King's Tavern at Haunted Natchez: The Truth Revealed

King's Tavern at Haunted Natchez: The Truth Revealed
by Mike Chapman

From the deep pine forests and hills of north Mississippi to the sun-washed beaches along the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi is home to many haunted sites.  I am privileged to have been born and raised in the state’s richest area of haunted locations in the southwest portion of the Magnolia State, in the old river town of Natchez.  Many people don’t know this, but Natchez is the oldest settlement on the Big Muddy, the mighty Mississippi River.  Sitting high atop three-hundred foot loess bluffs overlooking the river, it is older than New Orleans, Vicksburg, Memphis and St. Louis.  First explored by LaSalle around 1682, then settled permanently by the French in 1716 when they built Fort Rosalie des Natchez, the town has been under the flags of no less than five different countries.  Natchez was the home of the Natchez Indians, with three huge villages in full glory when the French began to arrive in force.  The tribe was virtually wiped out by the French after the uprising on November 28, 1729.  Emerald Mound, just outside of Natchez, is the third largest Indian mound in the United States, and was built by the predecessors of the Natchez Indians.  Washington, Mississippi, a small village just outside of Natchez, was Mississippi’s territorial capital and then became the capital of the state of Mississippi before it was eventually moved to Jackson.  Natchez is a terminus of the 444 mile-long Natchez Trace Parkway, with Nashville on the other end.  The Trace served as an overland route of flat-boaters returning north after floating their goods down the rivers to New Orleans. 

As the town “perched on the edge of the frontier” in what was known as the Old Southwest, Natchez has a truly unique history and has seemingly always had a polyglot of citizenry.  Natchez has many interesting periods and subjects in its history, including Indians, French settlers, and immigrants from Germany and Ireland.  Natchez has been home to refugees escaping west from the Revolutionary War, flat-boaters and “Kaintucks” from the Ohio River valley.  We’ve had periods of outlaws and bandits along the Trace, the king-cotton era of plantations and slaves from Africa, the Civil War and Reconstruction era – and all of that is before we even get to the twentieth century!  The twentieth century in Natchez also saw much rich history, with such events as the tragic Rhythm Club fire, the Goat Castle murder, the Old County Jail with its jazz musician hangman, and the establishment of one of the most intriguing and beautiful cemeteries in all of Mississippi.  At one time, Natchez boasted more millionaires than any other city in America except for New York City.  It has been the backdrop of many Hollywood movies, and is truly one of the most unique places in the entire South. 

Today, the spring pilgrimage in Natchez draws visitors from literally all over the world.  These visitors come to tour the dozens and dozens of antebellum (pre-civil war) mansions on display, replete with Spanish moss dangling from the oak trees and hostesses in full costume.  With all due respect to Vicksburg, Natchez is the place to sip on a mint julep, munch on fresh Mississippi grown catfish and hush-puppies, and watch the barges roll by on the Mississippi.  Due to its isolated location, Natchez has always been somewhat estranged and cut-off from the rest of the State.  As a result, Natchez and its citizens have developed its own identity, traveling a path of its own, often not the path chosen by the rest of the State.  It views itself as a very different Mississippi town.  Historian William C. Davis, in his A Way Through the Wilderness which I consider to be by far the best work on Natchez, wrote “In the past four decades (1760-1800, which includes the beginnings of King’s Tavern) Natchez had been French, then British, then Spanish, and now at last American.  No wonder Natcheans felt confused and paid allegiance chiefly to themselves and their own individual interests.”  Most other Mississippians do not realize this sentiment of self-allegiance and uniqueness continues in Natchez to a fair  degree even today. Still, Natchez is not easily accessible and lies off the beaten path.  Natchez is hardly a convenient side-stop located along a major thoroughfare.  It remains almost always a destination unto itself. Samuel Clemens, writer of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, once said of Natchez, “The town of Natchez is beautifully situated on one of those high spots.  The contrast that its bright green hill forms with the dismal line of black forest that stretches on every side, the abundant growth of the pawpaw, palmetto and orange, the copious variety of sweet-scented flowers that flourish there, all make it appear like an oasis in the desert.”

