When you think of a southern plantation, you may think of women in white dresses and bonnets, gentleman farmers, and sweet tea, but do you think of ghosts? If you don’t, you might want to visit the Myrtle Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the plantation is currently a bed and breakfast, but it may not be for the faint of heart. It is known as one of the most haunted homes in America.
The plantation dates all the way back to 1796 when it was built by General David Bradford, only he called it Laurel Grove. He, his wife, and five children lived at the plantation until his death. Then, daughter Sara and husband Clark Woodruff lived in the home with their children and her mother. After Elizabeth died, the Woodruffs moved and sold the plantation to Ruffin Gray Stirling. Stirling and his family remodeled the house and renamed it Myrtle Plantation. Five of the nine Stirling children died and eventually Mary Cobb Stirling sold the plantation to William Winter, her son-in-law.
But, Winter was shot and killed on the porch of the plantation by E. S. Webber. The plantation eventually was passed on to Stephen Stirling but it was greatly in debt and he sold it. The plantation kept passing from owner to owner until it was finally restored in the ‘50s and bought by James and Frances Kermeen.
Okay, but what about the ghosts? The best known ghost is that of Chloe. Chloe was a slave believed to be owned by the Woodruffs. For whatever reason, she angered one of the Woodruffs and he or she cut off Chloe’s ear and she wore a green turban to hide it. Chloe cooked a cake with oleander leaves, which are poisonous, perhaps as revenge or perhaps to get rid of Sara as there were some rumors that Chloe and Clark were having an affair.
It is said that Sara and her two daughters supposedly ate the cake and died. But, records dispute this legend. Still, people say Chloe haunts the plantation, missing the children she accidentally killed.
Some say the plantation was built on an Indian burial ground and the ghost of a young Indian woman haunts the plantation. Others have seen the ghosts of Sara and two of her children.
But, the creepiest, at least in my opinion, story is that of the haunted mirror. It is said that this mirror holds the spirits of Sara and two of her children. When people died a long time ago, you were supposed to cover up the mirrors in the house. But, legend has it that this one wasn’t covered and the spirits of the three escaped into it. Apparently, no matter how much the mirror is cleaned or how much the mirror is replaced in the frame, there are handprints that keep appearing on it.
I don’t know about you, but just those stories are enough to keep me away from the Myrtle Plantation!
Other Scary Places:
A Haunting in Connecticut
Scary Places: USS North Carolina
Scary Places: The Knickerbocker Hotel
Scary Places: Waverly Hills Sanatorium
Scary Places: The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado