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 Several years ago while watching a Travel Channel program featuring "One of America's Most Haunted Homes", I was intrigued by a Bed & Breakfast tucked away in a quiet little town on the East Bank of the Mississippi, where a majority of the buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places about an hour north of Baton Rouge.
The possibility of many ghosts roaming the house and grounds sounded very interesting for a long weekend getaway and a reservation was made that evening for an upcoming long weekend.
Never did I imagine that a mansion, modest in size when compared to many of the plantation homes along River Road, would seduce me into returning again and again or spend hour after hour researching the families and history of this home, much less create a connection to a wonderful group of people drawn there just as I had been. Nor was I prepared for the overwhelming sense of dejavu that left me dizzy as we drove past the gatehouse onto the property for the first time.
This story of the Myrtles Plantation is my version of jambalaya, elements of legends, flavored with innuendo, filled with mystery, a dash of history, spiced with personal thoughts, speculation, local folklore, seasoned with conjecture and an abundance of unanswered questions.
David Bradford, a successful lawyer, businessman, and Deputy Attorney General of Washington County Pennsylvania is said to have traveled along the Mississippi River. Bradford, possibly like Ponce de Leon was enamored with St. Francisville and in 1792 applied and received a Spanish Land Grant for 500 prime acres for a mere $1.40 an acre - well laid plan or just good timing?
General Bradford, wishing to avoid the floodwaters, had chosen the land for the fertile soils that would reward him with bountiful harvests and higher elevation to protect the home when the river flooded its banks. The highest point of this tract chosen by Bradford to construct his mansion is said to have been the Tunica Indian's Scared Burial Ground.
 Stories passed down through the ages indicate that General Bradford, having determined this was the spot to build, unearthed the remains from this sacred ground, sweeping away generations of Native American history, and with little regard for the deceased, piled the bones and burned them.
Folklore and speculation tell us the Indians unable to defend the sacred resting place of their ancestors called upon their spirits to curse Bradford and his house.
Bradford may have avoided the curse, but is reported to be the first to encounter a ghost on the land - that of a naked Indian maiden wandering the grounds.
Today visitors are said to have had glimpse now and then of a nude, well-endowed Indian maiden wandering aimlessly near the gazebo on a small dry patch of land accessible only by bridge in the center of the pond.
When contemplating Bradford's letters and his mention of illness for an extended period of time, makes me wonder, did he actually avoid the Indian curse? Could it be that he encountered the spirit of one or more of the ghosts angry over the desecration of their graves and remains, which contributed, to his ill health?
Visitor photos shared by the staff of the Myrtles includes one in this general area of what appears to be red-coated soldiers carrying a coffin.
In 1796, construction began on what is called the "older" section of the house atop a rolling hill, nestled under centuries old Live Oaks, a home we have come to know as The Myrtles. The kitchen building pre-dates the house by two years.
The first half of the house, the "older" section, consisted of two floors, each with four large rooms. The ground level consisted of a Ladies' Parlor, a Gentleman's Parlor, a Dining Room and the Gaming Room divided by a walled stairway leading up the second level offering four large bedrooms, two on each side separated by a large cedar planked foyer. According to The National Register of Historic Places Bradford originally named the plantation "Richland", but according to Stirling family notes the land may have been known as "Laurel Grove".
 David and his wife, Elizabeth are thought to have had eleven, possibly more children. Abelard, Jane, Sophia, Sarah Mathilda (m. Clark Woodruff), Edmund, David (m. *Amanda Jane Davis, one of the sisters of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States), Eliza, Octavia and James are the only known names.
As you tour the home, the story unfolds and possibly the first known consequence of the curse of the plantation being built on the ancient Tunica burial ground, cursed the moment the a white man, Bradford took over, surround Sarah Mathilda said to be the youngest child and only female.
