The Myrtles Plantation House

Tucked away on the shaded acres of ground in St. Francisville, Louisiana, is purportedly the most haunted home in America.  Boasting some twelve to fifteen active spirits, The Myrtles is currently open as an inn where guests can spend a chilling night…if they dare.

Why so much activity at this little inn?  Well, if one were to take nearly every cliche that usually comes as part of a background story for a haunted house (murder, mistreated slaves, voodoo, and even an indian burial ground) and put them all together, one would have the history that surrounds The Myrtles. 

The house was built way back in 1794 by General  David Bradford.  Rumor has it that he built his idyllic home on top of a Tunica Indian tribe burial mounds, something which a little movie called Poltergeist taught us all is generally a bad idea (not to mention shows an extreme lack of respect, but I’ll not get on that particular soap box just now).  Bradford himself is said to have seen a ghost of an indian girl on the property, starting what has become a long history of paranormal activity on the property.

The home was eventually passed down to General Bradford’s daughter, Sara.  She lived there with her husband, Judge Clark Woodruffe, and their three children (some claim that they lived in the home as caretakers for the General’s widow).  It is this family whose tragic history makes this home famous in ghost lore.  At the time Woodruffe and his family lived at The Myrtles, they owned slaves, one of whom was a house slave named Chloe.  Legend has it that Chloe and the good judge were having an affair, and one fateful day, the Judge caught her eavesdropping at his study door.  To teach her a lesson, the Judge cut off one of her ears.  From then on, it is said that Chloe wore a green turban around her head to hide her disfigurement.  It was during a celebration for the oldest daughter’s birthday when Chloe exacted her revenge on the Judge.  She is said to have baked a birthday cake with poisonous oleander mixed in the batter, and it was her intent to nurse them all back to health and be the big hero.  But the result was the death of both of the Judge’s daughters and his wife, Sara.  The Judge did not eat any of the cake, so he was not affected.  The story then holds that the other slaves, fearing revenge from their master, dragged Chloe from the house and hanged her from a tree until she was dead.  The ghost of a turban-wearing woman has been repeatedly reported on the property ever since.  There are also reports of the ghosts of the two little girls sometimes seen playing on the porch.  Woodruffe himself was said to be murdered in New Orleans in 1851.

Is that Chloe peeking out at us?

A blow up of the area in the circle above.

But the horrible history of the house did not end with the demise of the Woodruff family.  All told, it is said that at least ten lives were lost at The Myrtles, either through homicide or suicide.  Stories tell of a confederate soldier, gravely wounded, who crawled his way through the front door and died, leaving an impression on the floor that cannot be cleaned away.  Another explanation for this mystery stain holds that three confederate soldiers tried to ransack the house and were killed in the doorway during their attempt.  Another man, named William Drew Winter, was shot while on the front porch by an unknown person.  He made it back into the home and up to the seventeenth stair, where he died in his wife’s arms.  In 1927, a caretaker of the property was allegedly killed during a robbery.  His ghost is said to roam the property, cryptically warning visitors to leave.  Another man was reportedly shot in the home over a gambling debt.  Most of these stories are unconfirmed rumors, but they certainly make for good entertainment come Halloween. 

The Haunted Mirror

A piano that plays itself, a mirror that reflects back ghostly images, and the sounds of children laughing and playing also add to the creepy atmosphere that The Myrtles Plantation plays host to.

In the 1970s, the new owners of the house renovated it back to its original grandeur, and it now plays host to guests with a paranormal bent.  For those too scared to spend the night, there are also tours and “mystery weekends” available.  The house is also listed on the National Register of Historic Homes.

Yours in this life and the next -

 GhOsTwRiTeR KiM

Tags: ghosts, Ghostwriter Kim, haunted, Myrtles Plantation, paranormal, spirits, St. Francisville

This entry was posted on Monday, October 13th, 2008 at 12:54 pm and is filed under Ghost, Ghostwriter Kim, paranormal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.