America’s Haunted Hotels:Myrtles Plantation.

Anyone who has ever taken a trip below the Mason Dixon line into the deep south of our nation and visited one of the old rambling plantations can not help but feel as if they have been transferred back in time. Many of these old manor homes of the old southern aristocracy have been preserved to allow those a taste of what the old south was like. Many of the old plantation homes have seen great tragedy and have many ghosts attached to their foundations making a visit to one of these old homes not only educational but frightening as well and the Myrtles Plantation which is touted as America’s most haunted home and inn would appear to be the most haunted of them all.

Located in St. Francisville, Louisiana fifty miles south of Baton Rouge, The Myrtles sits as a jewel and a lively reminder to all who see it and stay within it’s many rooms of the bloody history of the early days of our nation. Built in 1796, by General David Bradford a military officer who played an important part in the Whiskey Rebellion of 1796, can honestly lay claim to be the home of twelve souls who for whatever reason have decided to stay behind after they tasted the scythe of the reaper. Perhaps one the most famous of the previous owners of the plantation was the son in law of General Bradford, Clark Woodruff and it is around this old southern gentleman that one of the most famous ghosts that haunts the halls of the Myrtles came to be.

Slavery was a time in our nations history that should cause shame and regret even one hundred forty-five years after President Lincoln declared that all slaves should be set free. Despite the evils of slavery one of the most common practices of male plantation owners was to have an illicit affair with one of their many house servants. Chloe, a young house slave was considered to be one of the most beautiful servants to ever serve in the home and her beauty quickly caught the eye of Clark Woodruff and she became the plantation owner’s mistress.

Chloe, believed that she was better than her fellow brethern who toiled long and hard in the fields and firmly believed that if she succumbed to the sexual advances of Woodruff she could possibly win her freedom and perhaps even become the lady of the house. Woodruff’s wife, Sara, was well aware of the affair between her husband and Chloe and did everything she could to rid the home of the young woman. At this time Chloe, became aware of Mrs. Woodruff’s attempts to have the young woman banished to the life of a field slave and began to listen at the keyholes of the doors as her lover had meetings. Chloe wanted to know whether or not Woodruff would acquiese to the demands of his wife.

One afternoon as Woodruff was holding a meeting with some business associates he began to have the feeling that he was being watched. When he looked over at the keyhole he was shocked to see a small eye peering in. In a rage Woodruff threw open the door and grabbed the young woman who would dare to spy on his meetings, the young woman was Woodruff’s mistress, Chloe. This had not been the first time that Chloe had been caught listening at the keyholes and Woodruff had warned her many times before, now she would taste the punishment she had been warned about, at that moment Woodruff grabbed a knife and cut her left ear off. After that moment Chloe began wearing a green turban to hide her injury.

Despondent over the punishment, Chloe felt that her fate had certainly been sealed, she would most deifinately be sent to work and eventually die in the fields as a common slave. However, Chloe hit on a great idea. Chloe, like most slave woman of her day was well versed in folk medicine and knew what types of flowers could heal and what kind could bring swift death and she knew just the right amount could make a person sick. The lady of the house, Sara, would soon be celebrating a birthday and Chloe was charged with baking the cake, Chloe had the brilliant idea that if she put the right amount of Oleander leaves in the cake mix she could make the family deathly ill and she would nurse the family back to health and this act of compassion would keep her in the house. Chloe, did not take a simple truth to heart, sometimes the best laid plans are doomed to failure.

On the day of the birthday, Chloe proudly served the cake to the Woodruff’s and their two children, however Clark, decided to not eat the cake, he would rather watch his family enjoy the magnificent dessert. A few hours after the family ate the cake, Sara and the two children collapsed and died. Chloe began to panic however she retained her composure and tried to comfort the grieving father and husband. Shortly after the deaths of the Woodruff family the other slaves learned that, Chloe had poisined the family. In a fit of rage Chloe’s fellow slaves dragged the woman to a large tree in the front yard and hanged her until she was dead. To this day an apparition of a young African American woman wearing a green turbin has been seen in the home as well as on the grounds of the plantation. Those who live, work and stay at the Myrtles have had many sightings of the young woman and she is said to dissappear if approached.

Chloe, is not the only spirit said to inhabit the antebellum mansion many others call the old plantation home and make their presence very well known. One of the many spirits said to haunt the home is the spirit of Judge William Winter. On a warm summer night in the late 1800s, William Winter a Parish judge heard a man outside the door yelling his name and demanding that Winter come out. When Winter, opened the door a man sitting atop a horse raised a pistol and shot the judge twice in the gut. When William’s wife heard the shots ring out she ran to the top of the stairs and watched in horror as her husband staggered up the stairs. When he climbed to the seventeenth step holding his gut he collapsed in his wife’s arms and died. To this day many who stay at the plantation have seen the apparition climb the stairs and vanish as the ghost of William Winter collapses on the the infamous 17th step.

In days gone by a common practice after the death of a person in a house was to cover the mirrors to halt the possibility of the spirt being captured and held indefinately by the mirror. This may seem like a silly superstition to some, however those of the Jewish faith still adhere to this practice. When Clark Woodruff held the wake for his family he ordered that all mirrors in the house be covered, however one mirror was overlooked a large mirror that hangs on the wall in the foyer. Those who have worked and stayed at the Myrtles have claimed that as they were peering into the reflective surface the image of two children and a woman peered back at them. The staff at the Myrtles believe this to be the spirit of the murdered Sara Woodruff and her two children.

Other ghosts that call the Myrtles plantation home is the spirit of a Native American woman who has been seen many times wondering the grounds with a sad look on her face. The spirit of a soldier dressed in tattered cofederate gray uniform is oftentimes seen standing below one of the many trees that dot the landscape around the plantation. A young girl who was said to have died in 1868 and to be a practioner of Voodoo is said to haunt one of the charming rooms of the plantation. Patrons who have slept in the room have claimed to be awoken by the sound of a female chanting in the room. It is believed by the staff that the ghost of this young voodoo priestess is still plying her trade on whoever would dare to sleep in the room where she died. Even the little spirits of the Woodruff children are seen and heard running and playing in the halls waking up patrons as they attempt to get a goodnight’s sleep. Should it really be any wonder that the Myrtles Plantation is called the most haunted inn and home in America? I think not.

Today the Myrtles Plantation is a wildly popular destination for those who would not only care to taste the life of an old southern plantation but perhaps have a taste of the purportedly haunted inn. However it is not uncommon for those same guests to leave in the middle of the night scared almost to the point of death by the many spirits that call the Myrtles home. I have made it a personal mission in life to one day spend a vacation in this haunted inn not just to perhaps get a taste of the paranormal but to meet Hester Eby the chief tour guide to me she just seems like the kindest person on the planet.

Rick E. Hale

t_seeker@hotmail.com

Note to the readers: After reviewing the many copious files that I have on haunted hotels and Inns in our great nation, I have decided to extend these entries past the original five that I had originally planned. There are just to many to count and I would be committing a great disservice to the many extended stays that are said to house the spirits of the past. Thank you.

One afternoon