Chloe Ghost - Myrtles Plantation

The Myrtles Plantation sits at the end of a long, tree-lined drive in St. Francisville, Louisiana, its wide veranda and French colonial architecture draped in the heavy, humid atmosphere of the Deep South. Spanish moss hangs from the ancient oaks that shade the property, their branches reaching toward the ground like grasping hands. The house is beautiful in the way that many antebellum homes are beautiful, with a beauty that contains within it the knowledge of the suffering upon which it was built. And among the many ghosts that are said to walk the grounds and corridors of the Myrtles, one figure stands above all others in fame and recognition: the woman in the green turban, the enslaved woman known as Chloe, whose story of cruelty, revenge, and murder has become inseparable from the plantation’s identity, even as historians have questioned whether the story, as it is commonly told, bears any relationship to historical fact.

The Plantation’s Dark History

The Myrtles Plantation was built in 1796 by General David Bradford, a whiskey rebel from Pennsylvania who fled south to avoid federal prosecution. Bradford established his plantation on a site that, according to local legend, had once been a Tunica Indian burial ground, a detail that paranormal researchers have cited as a potential source of the property’s extraordinary supernatural activity. Whether or not the burial ground story is true, it is indisputable that the Myrtles has been the site of considerable human suffering and death over its more than two-century history.

The plantation passed through several families during the antebellum period. Clark Woodruff acquired the property in the early nineteenth century through his marriage to Bradford’s daughter, Sara Matilda. The Woodruff family’s tenure at the Myrtles is the period most closely associated with the Chloe legend, and it is during this era that the most dramatic events of the plantation’s supernatural narrative are said to have occurred.

Like all antebellum plantations, the Myrtles was sustained by the labor of enslaved people. The human beings who worked the fields, maintained the house, cooked the food, and raised the Woodruff children lived lives of captivity and exploitation that are central to understanding the dark energy that paranormal investigators believe permeates the property. The violence of the slave system, both physical and psychological, created conditions of intense human suffering that, according to theories of residual haunting, may have impressed themselves upon the very fabric of the plantation.

At least one murder is documented at the Myrtles. In 1871, William Winter, a subsequent owner of the property, was shot on the side porch by an unknown assailant. According to accounts, Winter staggered inside and attempted to climb the stairs to the second floor, dying on the seventeenth step. His ghost is said to repeat this final journey, the sound of his footsteps on the stairs being one of the most commonly reported phenomena at the plantation.

The Legend of Chloe

The story of Chloe, as it is traditionally told, is a tale of power, exploitation, desperation, and terrible revenge. According to the legend, Chloe was an enslaved woman who served as a house slave in the Woodruff household during the early nineteenth century. She worked in close proximity to the family, attending to their domestic needs, and her position within the household hierarchy of enslaved people was relatively privileged, though the word “privilege” in the context of slavery requires heavy qualification.

The legend states that Chloe was forced into a sexual relationship with Clark Woodruff, the plantation’s owner, a practice that was widespread throughout the slave-holding South and that represented one of the most brutal expressions of the absolute power that enslavers held over the people they owned. For a time, Chloe’s relationship with Woodruff may have afforded her a degree of protection and status within the household, but such arrangements were inherently unstable, dependent entirely on the whims of the enslaver.

When Woodruff’s attentions shifted elsewhere, Chloe’s position became precarious. Fearful of being sent from the relatively comfortable life of a house slave to the brutal conditions of the field, Chloe allegedly began eavesdropping on the family’s private conversations, hoping to gain information that would help her anticipate and perhaps prevent her demotion. She was caught listening at a keyhole, and as punishment, Woodruff ordered that one of her ears be cut off. From that point forward, according to the legend, Chloe wore a green turban wrapped tightly around her head to conceal the disfigurement.

The mutilation and humiliation drove Chloe to revenge. According to the traditional account, she baked a birthday cake for one of the Woodruff children and laced it with crushed oleander leaves, a plant that is common in Louisiana gardens and that is lethally poisonous. Chloe’s stated intention, in some versions of the story, was merely to make the family sick enough that she would be needed as a nursemaid, thereby securing her position in the household. But the poison proved more potent than she anticipated, and Sara Matilda Woodruff and two of her children died from consuming the cake.

The consequences for Chloe were swift and terrible. When the other enslaved people at the Myrtles learned what she had done, they seized her, fearing that the entire enslaved community would be punished for her actions. According to the legend, Chloe was hanged from a tree on the plantation grounds, and her body was thrown into the Mississippi River.