So, with the kind of “ancient” history that began at Natchez long before even the white man came, one can well imagine the potential for haunted sites that must be present here – and in this regard Natchez certainly does not disappoint.  Ghost writer Dr. Alan Brown, of Meridian, recently published his book Haunted Natchez in which he summarizes many of Natchez’ most well-known sites.  In this article, I’d like to focus on the site that many perceive to be the “crown-jewel” of Natchez’ haunted locations and that is King’s Tavern, the oldest structure in Natchez. When one approaches the history of King’s Tavern, whether it is reading its story online or the official historical marker on the grounds of the tavern itself, one is hard-pressed to find factual information.  I would even go so far as to say that it is virtually impossible to find the true history of the tavern unless one digs into the actual archives and records located at the Natchez Historical Society.  We, as the Natchez Area Paranormal Society, did just that.  In October 2010, we launched a full-scale, multi-faceted investigation into King’s Tavern, which culminated in an over-night field investigation with over 10 infrared and full spectrum static cameras and all kinds of sophisticated metering equipment and audio recorders, which occurred on November 27-28.  Much of the historical research was done by me, and P.I.’s Chris Jackson and Summer Stone.  The facts of the origins of the tavern that can be substantiated by historical record are as follows. 

On July 20, 1794, a man named Prosper King petitioned the Spanish governor, who ruled Natchez at the time, for permission to build a house on lot 3 of square 33 - the site where the Tavern now stands.  Almost exactly two years later, on July 21, 1796, the petition was granted to Prosper by the territorial governor Manuel Gayoso de Lemos.  Then, a year and a half later, on January 18, 1798, Prosper sold the property for the mere sum of $50.00 to his brother, Richard King. Whether there was a building on the site at this time is unknown, but in my opinion there was not.  My opinion is based on what follows next in the historical record.  On August 5, 1799, another year and a half after Richard purchased the property; it is recorded in the Minutes of the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace (Adams County Courthouse, Adams County Mississippi, p.78) where Richard King was licensed to operate a public house.  It’s fairly obvious to me as someone who has been in construction for most of my life and a licensed building contractor for the state of Mississippi that Richard King bought the property and began building the tavern.  A year and a half later, when it was about completed, he applied for the license in order to open for business.  The tavern was never constructed or intended to be a private residence.  We know this.  It’s also elementary to see this from its architecture and floor plan.  It was not converted to use from a home to a tavern, but later just the opposite occurred: it was converted from a  tavern to become a residence, but more about that later.  Richard built it from the get-go as a tavern and then applied for the license to operate it as just that: a tavern. From the beginning he saw it as a business opportunity and commercial enterprise.  This makes sense, as it was the literal terminus of the Natchez Trace.  So, in my opinion, the actual date of construction was 1798 - 1799.  The historic marker on the site, which literally states “standing before 1789” is absolutely false.  This independent finding was confirmed recently when I met with historian Mimi Miller of the Natchez Historical Society, and she stated that the Pilgrimage Garden Club, which petitioned the State for the marker in the early 1970’s, got confused because there is an older record of another “King’s Tavern” located in the area where present day Liberty Road meets Cranfield Road.  They mistakenly cited the origin of the other King’s Tavern for the one downtown. When I asked Ms. Miller what her estimation of the date of the tavern was, she stated exactly the same time as we do: 1798-1799.

