7:53 pm
What a load of revisionist malarky. Ghost stories are great but I am so sick of people trying to sell the idea that Masters and their slave girls had love affairs. When one person owns another, it can never be a mutual relationship. And I wonder what the age difference was etween the Master of the House and a slave GIRL. To concoct a story in which SHE is jealous and trying to win back HIS favor is typical of the tendancy of trying romanticize the Old South and erase the crimes of US history. As far as the other slaves punishing her by death, that too seems highly unlikly: Slaves would have been punished severely for killin other slaves becasue that would be tantamount to stealing the master’s property. Laws against this are on the books. The idea also feeds into the trite concept that blacks were so, so happy on the plantation and devoted to their white masters. If any part of the story is to be believed, it is far more likely that the Master himself lynched Chloe – he already proved a capacity for cruely by raping her and chopping off her ear. I hope Chloe never truly existed because the horrors this young rape victim endured are being played out repeatedly each time someone repeats this insulting tale. The true horror story is of poor Chloe and the thousands of unprotected girls and women who lived and died in forced concubinage.
posted by Josey on 10-21-2009 at 10:40 am
Someone always has to ruin these fun posts.
posted by Marie Antoinette on 10-21-2009 at 12:01 pm
Josey, the best corroborated story is that Woodruff was a devoted husband and never had a slave named Chloe. He did own slaves, however.
posted by Miss Cellania on 10-21-2009 at 12:03 pm
Marie Antoinette: the post wasn’t fun for me to read. History can be pretty inconvenient.
Thanks for the info Miss Cellania.
posted by Josey on 10-21-2009 at 1:46 pm
>>>Today, footsteps can be heard on those stairs when no one is there.
If no one is there, who is hearing the footsteps?
posted by David on 10-21-2009 at 5:22 pm
>>>I just read about this on Sunday while flying in one of those magazines in the back of the seat.
@FrankieA – you must save a lot of money on airfares if you can get those magazines to fly about and take you from place to place. How very green.
posted by David on 10-21-2009 at 5:25 pm
David, someone who is not on the stairs.
posted by Miss Cellania on 10-21-2009 at 8:03 pm
@David & Brit,
Although I do love a good ghost story (and am dying to go to Myrtles) I’m glad I’m not the only one on here with a slightly cynical (sometimes sarcastically so) nature.
ReCaptcha:robertenormity,coincidentally I got to this post by reading Stacey’s 7 Haunted Objects post,including one about the creepiest doll named Robert.
posted by Nikky on 10-22-2009 at 8:26 pm