The Legend of Chloe at the Myrtles

Among the twelve ghosts said to inhabit the Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana, none is more famous than Chloe—an enslaved woman whose tragic story of punishment, revenge, and remorse has become inseparable from the property’s haunted reputation. Her apparition, distinctive in its green turban, has been photographed and witnessed by thousands of visitors over the decades, making her one of the most documented ghosts in American paranormal history.

The Myrtles Plantation

Built in 1796 by General David Bradford, the Myrtles Plantation sits on land that has been claimed—though without definitive archaeological evidence—to be built over a Tunica Indian burial ground. This origin story has contributed to the plantation’s reputation for supernatural activity, suggesting the land itself was already charged with spiritual energy before the first brick was laid.

The antebellum mansion presents a picture of Southern grandeur frozen in time. Its 125-foot veranda stretches across the front of the house, supported by ornate cast-iron columns. French Colonial architecture combines with American plantation style to create a building that seems designed to hold secrets. The grounds, with their ancient oak trees draped in Spanish moss, create an atmosphere of beautiful decay that has attracted visitors, artists, and ghost hunters for generations.

The property passed through various hands during its history, with the Stirling and Woodruff families being most closely associated with its legends. Today the Myrtles operates as a bed and breakfast, offering guests the opportunity to sleep in one of America’s most haunted locations—and perhaps encounter some of its permanent residents.

The Legend of Chloe

The story of Chloe has evolved over the years, accumulating details and variations as it passed from tour guide to visitor to paranormal investigator. The most commonly told version presents a tragedy of desperation, miscalculation, and terrible consequence.

According to this account, Chloe was an enslaved house servant during Judge Clark Woodruff’s ownership of the plantation, which spanned from approximately 1817 to the 1830s. She served in the main house rather than the fields—a position that offered marginally better conditions but also brought her into close proximity with the family she served.

The legend holds that Chloe became Judge Woodruff’s mistress, though as an enslaved person she would have had no ability to refuse such a relationship. For a time, this arrangement may have provided her with a degree of protection and relative privilege within the brutal hierarchy of plantation slavery. But such arrangements were inherently precarious, dependent entirely on the master’s continued interest.

When Woodruff tired of her and threatened to send her to work in the fields—a punishment that would have meant harder labor, harsher conditions, and loss of whatever small protections her house position afforded—Chloe became desperate to maintain her status. She began eavesdropping at keyholes and doorways, trying to learn whether Woodruff truly intended to dismiss her.

She was caught. The punishment was swift and brutal: Judge Woodruff had her left ear severed. From that day forward, Chloe wore a green turban to hide her disfigurement—a distinctive detail that would later help identify her ghost.

The Poisoning

The legend’s most tragic chapter involves Chloe’s attempt to restore her position—or perhaps to exact revenge for her mutilation. According to the story, she baked a birthday cake for the Woodruff children, lacing it with oleander leaves. Oleander is highly toxic; even small amounts can cause severe illness or death.

Some versions of the legend suggest Chloe intended only to make the family mildly ill so she could nurse them back to health and regain favor. Others propose that revenge was her true motivation, a desire to punish the family that had maimed her. Whatever her intention, the result was catastrophic: Sara Mathilda Woodruff, the Judge’s wife, and two of their children died after eating the poisoned cake.

The consequences for Chloe were immediate and brutal. When the other enslaved people on the plantation learned what she had done, they acted to protect themselves from the collective punishment that might fall on all of them. They hanged Chloe from a tree on the property and threw her body into the Mississippi River, ensuring that no grave would mark her existence and no formal investigation would implicate them in knowledge of her crime.

Historical Questions

Modern historians have examined the Chloe legend carefully, and they have found significant problems with the traditional account. No historical records confirm an enslaved woman named Chloe at the Myrtles during the Woodruff period. Sara Mathilda Woodruff’s actual death is documented as occurring from yellow fever in 1823—not from poisoning. The deaths of the children mentioned in the legend do not appear in historical records as poisoning cases.

Judge Woodruff’s supposed ear-cutting punishment, while consistent with the brutal practices of the era, is not verified in any contemporary documents. The entire story may be a folk legend that attached itself to the plantation over time, growing and evolving as it was retold.

However, the legend’s defenders point out that records of enslaved people’s lives were often incomplete or nonexistent. A house servant named Chloe might never have appeared in documents that focused on property transactions and family events. The absence of evidence, they argue, is not evidence of absence—particularly for someone whose very existence was defined by her status as property rather than person.

