The Legends of the Myrtles Plantation

There are many legends and ghost stories that have arisen from the Myrtles Plantation. However, which are actually true? To understand some of the legends behind the plantation, you should understand the history behind it. The Myrtles Plantation is an antebellum plantation that was built around 1796 and 1797 by General David Bradford, also known as “Whisky Dave” in St. Francesville, Louisiana (Kermeen 43). Bradford lived there alone for a while. He then moved his wife, Elizabeth, and his five children to the Louisiana plantation from the northeast. Once his daughter, Sara, was grown, she married Bradford’s law student, Clark Woodruff. When Bradford died in 1808, Sara and her husband cared for the plantation for her mother (Kermeen 43). Sara and Clark had three children while married: Cornelia Gale, James, and Mary Octavia. In 1834, Woodruff sold the plantation, the land, and its slaves to Ruffin Gray Stirling (“Myrtles Plantation”). Stirling and his wife, Mary, moved into the plantation and remodeled it. The plantation had doubled in size and got its name, The Myrtles Plantation. In 1854, Stirling died leaving the plantation to his wife. Mary hired William Winter, whom was married to her daughter Sarah, to manage the plantation. William and Sarah lived in the plantation with their six children. William was shot by an unknown person on his porch and died. Sarah stayed in the home with her children and her mother until Sarah passed in 1878. Not long after Sarah died, her mother did also, which gave Stephen, one of Mary’s sons, the plantation. Stephen sold the plantation to persons whom in turn sold it to many other persons (“Myrtles Plantation”). The plantation bounced from many owners within the next seven decades. Finally in the 1950s, it was purchased by Marjorie Munson. During this time, odd things and mystical happenings started being noticed in and around the plantation. Such things were hearing footsteps and cries of children. Also, if the furniture was