THE MYRTLES PLANTATION

By Marta Estrada

The infamous Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana has been called the most haunted house in America. It has been featured on The Montel Williams Show, SyFy channel’s Ghost Hunters, and on many TV networks such as A&E, the History Channel, the Travel Channel and the Learning Channel.

You can read histories of The Myrtles, and there are researchers who claim a lot of the legend does not match fact, but it’s up to you to decide for yourself.

In 1796, General David Bradford purchased 600 acres and built an eight room house he called it Laurel Grove. In 1799 his wife Elizabeth and the couple’s five children moved into the house. Bradford’s daughter Sara eventually married and legend says she had three children of her own. When Bradford died in 1808, Sara and her future husband managed the plantation for Elizabeth. Yellow fever claimed Sara in 1823 and her son and daughter followed in 1824. Elizabeth passed away in 1830 and Sara’s husband moved away and left a caretaker in charge of the property. Legend indicates that Sara’s husband was having an affair with a slave named Chloe who murdered Sara and her three daughters. Records indicate that Sarah had only a son and a daughter and was pregnant when she died of yellow fever.

Ruffin Gray Stirling purchased the plantation and its slaves in 1834, and he and his wife Mary Catherine began to remodel the house. It eventually doubled in size to accommodate Mr. and Mrs. Stirling and their nine children, five of whom died young. When renovations were completed, Stirling renamed the property The Myrtles.

Stirling died in 1854 and his wife inherited the plantation, and her son-in-law, William Drew Winter, a lawyer, helped manage The Myrtles. Winter was married to Mary’s daughter Sarah, and the couple had six children, one of whom died of typhoid at three years of age.

Bankruptcy forced the Winters to sell the plantation in 1868, though they bought it back in 1870. A year later newspapers reported that a man rode up to the house and called out to Winter, who was subsequently shot on the side gallery of the house. He died on January 26, 1871, and was buried a day later at Grace Church. There is no record that the killer was ever identified or caught. Debunkers have pointed out that the record indicates Winter died on the porch while legend says he staggered back into the house and died on the 17^th step, where his ghost has allegedly been seen and his footsteps heard. 

Sarah Winter died in 1878 and her mother died in 1880 and The Myrtles passed to Stephen, one of her sons. He sold it in 1886 due to heavy financial burdens, though there are rumors he gambled it away and lost it in a game of chance.

In 1891 The Myrtles was purchased by Harrison Milton Williams, who moved in with his wife Fannie. The couple had seven children; son Harry drowned when he fell into the Mississippi during a storm.

The ghostly reputation of The Myrtles began in the 1950s. The house had been divided among Harrison Milton Williams’ heirs, and the house had been sold to Marjorie Munson, a widow from Oklahoma. It was Marjorie who noticed strange sounds and occurrences.

The most famous ghost of The Myrtles has been “identified” as a slave named Chloe, but researchers have turned up no proof she ever existed, and the ghost called Chloe looks more like an old woman than a young slave.

Be that as it may, the hauntings have been experienced and documented by many people. You can visit The Myrtles and decide for yourself. Reports include footsteps, shadows, a mirror shows handprints that cannot be wiped away, the grand piano on the first floor plays by itself, people appear and disappear.

One interesting event occurred in the 1980s when portions of the TV mini-series The Long Hot Summer was being filmed at The Myrtles. The movie starred Don Johnson, Cybill Shepherd, Ava Gardner and Jason Robards. Furniture in the “game room” (formerly the children’s dining room) was moved for filming, and when the crew came back to film, the furniture was back to its original position, although no one had been in the room.

The Myrtles is located at 7747 US Highway 61 in St. Francisville, LA. It offers guided history and mystery tours and has a full service restaurant, 11 bed and breakfast rooms and wedding and reception facilities. The mystery tours are conducted on Friday and Saturday evenings. For information, call 1-800-809-0565.