Want to Hear a Ghost Story? -

By Margaret Adams

When I was in third grade, I went to an overnight summer camp called Camp Marymount. On the way to pick me up from the camp, my dad, mom, younger sister Claire, and the youngest, James, stopped to take a tour of the famous, haunted Myrtle Plantation in St. Francisville, LA. I originally heard of Myrtle’s during after-care at school from one of the other kids.

Regarded as “One of America’s Most Haunted Homes,” Myrtle Plantation has a really creepy and awful past (as all plantations do). The most known ghost story from the Myrtle Plantation is the story of Chloe; Chloe was the slave for the family, Clark and Sara Woodruff and their two children. Clark pressured her into being his mistress. They were found out by Sara, and Chloe’s ear was cut off.

In order to work inside the house again, Chloe put reduced oleander leaves in the children’s birthday cake so they would get sick (and she would take care of them). Legend says that she accidentally put too much poison, and Sara and the two children died. She was hanged on the property, and then thrown into the Mississippi River.

Even though historical record does not support this legend, people still say they see a woman wandering around the plantation grounds.

There are other mysteries that contribute to its name as one of the most haunted homes in America (i.e. the haunted mirror, and the little ghost girl), but this story makes my family’s experience at the Myrtle Plantation very spooky.

So, my family stopped on their road trip to retrieve me from sleep-away camp to take a tour of this place. My two youngest siblings are closest in age, so you can picture my family walking in with the giant double stroller, the sippy cups, etc.

As my family was walking around with the group of tourists and other families, my two youngest siblings started feeling really sick; they both started throwing up during the tour. It was brought on so suddenly, and both of them were uncontrollably sick.

My parents decided they should probably leave the tour and try to get them to the nearest bathroom. As they were rushing out, the tour guide told them not to worry and that the kids will be fine once they are off the property.

Lo and behold, my two youngest siblings felt good as new driving away from the property.

Do I think that the ghost of Chloe saw my two younger siblings, thought they were similar to the two Woodruff children, and wanted to hurt them? No, but I do think there is something to be said about the souls and energy that continue to characterize the walls of the plantation, and that there might be something to the spooky legends.