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Real Ghost Stories
Chapter 14
The Myrtles – Louisiana
In 1796 disgraced General David Bradford built a home near St. Francesville, Louisiana and after being pardoned by President John Adams for his part in the Pennsylvania Whiskey Rebellion he moved his family from Pennsylvania to join him on the cotton plantation. He named his new home Laurel Grove.
It had long been rumored that the plantation had been built on an Indian graveyard, never a good idea. If this was the source of the luck that plagued the plantation through the centuries, is unknown. What is known is that the plantation has had more than its share of deaths attributable to murder.
Twenty years after the General's habitation the plantation was owned by Bradford's daughter, Sara and her husband, Judge Clark Woodruffe. They had three small daughters. According to legend during his wife's last pregnancy, Clark, a particularly promiscuous man, had taken as his mistress a slave named Chloe. When he ended the affair, for reasons of his own, which perhaps included a younger mistress, Chloe began to spy on the family.
She was afraid that she would be turned out of the house and sent to the fields to work, like all the other slaves; an often short and brutal life. Woodruffe evidently caught her eavesdropping and had her left ear cut off as punishment. She ended up slaving in the fields and wore a green headscarf with an erring attached where her ear should have been.
Chloe, over a period of time, worked her way back up to kitchen slave. She reputedly had learned about herbs and their magic properties from other slaves and, instead of brewing a potion to regain the master's wandering eye she elected instead to make a poisoned birthday cake for one of the children's birthday celebrations.
It is believed she only intended to make the family sick so that she could nurse them back to health and regain her valued position as a house slave but she used too much extract of oleander leaves and killed the mistress and two of the children, who all died in agony over a period of days.
Chloe confessed what she had done to another slave who, horrified, told the rest of the slaves. In fear of retribution the slaves chased Chloe down and hung her from a tree in the front yard of the plantation. Later her body was taken down, weighted with bricks and thrown into the Mississippi River.
Chloe is the most famous of the ghosts that haunt the Myrtles. She has even had a fairly clear picture taken. Unfortunately Mrs. Woodruff and the dead children also haunt. That's four of The Myrtles ghosts.
In 1834 a new owner of the plantation with the interesting name of Ruffin Grey Sterling remodeled the house and re-named the plantation The Myrtles. He was neither murdered nor remembered for anything else.
In 1865 a man named William Winter was hired to manage the plantation and to act as a lawyer for the plantation owner. In 1871 he was summoned to the front porch by an unknown mounted man who shot him in the chest. The reason for the murder was never known. The unfortunate Mr. Winter managed to crawl back into the house and up the stairs to the 17th step where he died in his wife's arms. His ghost haunts the door and the stairs. His shadow on the glass front door was filmed and shown on the television show "Ghost Hunters" by the T.A.P.S. crew in 2007. He is Myrtles ghost number 5.
There is also the Confederate Soldier who patrols the grounds of the Myrtles and has the unusual habit of standing in the pond. Ghost number 6.
There is the French lady who wanders the museum portion of the modern Myrtles. No one knows who she is or can explain how it is known that she is French. Ghost number 7.
There is the lady in a white Victorian nightgown who walks through the front door of the mansion without bothering to open it and who has scared away modern watchmen who decided to find a less spooky job. Ghost number 8.
And there is the invisible ghost who plays the same chord over and over again on the grand piano. Ghost number 9.
We also have the charming little girl with the long curly blond hair who only appears before storms. Ghost #10.
The modern Myrtles is a bed and breakfast with an attached museum and is listed on the National Registry of Historical Places. It offers historical and mystery tours. The brochure for The Myrtles claims an even dozen ghosts but who the other two are, I don't know.
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Sam finished numbering off the ghosts to his brother as they drove the Impala up the long gravel covered driveway to the front of the antebellum mansion.
"Why are we here, Sam?" Dean asked. "If they're listing their ghosts in their tourist brochure they aren't going to welcome us with open arms. I thought we were heading for New Orleans and Mardi Gras."
Sam looked out the passenger window, admiring the classical statuary, towering oak trees and the beautiful veranda, 120 feet long and wrapped all the way around the house.