There is much speculation that Elizabeth Bradford may have established a family cemetery on the grounds, exact location is unknown and unconfirmed. The grassy area lined with oaks to the left as you drive on to the property is thought to be the general vicinity, archeology students from LSU tend to think the location is behind the Carriage House, under what is now the Garden Rooms, locals say the Bradford Cemetery lies beneath a housing development in adjacent property once belonging to the plantation.
Walking the grounds, myself and others are drawn to the grassy lane lined with moss draped oaks, scattered with Crepe Myrtles with a solitary statue placed at wood's edge.
The construction of the Garden Rooms was not an easy task. Numerous, unexplained delays and accidents plagued the construction, extending a one year project well beyond it's projected completion date.
Rumor has it that mention of a fire that destroyed part of the home in the 1800s when both Bradford and Woodruff family members lived in the home. What we have not confirmed is the possibility that two children and possibly a mother died of smoke inhalation in that fire, nor their names or relationship to either the Bradford or Woodruff's. "A mother and her two children were killed in a fire when part of the plantation burned down."
On a recent stay at the Myrtles as a guest in the William Winters or Peach Room, the odor of wood smoke was strong. While the rooms do have fireplaces, neither wood nor fire has been placed there in almost a hundred years.
Legend has it although Woodruff had a reputation in the region for integrity with men and with the law, he was also known for being promiscuous. Historical references of this era have shown us that the practice of intimate relationships between plantation owners and slaves was not uncommon. Clarke Woodruff is said to have participated in this practice much to his wife's disapproval.
 Her age would have been approximated 13 years old when Chloe caught the eye of her master. Chloe was a household servant, caring for the children of Clark and Sarah Mathilda, Mary Octavia, James and Cornelia - a very treasured position on the plantation.
Preferring a place as a household servant, she feared being sent to work in the fields, the most brutal of the slave's work if she refused the sexual advances of the Judge. It is said she succumbed and became his mistress, thereby securing her place in the home.
Possibly feeling knowledge was power; Chloe often listened in business and family conversations, a dangerous practice which would eventually lead to disfigurement and being sent to work the fields, planting and harvesting the profitable cotton and indigo.
Judge Woodruff, either due to his wife's displeasure with his slave mistress or he eventually tired of Chloe and moved on to another. Chloe's position in the home was extremely perilous at this point, Sarah Mathilda was not happy with her, the Judge no longer desired her.
She may have felt driven to preserve her influence and power; she foolishly collected information whenever she could - going so far as to monitor the Judge's private business discussions with neighboring plantation owners, overseerers and planters. Chloe, from past efforts had learned to move the massive parlor door just enough to hear. On one dark day, hearing the Judge's angry voice raised with a planter, Chloe allowed her urgent desire to hear more details, slide the door open too far - the Judge saw her.
Punishment was fierce, painful and disfiguring. The Judge ordered her left ear to be cut off and ordered that Chloe be cast out of the house and would be sent to the fields.
Chloe somehow managed to hold on to kitchen access for a time, wearing a green turban to hide the missing ear and a gold loop earring was placed in the remaining ear.
The ninth birthday of Mary Octavia gave Chloe an opportunity to try to win back her place, in the home with the children she had grown fond of. Chloe entered the kitchen and began to prepare a special cake for the birthday girl. Added to the ingredients for the cake batter she mixed the juices from the oleander leaf. Chloe was aware that the liquid from the leaf of the oleander in small measure would make everyone ill. With the family suffering illness, she planned to offer her services to care for the family and nurse them back to health with herbs.
Chloe believed that the grateful Woodruffs would then see her as a powerful voodoo priestess, and she would be allowed to resume her former standing in the home.
One slight problem, Chloe evidently unfamiliar with poisons placed too much oleander in the cake. Many say the Judge was away in New Orleans on business, others say he was seeing to the business of the plantation - either way the Judge did not partake of the cake, nor did the birthday girl, Mary Octavia, only Sarah Mathilda, Cornelia and James died after eating the cake.
The two younger children, James, Cornelia and their mother Sarah Mathilda, each had slices of the tainted cake. By the end of the day, all of them were very sick. If the oleander was indeed intended to make them ill, so that Chloe could tend to them and maintain her household status, she had miscalculated and sealed her fate . it was only hours before all three were dead.