Moreover, something is clearly haunting the Myrtles. Whatever the historical truth of Chloe’s story, witnesses continue to report seeing a figure that matches her description. The green turban has become the signature detail of Myrtles hauntings, appearing in accounts from people who had no prior knowledge of the legend.

The Ghost

The apparition identified as Chloe has been witnessed by thousands of visitors, staff members, and paranormal investigators over the decades. The sightings share consistent details that transcend individual expectation or suggestion.

Witnesses describe a tall African American woman wearing a green turban or head wrap that covers her ears. She is dressed in period servant’s clothing—typically described as a dress or uniform from the antebellum era. Her expression is often described as sorrowful or searching, as if she is looking for something she cannot find.

Chloe appears most frequently on the veranda and near the main house, particularly in areas that would have been associated with domestic service during the plantation’s operating years. She is sometimes seen in the mirror that hangs between two buildings—a reflection without a source, a face appearing where no living person stands.

Her behavior suggests consciousness rather than mere repetition. She appears to be watching and waiting, aware of her surroundings in a way that simple residual hauntings do not exhibit. Some witnesses report that she seems to look at them, to acknowledge their presence, before fading from view. Others describe seeing her walk through walls, following paths through doorways that no longer exist.

One particularly striking detail appears in multiple accounts: Chloe has been seen holding what appears to be a slice of cake. If the legend is true, this would connect her eternal appearance to the act that led to her death—carrying forever the instrument of her crime and her victims’ murder.

The Photograph

In 1992, a photograph taken during a tour appeared to show a figure standing between two buildings at the Myrtles. The figure, visible in what should have been an empty space, wears what appears to be a turban and period dress. No one present at the time of the photograph saw anyone standing in that location.

This image has become one of the most analyzed ghost photographs in American paranormal history. Skeptics have proposed various explanations: lens flare, shadows, double exposure, pareidolia (the tendency to see patterns, especially faces, in random stimuli). The camera’s position, the lighting conditions, and the image quality have all been examined in detail.

Believers counter that the figure’s consistency with Chloe’s description—the turban, the period clothing, the location—is too specific to dismiss as random artifact. The photograph, they argue, captured something real, whether or not we can explain what that something is.

The debate continues, but the photograph has contributed to the Myrtles’ reputation and to Chloe’s status as one of America’s most famous ghosts.

Other Spirits at the Myrtles

Chloe is far from the only supernatural resident of the Myrtles Plantation. The property reportedly hosts at least twelve distinct spirits, making it one of the most densely haunted locations in the United States.

William Winter, a lawyer who lived at the plantation, was shot on the property in 1871. Witnesses report seeing his ghost dragging himself up the staircase, following the path he took while mortally wounded, trying to reach his wife on the upper floor before he died. He makes it to the seventeenth step—the step where he actually died—before the apparition fades.

Ghost children are seen playing on the veranda, their laughter echoing through the night. A French soldier, wounded and disheveled, appears in areas of the house. A Native American woman, possibly connected to the burial ground legend, manifests in the gardens. The Lady in White floats near the veranda, her identity and story unknown.

A grand piano in the main house plays by itself, always the same chord, as if someone is sitting at the keyboard practicing a note they can never quite master. Footsteps echo from rooms that contain no living occupants. Doors lock and unlock without explanation, as if the dead are asserting their continued ownership of the space.

The Myrtles Today

The plantation continues to operate as a bed and breakfast, offering overnight guests the possibility of encounters with its spectral population. Ghost tours run regularly, introducing visitors to the building’s history and its hauntings. The management neither sensationalizes nor downplays the paranormal activity—they simply acknowledge that something unusual occurs at the Myrtles and let guests draw their own conclusions.

Paranormal investigation teams have studied the property extensively, recording EVPs of whispered voices, documenting cold spots throughout the house, and capturing images that defy easy explanation. The Myrtles has been featured on numerous television programs dedicated to ghost hunting and paranormal research.

For those who have encountered Chloe—standing silently on the veranda, peering from the manor’s dark corners, appearing in photographs where no living person stood—the question of historical accuracy matters less than the certainty of her presence. Whatever her true story, whatever really happened in the antebellum years, something remains at the Myrtles Plantation. Something wearing a green turban. Something watching. Something waiting.

Sources

• Wikipedia search: “The Legend of Chloe at the Myrtles”
• Library of Congress — American Folklife Center — American folklore archive