"Yes, we're on our way. You aren't going to miss anything." Sam turned to his brother. 'We'll get to New Orleans tomorrow. I just wanted to see this place. We have to stay somewhere tonight; it might as well be here."
"Damn, little brother." Dean huffed. "This place costs big bucks. Can't we just go to a motel and you can come back for the tour. There is a tour, right?"
"Don't sweat it, Dean." Sam said. "I have had this planned for a while. I have the money and we have a reservation. Come on."
Parking the Impala they grabbed their duffel bags and headed for the veranda. Once there, Sam turned away from the doors and looking out over the oval driveway.
"What's up , Sam?" Dean asked.
"You don't hear that?"
"What do you hear, man? I don't hear anything unusual." Dean responded.
"I hear the laughter of children," Sam said "but I don't see any kids. Do you?"
"Ok, Mr. Space Cadet. Let's get signed in." Dean nudged his brother towards the doors. "I want a shower and I'm hungry. Come on, you can play with the invisible children after dinner."
Sam huffed at his brother but started moving. He knew getting between Dean and food was never a winning move.
After dinner Dean made himself comfortable on the big soft bed but The Myrtles had no T.V.s; there weren't even radios and Dean was bored. He watched as Sam got ready to go walking on the grounds and considered joining his brother on this most unusual ghost hunt.
"Hey, Sam" Dean said "I think I'll join you. This place doesn't provide lot of entertainment for the wide awake crowd."
"Sure, if you want to come along." Sam picked up a flash light. "No guns through. We aren't here to annoy the spirits. They haven't done anything to annoy the living. We should return the favor."
"Fine, no poking at the lovely ghosts," Dean agreed. "You take me to the nicest haunts."
They went out on the front veranda and settled into a couple of rocking chairs. The night air was soft and moist. The River wasn't that far away and Dean wondered if the place flooded in season. It didn't look like it was ever water damaged so maybe they were on a small rise above flood level. Dean sat quietly in deference to Sam's request and waited to see what developed.
Sam wandered off the porch down to a flagstone path that meandered between the buildings. Dean watched as Sam went to stand under a high window and just froze there. Dean could see his brother's lips move and he heard a muted whisper. He also heard the sound of children laughing. This place was beginning to get to him, he decided.
After a period of time the murmuring stopped and Sam came back to sit beside his brother again.
Dean continu4ed to listen to the soft sounds of the far away river, the night insects starting to tune up in anticipation of sunset and the children's laughter that was fading away.
"He has a lot to answer for." Sam said apropos of nothing in particular.
"Who?' Dean asked
"Judge Clark Woodruffe," Sam said. "The plantation owner who had Chloe's ear cut off. Four people died because he couldn't keep it in his pants: Chloe, his wife and two of his daughters."
"Harsh." Dean commented.
"It was a different world," Sam answered. "The slaves were his to do with as he pleased. His wife was controlled by the Southern social norms that said she should not notice her husband's peccadillos and it didn't matter with slaves anyway. But now they are all still here. All of them but him."
"No releasing them now?" Dean asked.
"Not without some serious spell work. They would have to be driven away. I've been trying to talk to Chloe but she insists that if she waits long enough he'll take her back into the house." Sam rubbed his hands together. "I didn't mean to get so involved but they are all so sad. They will wait for him and he's never going to come and release them. He died self-satisfied a century ago, probably incapable of understanding the damage that he did."
"Come on, Sam." Dean laid a hand on his brother's arm. "You can't help them now, here in a very public arena. Let's get some rest and pull out to New Orleans in the morning. I hope you got what you wanted out of this visit."
Dean signed. "I know I learned something from it. I'll try to be more cautious about who I sleep with from now on."
"Well, there's a helpful outcome." Sam smiled at his brother and looked out over the ground of the Myrtles. "This type of place makes us even more aware that there is another world, another life, just a breath away, separated from us by the thinnest of veils "
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References:
Coast to Coast Ghosts by Leslie Rule, c. 2001
Ghost Hunting by Hawes and Wilson with Michael Jan Friedman, c 2007
Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits and Haunted Places by Brad Steiger, c 2003 by Visible Ink Press
The Myrtles Plantation, official website