Chloe's inexperience with the herbal remedies may have caused the death of the Judge's wife and two small children. Near hysteria, Chloe told either one or more of the other slaves what she had done, she had not intended to take the lives of Sarah Mathilda, Cornelia or James, she wanted only to make them sick so that she could nurse them back to health, imagining the family would be ever grateful and dependant on her skills of healing.
The word spread like wildfire among the household and field slaves of Chloe's crime. Some say it was born of fear, others feel it was out of respect and consideration for the Judge and the motherless daughter left behind . either way to avoid punishment themselves, a group of slaves took the distraught Chloe to a nearby massive oak tree on the plantation grounds, they secured a rope to a gnarled limb. Chloe's young life came to an end that night, by the hands of the other slaves.
The folklore tells us that it was much later when Chloe's lifeless body was cut down from the tree, the body was weighted with large rocks and thrown into the Mississippi River two miles away from the only home she had ever known.
Chloe's human form may have been tossed into the currents of the river, but it is said that her spirit remains with the house - protecting the children that visit.
A local historian calls the poisoning "hogwash"', saying it is more likely that Judge Woodruff's wife died during childbirth and the girls passed away in a yellow fever epidemic. The official records are unclear and oral histories passed down are considered to be factually unreliable.
A consistent discrepancy is that two little girls died from the poisoned cake, but research indicates differently. Even the tour guides at the Myrtles comment on this issue, stating maybe the confusing comes from the fact that in this era young males were attired in clothing that would resemble a dress. Records indicate that Mary Octavia survived, married and had children of her own.
 Over the years, some feel that due to her horrible punishment and death, that Chloe's ghost remains behind, refusing to leave. Often visitors allege to "feel" the presence of Chloe. To this day, Chloe is blamed for missing objects, most notable the loss of one earring. A long time employee and tour guide at The Myrtles has been part of the daily routines through three successive owners, agrees. It is said that she feels that Chloe is the one plucking hair ornaments off the heads of unsuspecting young ladies enjoying the tour of the home. Frequently hair ribbons and clips are in place when the girls enter the home, but by the tour's end the hair ornaments are missing. Retracing their paths and searches of the rooms, do not locate the lost articles.
Southern custom was to cover all mirrors in a home when a death(s) had occurred, a tradition normally carried out by the lady of the house. Mary Octavia was only nine years old and probably not aware of the tradition, even if she had been instructed of such custom, she had lost her mother and two siblings on her birthday - their deaths brought about by a cake, baked to celebrate her special day.
The large gilded mirror that hung in the main dining room was not covered that fateful day and according to legend has trapped the spirits of the mother and her children.
Today that mirror hangs in the main foyer.
Since that first introduction several years ago to the Myrtles so many new doors have opened relating to people, places, thoughts and feelings - a new awareness so to speak. While the research led me to realize most probably all the stories surrounding the Myrtles may not be historically correct, but too many parallels exist to totally discount the legends.
Bradford's total disregard of Sacred Burial Ground and lack of compassion at the unearthing of remains may have indeed brought about a curse from the Tunica tribe or maybe not - either way those families of The Myrtles Plantation have been touched many times and in many ways that are beyond normal rationalization.
On my visits to The Myrtles Plantation each time has a nostalgic air about it, a familiarity and comfort that is unexplainable from this lifetime. There are those who visit and not ever have an inkling of the possibility of ghosts lurking about, others who have not ever given spirits a thought may encounter one on their stay. Some guests leave in the night, never to return without explanation or for their luggage, then there are those of us that return time and time again.
The Myrtles Plantation is no stranger to media attention, it has been featured in New York Times, Forbes, Gourmet, Veranda, Travel and Leisure, Country Inns, Colonial Homes, Delta SKY, the Oprah Show, A & E, The History Channel, The Travel Channel, The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, National Geographic Explorer, and Good Morning America.
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