Later, in the 1820’s, the tavern was converted from a tavern to be a private residence when Elizabeth Postlethwaite’s husband came into ownership. On August 27, 1823, Henry Postlethwaite died of yellow fever.  His widow, Elizabeth, and her eight children moved into the Tavern.  She is credited with converting and enclosing the eastern porches into bedrooms, which today are still enclosed and used for seating for the restaurant when they need the extra space.  The Postlethwaite and Bledsoe families held the ownership of the tavern from 1823 until 1970, an incredible 147 years! During that entire time, it was used as a residence.  Most people do not realize that the famous King’s “Tavern,” in existence now for 212 years, has been a tavern for less than 25% of the time!  In fact, it is actually less than that, because even today it does not operate as a tavern, but merely a restaurant.  The one bedroom it does have, is no longer rented out due to lack of functioning central air conditioning and the reticence of the current owners to worry with the demands of a bed and breakfast.  On July 27, 1860, Elizabeth passed away at the residence.  This is a fact that should be noted by any shrewd observer, especially in light of the later claims of a female presence haunting the place.  In recent years (1970-1971 to be exact), it was purchased, restored and converted back more to its original use – to be a tavern and restaurant (known as The Post House Restaurant) by the Pilgrimage Garden Club of Natchez.  Later, in 1987, they in turn sold the tavern to Yvonne Scott, who in 1988 opened the restaurant as King’s Tavern.  Frankly, it is during the time period of ownership by the Garden Club and Ms. Scott, that the “haunted” stories and myths began to emerge, most notably the infamous story of the ghost named Madeline.

The emergence of the Madeline ghost has been a seminal event for King’s Tavern.  Unfortunately, it is one that I think has been wholly misinterpreted and misrepresented.  The following is a typical “report” on the history of King’s Tavern that dominates the landscape when one attempts to find information on the Tavern.  Much of what is in this history is incorrect, but virtually every single story we have found regarding King’s Tavern keeps repeating the same incorrect information.  I have included it in this report as an example of this constant misreporting of the truth.  The source of the report is listed at the bottom of the entry, which is placed in italics:  

THE KING'S TAVERN - NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI: The King's Tavern was built in the year of 1769 and is the oldest building standing in the town of Natchez. This tavern carries the look of most seventeenth century buildings; built with sun-dried bricks, beams that came from scrapped sailing ships originating from New Orleans and barge boards that came from flat river boats once they made their way down the Mississippi and were dismantled. In 1789 a man named Richard King, bought the old house and moved his family into it. He named the building, The King's Tavern, and turned it into an inn and tavern. There is a notorious side to the restaurant, though. In the 1930s, workers were expanding the fireplace and tore out the chimney wall. They found a space behind the wall that contained the skeletal remains of three bodies: two men and one woman. Laying on the floor was a jeweled dagger, which was assumed to have been used in their demise. The woman is thought to have been Madeline, Richard King's mistress. As the story goes, when his wife found out about the affair, she had Madeline killed and bricked into the fireplace in the main dining room. Who the two male skeletons are is anyone's guess... much of the supernatural mischief today is blamed on Madeline, however. Workers report hearing a baby crying in the restaurant - specifically, from rooms that were supposedly empty. The story behind the infant's cry goes back to the 1700s when the building was not only an inn, but also the post office and one of the centers of the city's commerce. A young mother was trying to comfort her fussy infant, when a man named Big Harpe - one of the notorious Harpe brothers - walked over from the bar. She thought that he was going to assist her, but instead, he grabbed the baby by its feet and slammed the infant against the wall. As the distraught mother crumpled to the floor to gather the child's lifeless body, Big Harpe strolled back to the bar and ordered another drink. (Source: Jimmy Smith’s Mississippi Research page- online).

