My Investigation at The Myrtles Plantation

A good friend of mine Teeta Moss is the owner of the Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, LA. It is America’s most haunted bed and breakfast and is a great place to spend the night. It has it all, history and ghosts all in one spot.
The Myrtles was built in 1796 by General David Bradford and was called Laurel Grove. His daughter Sara married Judge Clark Woodruff and they managed the plantation after the General’s death in 1808 for her mother Elizabeth. Sara and Clark had 3 children: Cornelia Gale, James, and Mary Octavia.
One of the slaves owned by the Woodruffs was named Chloe. The Judge took a strong liking to her and forced her into being his mistress. One day Clark caught Chloe ease dropping and he had one of her ears cut off as punishment. From then on Chloe wore a turban to cover her scar. She was forced out of the house to live in the slave shacks again and she was not happy with that arrangement. So, on Sara’s birthday she decided to bake a cake and use the extract of oleander leaves. She thought she used just enough to make them sick, that way she would know what was wrong and could come to the rescue, nurse them back to health, and move back into the house. Well, her plan back fired! She had used too much oleander and it killed Sara, Cornelia, and James. The baby Mary Octavia had already been put to bed so she was ok, and the Judge wasn’t home. When the other slaves had found out what Choe had done, they along with others went after Chloe and hung her then through her into the Mississippi River.
Stories go that since the mirror in the downstairs entryway was not covered after their deaths, the children’s spirits are trapped in the mirror. Also, it is said that Sara is still in the house as well keeping an eye on her home. I know for a fact that Chloe is still there because of more than one personal experience. Chloe and the children both have been captured in photos as well.
The night I did my investigation I stayed in Judge Woodruff’ Suite. I purposefully put the blankets at the end of the bed because I have heard several accounts of Chloe pulling the covers up over people on chilly nights. Three times in the night I woke up to the blankets up over my shoulders, and I do not sleep like that! Each time I woke up I thanked Chloe for covering me and immediately through the covers back down to the foot of the bed.
I had K2 EMF meters set up in the room and at one point one of the children was communicating with me through the meters. She seemed to have fun lighting them up, but only after the batteries in the camera died. As I was replacing the batteries she would start playing with the meters, then I would get the camera up and running again and the meters would stop lighting up.
Another ghost here at the Myrtles is William Winter. He is also a former owner and was shot in the front porch in 1871. He came in side and staggered up the steps and died in his wife Sara’s arms on the 17th step. At one point in the night I was woke up by someone heavily coming up the steps then suddenly stopping, then silence!
Unsolved Mysteries filmed at the Myrtles in 2001 or 2002 and has technical difficulties while trying to film. Spirits are known to drain batteries to gain energy.
It was a night I won’t forget and I can’t wait to go back. Thank you so much to Teeta and Ms. Hester for a wonderful stay at the Myrtles!!
~Jamie Roush General Manager GhoSt Augustine