Handprints in mirrors and women in white, hangings, murder and secrets-the Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana has all these things and more. Tourists flock to the site every year, searching for ghosts and apparitions, lured by the house’s colorful and questionable history.
The Myrtles Plantation, touted as one of the most haunted homes in the world, was built in 1796, by General David Bradford. The massive antebellum plantation is the home of twelve ghosts and legend has it that 10 murders were committed there, although there was only one ever confirmed, that of William Winter.
Winter, who married into the family in 1852, became the business manager of the property. It is widely believed that his deft machinations with money and property led to his demise. According to Jeff Dwyer’s book, Ghost Hunter’s Guide to New Orleans, on January 26, 1871, a rider came to the house and Winter, who was teaching a Sunday school lesson in the parlor, went outside to greet him. The rider shot him and according to official record, he died there on the front porch of the plantation. However, he is said to have never left the grounds. There have been reports of a man staggering into the house and up 17 steps before disappearing. It is widely believed that this is the ghost of William Winter.
There have been many reports of female spirits being spotted on the property. A woman in white is said to walk up and enter the front door without ever opening it. A young girl who died despite being treated by a practitioner of voodoo haunts the room in which she met her end. There is even a French woman who searches the grounds, looking for something no one remembers.
The most famous specter haunting the grounds of the plantation is that of a slave woman named Chloe. It is said she was owned by Clark Woodruff and his wife, Sarah, although records of her have never been uncovered. Woodruff was known throughout the region as being licentious. While his wife was pregnant with their first child, he began a relationship with Chloe, the house slave. According to legend, she acquiesced because she feared being sent out to the fields, where the work was much harder. After a time, Woodruff tired of her. Chloe, fearing that this meant she would be sent from the house to much more difficult labor, began spying on the family. When Woodruff caught her, he ordered one of her ears cut off, something she would from then on hide under a green turban.
What happened next is largely debated. Some say that Chloe poisoned the eldest daughter’s birthday cake because she wanted to nurse the family back to health, thus proving her worth. Still others say she had only one thing on her mind- revenge. Whichever is true, Sarah and her two children ate pieces of the cake, poisoned with oleander leaves, and in a matter of hours, they were all dead.
The other slaves, fearing their master’s retaliation, dragged Chloe from the house and hanged her from a tree in the yard. After her death, her body was removed from the tree, weighted down with stones, and dropped into the river.
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Sarah Woodruff and her two children, victims of the oleander cake, have also never left the grounds. According to eyewitnesses, they are trapped and can often seen in a mirror. Sometimes they even leave handprints behind.
It’s easy to see why, after all this time, Myrtles Plantation still draws a crowd. Even though history doesn’t support many of the popular ghost stories and legends, it appears to be haunted nonetheless.
Psychic Elijah is a gifted clairvoyant and paranormal investigator, you can contact him at 1-800-340-8374 (toll free USA and Canada). Elijah would love to speak with you about any questions you might have.
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