In fairness to Jimmy Smith, he is simply repeating what he has found elsewhere.  I’m not picking on him, as his is only one of dozens and dozens of misrepresentations of the truth. However, that’s just the problem.  As any good researcher knows, one has primary source material, and one has secondary source material.  Most of the time, paranormal researchers go the easy route and grab secondary material they can find online.  Anyone can hack what everybody else is saying with a few keystrokes and a few cut and pastes with a computer mouse.  What separates true professional researchers from the amateurs, is that the true researchers go to the primary source material.  The historical reporting that MSSPI and NAPS does, is to go directly to the primary source materials that are usually in archives and records often buried in a courthouse basement, on library microfiche, in scholarly & well sourced books (that are often rare and out-of-print), dusty, messy newspaper archives, and on historical foundation shelves.  It isn’t easy, in fact it is very time consuming and difficult, but it separates the pros from the pretenders.  True historical reporting is both a science and an art, and takes creativity, resourcefulness, detective work and dogged determination.  As the leader of a paranormal team I will say without reservation that MSSPI’s historical reporting is the best I have ever seen, and I point to them as a standard for my own team, NAPS, to emulate. This is the very thing I point to when I say most paranormal teams are amateurish, because your investigation is only as good as your research, and so if a team is simply going by what they find online for the truth, that says pretty much everything about that team and their findings.  That may sound harsh, but it’s the truth.  What this field needs is good, solid investigators, not another team with a ghost meter and a naïve fascination with all the ghost hunter shows on television.  What is particularly offensive to me with the above story and its repetition by anyone and everyone, and that causes my injustice meter to peg out, is the fact that Richard King’s wife is being accused of a particularly diabolical murder, without one single shred of evidence.  She was a living, breathing human being, and her memory is being totally trashed and tarnished without any factual basis.  I note with interest that the stories always say, “The wife of Richard King.”  They never mention her name, because to do so would be to give her personhood.  Well, I’ll give her some dignity, identity and personhood here: her name was Esther.  So for the sake of making a story “sexy” and making people go “ooh and aah” we trash this woman’s memory.  I’m sorry, but the law enforcement officer in me says that to take a folktale story such as what is written above and cite it as history is not only poor evidence, but is careless, reckless and immoral.  Esther King deserves better.  What if she were your ancestor?

From a practical standpoint and law enforcement investigation methodology, I could go on and on about the holes in the alleged story – about the amount of time it would take to brick a body in a fireplace while the body decays and other people can see and smell the evidence; the availability of brick and mortar (not like you could run to Home Depot) – in that time they had to hand-make all their material, and so on.  It is obvious to me this is simply transference of a bunch of stories, one of which is, “The Black Cat,” by Edgar Alan Poe, in which a person is bricked up and entombed behind a wall, for the sake of a interesting “tall-tale.”  Southerners are famous for their “stories” told on front porches, and more often than not they have little to do with the truth.  There are important articles written by noted historians that should be read and their lessons carefully notated by serious paranormal researchers about the nature and culture of folktale stories in the south, and their role in our society as myths.  Furthermore, the story of Big Harpe killing the infant took place in Kentucky.  Big Harpe never stepped foot in Mississippi his entire life. So, the truth needs to be separated from the fiction – the folktales.

The above pseudo history alludes to the popular folktale story that circulates around the Tavern, that in 1932, the remains of three skeletons (one female & two male) and a Spanish dagger were found during remodeling of the building. The bones were “reported” to have been buried in Potters Field of the Natchez City Cemetery, though typically no such “report” exists.  So, the situation that one finds today regarding King’s Tavern, is one in which the “haunting” of Madeline has literally become the identity of the Tavern.  Not it’s architecture, history, age or its place at the terminus of the Natchez Trace.  Rather, it is this alleged Madeline that is said to be haunting the environs that supposedly make King’s Tavern so interesting and such a “draw.”  Not for me.  I personally think that is rather sad given the factual history of the structure and the interesting stories that actually did occur there.  In a local advertisement on television, an actress dressed as "the ghost of Madeline" lures listeners to come and eat a steak.  She slowly fades in and then fades out with an eerie Halloweenish laugh.  Upon entering and being seated in the restaurant, patrons are given a laminated National Enquirer story about some hack reporter’s experiences there.  It is in all of this context that our team, the Natchez Area Paranormal Society, began a very extensive investigation into many different aspects of the Tavern, one of which was to turn every stone and follow every possible lead to see if there is one shred of evidence to support the story of human remains being found there. After extensive searches of all kinds of records, including recruiting the help of the former Director of the Natchez City Cemetery (Don Estes) who also contacted the State Cemetery Archives, there is not one single shred of evidence to support that any human remains were ever uncovered there.  A dagger was found, and we do know that the dagger does exist.  I know that because of photographic evidence showing the dagger and also I was able, after a dogged search, to locate and speak to the owner. However, that is a far cry from finding the dagger buried in the chest of the mummified remains of a young female ensconced in a chimney wall – as some of the stories claim.

