Haunted Hotels > Myrtles Plantation Bed and Breakfast
ReviewsPhotosOfficial Site
Read the ghost story below...
On the Smithsonian's list of the most haunted places in the world, the Myrtles Plantation is located in St. Francisville, Louisiana. A small town with a few stories and a number of ghosts to back them up. In fact, you could argue that it may have as many ghosts as any place in America. No less than ten murders have been committed here since 1794.
The Myrtles Plantation was built in 1794 by General David Bradford. It is said that he built it on an Indian burial ground, which is not usually a good start for a haunting depending on how you look at it.
Sara Matilda, the daughter of David Bradford, married Judge Clark Woodruffe and they moved into the Myrtles. Sara Matilda had given birth to two daughters and was carrying a third child, when the Myrtles major event took place.
Although Woodruffe had a reputation in the region for integrity with men and with the law, he was also known for being promiscuous. He started an intimate relationship with one of his slaves. This practice itself was not entirely uncommon with slaves at the time. This particular female slave was named Chloe. She was a household servant who could have been sent to work in the fields if she refused the sexual advances of the Judge.
Woodruffe eventually tired of Chloe and moved on to another mistress. Chloe then began eavesdropping on the Woodruffe family's private conversations. One day, the Judge caught her at this and ordered that one of her ears be cut off to teach her a lesson and to put her in her place. After that time, she would always wear a green turban around her head.
What happened next is still unclear. Some claim that the next event was done so that the family would just get sick and then Chloe could nurse them back to health and earn the Judge's gratitude and some claim that it was done for nothing more than vengeance.
Chloe put a small amount of oleander leaves, similar to arsenic poison, into a birthday cake that was made for the birthday of Judge's oldest daughter. The two children, and Sara Matilda, each had slices of the tainted cake. The Judge did not. By the end of the day, all of them were very sick. Chloe patiently attended to their needs, never realizing (if it was an accident) that she had given them too much poison.... in just hours, they were all three dead.
The other slaves, afraid that the Judge would punish them as well, dragged Chloe outside and hanged her from a plantation tree. Her body was later cut down, weighted with rocks and thrown into the river. The Judge closed off the children's dining room, where the party was held, and never allowed it to be used again as long as he lived, which wasn't long, for he too was slain by a murderer a few years later. To this day, the room has never again been used for dining. It is called the game room today.
Since then, Chloe's ghost has been reported at the Myrtles and has even been accidentally photographed by the current owner. A photo that she took of the house showed a shadowy figure in a turban standing near the building. Her spirit has also been seen in the house, perhaps seeking the ghost of the Judge who escaped her revenge.
There are other ghosts as well at the Myrtle Plantation. Two of them are the Woodruffe children who died from the poisoned cake. These small spirits have been seen playing on the verandah of the house, in the hallways, in the old children's dining room and even on a hanging chandelier.
Another ghost only seems to appear when a thunderstorm approaches. A young girl, with long curly hair and wearing an ankle-length dress, has been seen drifting outside the game room's window, cupping her hands and trying to look inside.
Another spirit is that of a French woman who roams from room to room and searches for someone she never finds. Other reports have told of the sound of a ghostly crying baby who can be heard in different parts of the house.
A grand piano on the first floor plays by itself, practicing the same chord repeatedly. It may continue on through the night until someone enters the room. The music stops and will only start again when they leave.
In the "French" bedroom, a woman's ghost dances a foot off the floor. She dances in a long black skirt to music that only she can hear.
The employees have some of the most dramatic experiences here. One story has a maid mopping the hallway on the first floor and coming upon a strange spot near the front door. No matter how hard she pushed the mop, it would not enter this area on the floor, the size of a human body. Is is a mere coincidence that this was the same place where a man had been shot and killed around the Civil War? The mop finally worked on this area after about a month.
Other events include a woman carrying a candle up the stairs. Doors may slam in the house with no one around. Rooms may be found icy cold. A picture from the game room may come off the wall and fly across the room, possibly hurting anyone in it's path. That has happened so you may wish to stay clear of portraits, especially ones that change expressions like this one has been known to do. Infrared photos reveal a bloody handprint next to the painting. Four murders have taken place in this room over the years...the game room.