History Versus Legend

The story of Chloe is compelling, dramatic, and deeply troubling. It is also, according to historical researchers, largely or entirely fictional. A careful examination of the historical record reveals significant discrepancies between the legend and the documented facts, discrepancies that cast serious doubt on the story’s truthfulness while raising important questions about why such a story was created and perpetuated.

The most fundamental problem is that no enslaved person named Chloe appears in the Woodruff family’s records. This is not conclusive in itself, as records of enslaved people were often incomplete, and individuals were frequently referred to by different names in different contexts. But the absence of any documentary evidence of Chloe’s existence is troubling for a story that involves such dramatic events.

More problematic is the cause of death attributed to Sara Matilda Woodruff and her children. Historical records suggest that the deaths that occurred in the Woodruff family during this period were caused by yellow fever, a disease that was endemic in Louisiana and that killed thousands of people throughout the antebellum period. Yellow fever was so common and so deadly that a death attributed to it would have been unremarkable, requiring no explanation more exotic than the simple misfortune of living in a region where the disease was rampant.

The timeline of the legend also presents difficulties. Different versions of the story place the events in different years, and the ages and identities of the children said to have been poisoned vary depending on the source. Some accounts describe the deaths of two children, others of three. The details of Chloe’s punishment and execution are similarly inconsistent, with different versions offering different accounts of how she was caught, how she was killed, and what happened to her body.

These discrepancies have led some historians to conclude that the Chloe story is a relatively modern creation, possibly originating in the twentieth century as part of the plantation’s marketing as a haunted tourist destination. Others believe that the legend may contain a kernel of historical truth that has been embellished and distorted through repeated telling. The truth about Chloe, if there is a truth, may be irretrievably buried beneath layers of myth-making.

The Ghost in the Green Turban

Whatever the historical accuracy of her story, Chloe, or the spirit identified as Chloe, is one of the most frequently reported and apparently photographed ghosts in America. Guests, staff, and visitors to the Myrtles Plantation have been reporting encounters with a woman in a green turban for decades, and the consistency of these reports has made Chloe one of the most recognized spirits in the American paranormal canon.

The ghost appears as a woman of African descent wearing a long dress and a distinctive green turban that covers her head and, presumably, the ear that was taken from her as punishment. She is most often seen on the plantation grounds, particularly near the house and the veranda, and she has been reported at various times of day and night. Her demeanor varies in different accounts: some witnesses describe her as passive and watchful, standing at a distance and observing the living without attempting to interact, while others describe a more active presence that approaches visitors or makes its displeasure known through sounds and gestures.

The figure of Chloe seems to be aware of her observers, which distinguishes her from a purely residual haunting. Witnesses report that she looks directly at them, that her gaze follows them as they move, and that she sometimes appears to be trying to communicate, though no words are ever heard. When approached, she typically retreats, moving away from the approaching person before vanishing entirely, as if she is willing to be seen but not confronted.

The most commonly reported aspect of Chloe’s appearance is, unsurprisingly, the green turban. It is this detail that allows witnesses to identify the figure they have seen as the legendary enslaved woman rather than one of the plantation’s other ghosts. The turban is described as a vivid green, brighter than might be expected on a garment from the early nineteenth century, and it is wrapped tightly around the head in a style consistent with the head coverings worn by enslaved women throughout the American South.

The Famous Photograph

In 1992, a photograph was taken during a tour of the Myrtles Plantation that would become one of the most widely reproduced pieces of alleged ghost photography in the world. The photograph, taken by a visitor who was simply trying to capture an image of the plantation’s exterior, appeared to show a figure standing between two of the buildings on the property. The figure was dressed in period clothing and appeared to be wearing a green turban.

No one present during the tour noticed the figure at the time the photograph was taken. It was only when the film was developed that the mysterious shape was discovered. The photographer insisted that no one had been standing in the location where the figure appeared, and other members of the tour group confirmed that they had not seen anyone in that position. The photograph quickly gained attention in the paranormal community and was featured in numerous books, television programs, and websites devoted to ghost photography.

The photograph remains controversial. Skeptics have suggested various explanations, including the possibility that the figure is a real person who was present but unnoticed, or that the image is the result of a photographic artifact such as a double exposure or a reflection. Believers point out that the figure’s clothing and the green turban are consistent with descriptions of Chloe’s ghost and that no conventional explanation adequately accounts for the image.

