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Myrtles Plantation

Myrtles Plantation paranormal

Photo by: http://en.wikipedia.org/w...
Location submitted by: whougonnacall on 10/12/2012
DBA Approved: Y


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PANICd#: 1250

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The Myrtles Plantation was built in 1796 by General David Bradford and was called Laurel Grove at the time.

7747 U.S. 61
St. Francisville , LA 70775
Phone: (225) 635-6277
Open to the public: Unknown

http://www.myrtlesplantation.com/

Lat: 30.8034022
Lon: -91.38804949999997

Database Summary:

Demographic Rank: 6
History: 1
Stories: 1
Claims: 5
Evidence: 0
Resources: 0
Retrievals: 2684
Vistor Rating: 0.0
Votes: 0

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History

History information is some background and history about the location. This is meant to be a basic summary. Below the history records you will find sources in which you can click on to find out more information. There may be multiple history records per location.


The Myrtles Plantation was built in 1796 by General David Bradford and was called Laurel Grove at the time. General Bradford lived there alone for several years, until President John Adams pardoned him for his role in the Pennsylvania Whiskey Rebellion. He then moved his wife Elizabeth and their five children to the plantation from Pennsylvania. David Bradford died in 1808. In 1817, one of Bradford's law students, Clark Woodruff (or Woodroff) married Bradford's daughter, Sara Mathilda. Clark and Sara Woodruff managed the plantation for David Bradford's widow, Elizabeth. The Woodruffs had three children: Cornelia Gale, James, and Mary Octavia. Legend has it that Sara Bradford Woodruff and two of her three children died in 1823 and 1824 of oleander poisoning from a slave trying to regain her position back in the house after being caught eavesdropping on family business. The slave, Chloe, who was eavesdropping, had her left ear cut off and was assigned to kitchen duty, a very bad position. So, to earn her position back in the house, she put oleander leaves, a very toxic plant, into the cake, thinking she could cure the children when they ate the cake. Her plan backfired: she killed two of the children and Sara. Mr. Woodruff did not want cake and the youngest child was in bed. As a result, Chloe was hanged in the front yard on the oak tree and then cut down after dying, weighed down with bricks and tossed into the Mississippi River. The historical record, however, does not support this legend. There is no record of the Woodruffs owning a slave named Chloe or Cleo, or any slaves. The legends usually claim that Sara and her two daughters were poisoned, but Mary Octavia survived well into adulthood. Finally, Sara, James, and Cornelia Woodruff were not killed by poisoning, but instead succumbed to yellow fever. Regardless of the factual accuracy of the Chloe story, some believe a woman wearing a green turban haunts the plantation.

When Elizabeth Bradford died in 1831, Clark Woodruff and his surviving daughter Mary Octavia moved to Covington, Louisiana, and left a caretaker to manage the plantation. In 1834, Woodruff sold the plantation, the land, and its slaves to Ruffin Gray Stirling. Woodruff died in New Orleans in 1851.

and his wife, Mary Catherine Cobb, undertook an extensive remodeling of the house. When completed, the new house was nearly double the size of the former building, and its name was changed to The Myrtles. They imported fancy furniture from Europe. The Stirlings had nine children, but five of them died young. Stirling died in 1854 and left the plantation to his wife.

In 1865, Mary Cobb hired William Drew Winter to help manage the plantation as her lawyer and agent. Winter was married to Mary Cobb's daughter, Sarah Stirling. Sarah and William Winter lived at the Myrtles and had six children, one of whom (Kate Winter) died from typhoid at the age of three. Although the Winters were forced to sell the plantation in 1868, they were able to buy it back two years later.

In 1871, William Winter was shot on the porch of the house, possibly by a man named E.S. Webber, and died within minutes. Sarah remained at the Myrtles' with her mother and siblings until 1878, when she died. Mary Cobb died in 1880, and the plantation passed to Stephen, one of her sons. The plantation was heavily in debt, however, and Stephen sold it in 1886 to Oran D. Brooks. Brooks sold it in 1889, and the house changed hands several times until 1891, when it was purchased by Harrison Milton Williams. 20th century

In the early part of the 20th century, the land surrounding the house was divided among the heirs of Harrison Milton Williams. In the 1950s, the house itself was sold to Marjorie Munson, who apparently noticed odd things happening around the area surrounding the Myrtles. The plantation went through several more ownership changes in the 1970s before being bought by James and Frances Kermeen Myers. The Myers ran the plantation as a bed and breakfast. Frances Myers, writing as Frances Kermeen, wrote a book about Myrtles Plantation, naming it as the most haunted house in America

Added by: lmizenko on 01/27/2015 DB#:196
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrtles_Plantation


Stories

Stories are just that. Stories and personal accounts that have been reported about the location.


