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If the ghostly incident occurred, then it must have been caused by something else. Before we get to the problem of Chloe's existence, we should also examine the "murders" of Sarah Mathilda and her two daughters. In this case, the legend has twisted the truth so far that it is unrecognizable. She died tragically from yellow fever (according to historical record) in 1823.
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Couple staying at haunted house freak out when they spot ghosts of THREE children - Daily Mail
Couple staying at haunted house freak out when they spot ghosts of THREE children.
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The Williams family had a recurring story about her, even though it may not have been one that was initially intended to be shared beyond the family. The house was featured in a November 1980 issue of LIFE magazine, but Richard Winer’s book Houses of Horror contains the earliest written reference to the house I have been able to locate. They both brought up Sarah Mathilda and her daughters’ poisoning deaths. Nonetheless, someone told Marjorie Munson the ghostly tale of the Williams family, and she quickly wrote a song about the Myrtles Plantation ghost, a woman wearing a green beret.
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History appears to support the claim that Woodruff was incredibly loyal to his wife and heartbroken by her passing that he never remarried. The celebration was held in the children’s dining room, which Woodruff locked off and forbade being used again for the rest of his life. The children’s poisoning room has never been used for dining purposes again.
Legends of Myrtles Plantation
She occasionally appears accompanied by the cries of small children, and other times, the sight of her face staring at someone sleeping from the side of the bed jolts them out of their slumber. History has shown that many of the stories that have been told about the place, mostly to explain the hauntings, never actually occurred. The truth seems to be an elusive thing at this grand old plantation house but there seems to be no question for those who have stayed or visited here that it is a spirited place. At the Myrtles Plantation, the ghosts of the past – whoever they might be -- are never very far away from the living. Winter was indeed murdered on the front porch by an unknown assailant but after being shot, he immediately fell down and died.
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Unearthly Portals to the Past.
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He was at work one day when a woman wearing an antique-style white dress entered the gate without saying anything to him. She approached the home and disappeared through it without ever opening the front door. The unfortunate occurrences that occur here frequently affect the house’s staff the most. They frequently witness things firsthand that would make lesser people flee the area in terror.
For starters, guests at Myrtles Plantation reported hearing strange noises. Others saw ghostly apparitions, often of a young girl wearing a turban. Corey Balazowich/FlickrThe supposedly haunted mirror inside the Myrtles Plantation house.
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For whatever reason, Chloe put a small amount of poison into a birthday cake that was made in honor of the Woodruff's oldest daughter. Mixed in with the flour and sugar was a handful of crushed oleander flowers. The two children, and Sarah Mathilda, each had slices of the poisoned cake but Woodruff didn't eat any of it. Chloe patiently attended to their needs, never realizing (if it was an accident) that she had given them too much poison. Woodruff had a reputation in the region for integrity with men and with the law, but was also known for being promiscuous.
It was a great disappointment to learn that the Woodruffs had never owned a slave, or had any record of a slave, named Chloe, or Cleo, as she appears in some versions of the story. The records list all of the other slaves owned by the Woodruff family but Chloe simply did not exist. Eventually, Woodruff tired of Chloe and chose another girl to force himself on.
Do The Myrtles Plantation Really Have a Ghost?
Stirling not only remodeled the house but also renamed the plantation after the crepe myrtle trees that grew on the property. Worrying that Woodruff’s wife would find out and punish her, Chloe began eavesdropping on the family’s conversations all around the Myrtles Plantation house. One day, Woodruff caught her listening and ordered her ear cut off as a punishment.
On July 21, 1823, Sarah Mathilda died after contracting yellow fever. The disease was spread through a number of epidemics that swept through Louisiana in those days. Hardly a family in the region went untouched by tragedy and despair. Although heartbroken, Woodrooff continued to manage the plantation and to care for his children with help from Elizabeth.
At the age of 19, he left Connecticut and headed for the Mississippi River in search of his fortune because he had no ambition to become a farmer like his father. Although most demonstrations were peaceful, Washington called up the militia and sent them to quell the uprising. On the suggestion of some of the other key players in the situation, Bradford left the area once the protests were controlled. The Whiskey Rebellion, which took place in western Pennsylvania, started with several complaints about the high costs and taxes imposed on residents living along the frontier. When a mob invaded and set fire to the residence of a local tax collector, the complaints eventually turned violent.
Webber was to stand trial for Winter's murder but no outcome of the case was ever recorded. As far as is known, Winter's killer remains unidentified and unpunished. That would be the questionable history that has been presented to “explain” why the house is so haunted in the first place.
As time went on and more authors and television crews came calling at the Myrtles, the story changed again and this time, took on even more murders. In addition to the deaths of Sarah Mathilda, her daughters, and Chloe, it was alleged that as many as six other people had been killed in the house. One of them, Lewis Stirling, the oldest son of Ruffin Grey Stirling, was alleged to have been stabbed to death in the house over a gambling debt. However, burial records in St. Francisville state that he died in October 1854 from yellow fever. According to the growing legend, three Union soldiers were killed in the house after they broke in and attempted to loot the place. They were allegedly shot to death in the gentlemen's parlor, leaving bloodstains on the floor that refused to be wiped away.
The Winters first lived at Gantmore plantation, near Clinton, Louisiana, and then bought a plantation on the west side of the Mississippi known as Arbroath. Woodrooff's life would never be the same but he managed to purchase the farm outright from his mother-in-law. She was quite elderly by this time and was happy to see the place in good hands. She continued to live at Laurel Grove with her son-in-law and granddaughter, Octavia, until her death in 1830.
It was at this point, they say, that the ghost stories of the house began. They started innocently enough but soon, what may have been real-life ghostly occurrences took on a "life" of their own. The front porch of the Myrtles, where William Drew Winter was shot and killed. His murder was never solved, however, he did not -- as the legends claim -- stumble up the main staircase and die on the seventeenth step.
There are some who say that he squandered what was left of his fortune and lost the plantation in a game of chance but most likely, the place was just too deep in debt for him to hold on to. He sold the Myrtles to Oran D. Brooks, ending his family's ownership. By December 1867, he was completely bankrupt and the Myrtles was sold by the U.S.
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