Myrtles Plantation – St. Francisville, Louisiana

Date of Discovery:

1796

Physical Description:

Creole Cottage with nine bays, a double door entrance, and 125ft long veranda. 

Origin

Built by General David Bradford in 1796 in St. Francisville, Louisiana.

Mythology and Lore

 The Myrtles Plantation

Known as one of the world’s most haunted homes, Myrtles Plantation is filled with ghost. The plantation was called Laurel Grove until 1834 when new owners Ruffin Gray Stirling and his wife Mary bought the land. After an extensive remodel the house doubled in size and was named Myrtles Plantation for the trees that grew close to the property. Stirling died in 1854 and his wife took over the plantation. 

She hired William Winter to help her manage the property. He married her daughter Sarah and they had six children. William Winter was shot and killed on his front porch in 1871. Sarah stayed on the property with her children and her mother until her death. Upon Mary’s death, the property went to her son. But the plantation carried a heavy debt and ended up changing hands several times. In 1891 it was bought by Harrison Williams and when he died the property was divided amongst his heirs. In the 1950s Marjorie Munson bought the house. In the 70s James and Frances Kermeen Myers bought it and ran it as a bed and breakfast. The plantation is now owned by John and Teeta Moss. The owners hold tours of the property and even allow overnight guest.

Many ghost stories and strange occurrences have surrounded the property over the years. In the 1950s Marjorie Munson was the first owner to give any validity to these stories when she moved in and started noticing strange things. 

The most well-known ghost is Chloe, a slave that loved to eavesdrop on the owners, Clarke and Sara Woodruff. When she was caught, her ear was cut off. Chloe took to wearing a turban to hide her missing ear.  According to the legend, Chloe really wanted to get back in the family’s good graces, so she devised a plan to make them sick and then cure them. She poisoned a birthday cake and fed it to the family. Sara and her two children ate the cake and got sick. But instead of Chloe being able to nurse them back to health, they died, and Chloe was hanged.  Chloe haunts the property and was even captured in a photo taken in 1992. 

Sara and her children’s spirits also haunt the house and are allegedly trapped in a mirror that wasn’t covered when they died.  Visitors and staff have seen the apparitions of the family in the mirror. Small handprints have even been seen on the glass even though there was no one around that could have made them. Another owner is also believed to haunt the house, William Drew Winter. He was shot while standing on his front porch. Allegedly Winter staggered back into the house and crawled up the stairs before collapsing and dying on the 17^th step. His last steps can still be heard in the house today. There’s the sound of someone walking into the house, followed by sounds of something slowly moving up the stairs and then it stops…on the 17^th step.

Modern Pop Culture Reference:

TV Series:

Unsolved Mysteries (2002)
Ghost Hunters (2005)
Ghost Adventures (2014)

Youtube

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