Touted as "One of America's Most Haunted Homes", the plantation is supposedly home of at least 12 ghosts. It is often reported that 10 murders occurred in the house, but historical records only indicate the murder of William Winter. In 2002, Unsolved Mysteries filmed a segment about the alleged hauntings at the plantation. According to host Robert Stack, the production crew experienced technical difficulties during the production of the segment. The Myrtles was also featured on a 2005 episode of Ghost Hunters.

The legend of Chloe

Possibly the most well known of the Myrtles' supposed ghosts, Chloe (or Cloe) was reportedly a slave owned by Mark and Sara Woodruff. According to one story, Mark Woodruff had pressured or forced Chloe into being his mistress. Other versions of the legend have Chloe listening in at keyholes to learn news of Clark Woodruff's business dealings or for other purposes. After being caught, either by Clark or Sara Woodruff, one of her ears was cut off, and she wore a green turban to hide it.

Chloe supposedly baked a birthday cake containing extract of boiled and reduced oleander leaves, which are extremely poisonous. The various legends diverge as to why she did this, a house maid who was getting the favor of the mistress was a suspect with some saying she was getting revenge on the Woodruffs and some saying she was attempting to redeem her position by curing the family of the poisoning. According to the legends, her plan backfired. Only Sara and her two daughters ate the cake, and all died from the poison. Chloe was then supposedly hanged by the other slaves, and thrown into the Mississippi River, either as punishment or to escape punishment by Clark Woodruff for harboring her.

The historical record does not support this legend. There is no record of the Woodruffs owning a slave named Chloe or Cleo, or any slaves. The legends usually claim that Sara and her two daughters were poisoned, but Mary Octavia survived well into adulthood. Finally, Sara, James, and Cornelia Woodruff were not killed by poisoning, but instead succumbed to yellow fever. Regardless of the factual accuracy of the Chloe story, some believe a woman wearing a green turban haunts the plantation.

Other legends

There are a variety of other legends surrounding the Myrtles. The house is reputedly built over an Indian burial ground, and the ghost of a young Indian woman has been reported. During the Civil War, the house was ransacked by Union soldiers, and legend claims that three were killed in the house. Supposedly, there is a blood stain in a doorway, roughly the size of a human body, that will not (or would not) come clean. Other legends say that cleaners have been unable to push their mop or broom into that space.

A mirror located in the house supposedly holds the spirits of Sara Woodruff and two of her children. According to custom, mirrors are covered after a death, but legend says that after the poisoning of the Woodruffs, this particular mirror was overlooked. The uncovered mirror reportedly trapped the spirits of Sara and her children, who are occasionally seen or leave handprints in the mirror.

The plantation is also reportedly haunted by a young girl who died in 1868, despite being treated by a local voodoo practitioner. She supposedly appears in the room in which she died, and has been reported to practice voodoo on people sleeping in the room.

There is also a ghost who reportedly walks, staggers, or crawls up the stairs and stops on the 17th step. Some have said that this is William Drew Winter, the victim of the only verified murder in the house. He was shot on his front porch and, according to legend, staggered or crawled up the stairs, but collapsed, dead, on the 17th step. Alternate versions of his murder claim he managed to crawl up the stairs, and collapsed in his wife's arms on the 17th step. However, this version of the story is contested

Added by: lmizenko on 01/27/2015 DB#:1150
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_of_Myrtles_Pl...


Paranormal Claims

Here are the paranormal claims for this location. These have been found through Internet research, reports from members, or reports from personal interviews. To add a claim, please contact PANICd.com, and we will review and add your information.


Claim # Added Added By Claim
1873 01/27/2015 lmizenko Foot steps to the seventeenth step.
1874 01/27/2015 lmizenko Voices.
1875 01/27/2015 lmizenko Piano playing by itself.
1876 01/27/2015 lmizenko Apparitions of two children.
1877 01/27/2015 lmizenko Apparitions of several slaves.

Paranormal Evidence

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