Regardless of its authenticity, the photograph has had an enormous impact on the Myrtles Plantation’s reputation as a haunted location. It has been reproduced millions of times and has become the single most recognizable image associated with the property. For many people, the Myrtles photograph is their introduction to the Chloe legend and the wider haunting of the plantation.

The Haunted Mirror

Among the many purportedly haunted objects at the Myrtles Plantation, the most famous is a large mirror in the main hallway that is said to contain the trapped spirits of Sara Matilda Woodruff and her children. According to plantation tradition, the mirror was not covered after the deaths in the Woodruff family, as was customary in the period, and as a result, the spirits of the dead were captured within the glass, unable to escape into the afterlife.

Visitors to the Myrtles frequently photograph the mirror, and many of these photographs appear to show anomalies within or on the surface of the glass: handprints that cannot be cleaned away, streaks and smudges that appear and disappear without explanation, and what some observers interpret as faces or figures visible in the depths of the reflection. The mirror has become one of the plantation’s most popular attractions, and a steady stream of visitors line up to peer into its surface, hoping to catch a glimpse of the spirits said to be imprisoned within.

The handprints are the most widely reported phenomenon associated with the mirror. Staff describe cleaning the glass thoroughly, only to find that smudged handprints, including what appear to be the prints of small children, reappear within hours. The prints do not correspond to any living person’s touch and appear in locations that would be difficult to reach without deliberate effort. Whether the prints are genuinely supernatural in origin or the result of environmental factors, such as condensation patterns or the natural settling of old glass, is a matter of ongoing debate.

A Plantation of Ghosts

Chloe is the most famous ghost of the Myrtles, but she is far from the only one. The plantation is said to be home to at least twelve spirits, making it one of the most densely haunted locations in America. The other reported ghosts include William Winter, whose footsteps on the stairs are heard regularly; the spirits of children who run and play in the upstairs rooms; and various unidentified figures who appear in the corridors, on the veranda, and in the grounds.

Guests who stay overnight at the Myrtles, which operates as a bed-and-breakfast, frequently report experiences that range from the mildly unsettling to the genuinely frightening. Cold spots are common, particularly in certain rooms that are associated with specific historical events. Doors open and close by themselves. Footsteps are heard in empty hallways. Objects move from where they were placed. And the sensation of being watched, of sharing a room with an unseen presence, is reported with such frequency that it has become an expected part of the Myrtles experience.

Paranormal investigation teams have visited the Myrtles extensively over the years, and the property has been featured on numerous television programs devoted to ghost hunting. These investigations have produced a substantial body of evidence, including EVP recordings, photographs with anomalous features, temperature readings showing unexplained cold spots, and electromagnetic field measurements that deviate from expected norms. The quality and interpretation of this evidence vary widely, but the sheer volume of investigation that the Myrtles has undergone makes it one of the most thoroughly studied haunted locations in the United States.

The Complexity of Memory

The story of Chloe at the Myrtles Plantation exists at the intersection of history, legend, and the paranormal, and it raises questions that extend far beyond the simple matter of whether a ghost walks the grounds in a green turban. The legend of Chloe is, at its heart, a story about slavery, about the absolute power that one group of human beings wielded over another, and about the terrible consequences of that power. Whether or not Chloe existed as a historical individual, the conditions that her story describes were real. Enslaved women were exploited, punished with mutilation, and murdered by the systems that held them in bondage. The suffering that permeates the Myrtles Plantation is not fictional, even if the specific narrative of Chloe may be.

The ghost of Chloe, whether she is a genuine spirit or a collective creation of cultural memory, serves as a reminder of that suffering. She walks the grounds of a plantation that was built on the labor of enslaved people, and her presence, real or imagined, ensures that the human cost of that institution is not forgotten. In a region where antebellum plantations have sometimes been romanticized, presented as elegant relics of a gracious way of life, the ghost in the green turban is a corrective, a figure whose very existence speaks to the violence and exploitation that the white columns and Spanish moss can obscure.

The Myrtles Plantation stands today as a monument to the complexity of the American past. It is beautiful and terrible, peaceful and haunted, a place where the living walk among the dead and where the stories we tell about the past reveal as much about ourselves as about the people whose spirits we claim to see. Chloe, whoever she was, continues to watch from the shadows, her green turban visible against the darkness of the plantation grounds, a figure who may or may not have existed but whose ghost has become more real than history.

Sources

• Wikipedia search: “Chloe Ghost - Myrtles Plantation”
• Library of Congress — American Folklife Center — American folklore archive