If it sounds as if I am totally dismissing the claim of King’s Tavern being haunted, I am not.  I personally believe – rather know - the Tavern has significant paranormal activity.  What I am lending clarification to is the cause of the haunting.  I totally reject the story of Madeline, but I do believe the Tavern is haunted by a female.  In fact, I believe King’s Tavern is haunted by more than one former human.  The first mention on record of any female ghost or spirit at the Tavern is from a Natchez Democrat article dated Saturday, February 23, 1974, in which Thomas Young (who grew up in the Tavern) states, “My mother Hilda died when I was 2 years old and my grandmother has told me many times of the misty figure of the veiled woman in a cloak, with head bowed and hands folded, which stood at the foot of her bed at night after my mother’s death.”  With no historical evidence of there ever being a “Madeline,” it makes far more sense that a Postlethwaite is more likely the true identity of the spirit that haunts the Tavern.  All of the evidence above seems to substantiate this theory.  Recall the fact that the Postlethwaite family lived in the home for 147 years!  What would you place more stock in, a folktale story that is highly impractical and totally unsubstantiated, or historical accounts such as what Thomas Young alludes to?  There is also some interesting photographic evidence that also lends itself to this theory, in which a photograph was taken in the upstairs bathroom a few years ago by a patron of the Tavern, which looks very similar to Elizabeth Postlethwaite!  (Photos above.) Natchez’ foremost professional photographer T.G. McCary, a multi-award winner and known nationwide, examined and studied these photographs on comparison software and concluded that in his opinion, they are the same subject.

Photo at Left:  NAPS Team Leader Mike Chapman conducting an EVP session on the rear porch during our Field Investigation of King's Tavern which began on November 27, 2010.  Photographer Benjie Sanders captured a psychic mist forming in the upper right hand corner.  Many people claim to see a face in the mist.  This mist had no natural cause.

In 2005, Yvonne Scott sold the property to Tom Drinkwater and Shawyn Mars who are the current owners of King’s Tavern.  As I stated earlier, on October 22, 2010, N.A.P.S. launched an extensive, full-blown paranormal investigation into King’s Tavern with interview & historical research phases initiated. Much of what you are reading now is a result of that investigation.  On December 22^nd, N.A.P.S. officially closed our first investigation into KT, with a finding of Positive: Class B (significant paranormal activity present); with reservations about some experiences claimed being possibly due to high EMF and some likely due to matrixing (pareidolia) from the high expectations created by advertising of the haunting.  However, none of that is sufficient in our minds to explain all that is happening, and our own investigation revealed plenty of data and evidence on its own (including tactile, olfactory; Class A EVP; Photo and Video; as well as EMF and motion/temperature detection data – many of it cross substantiated).  Furthermore, as has been presented in this article, the investigation uncovered significant errors and misinformation into the history of the Tavern, including dates.  This correction of historical data may be the greatest contribution of this particular investigation.  Lastly, our investigation concluded its finding, but did recommend that the Tavern be investigated further, in the future, to answer specific questions and issues that this investigation raised.  I trust that this report will give you a solid background and clearer insight into the “true” King’s Tavern.  As a team, NAPS looks forward to many more of our own investigations into King’s Tavern in order to fine-tune our findings.  It is our goal as a group to be the foremost experts of King’s Tavern, in all of its aspects.  After all, it’s known as our hometown’s “most haunted site.”



Sources:
Interview & Consultations with Don Estes: former Director of Natchez City Cemetery
Interview & Consultations with Mimi Miller: Natchez Historical Society
Interview with Tom Drinkwater: current co-owner of King’s Tavern
Historic Natchez Foundation: Land Records, Deed & Titles
Mississippi Department of Archives & History
A Way Through the Wilderness: The Natchez Trace and the Civilization of the Southern Frontier, by Davis
A History of Muhlenberg County (Kentucky), by Rothert
The Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock, by Rothert
Natchez Under-the-Hill, by Moore
Natchez: The History and Mystery of the City on the Bluff, by Whitington
The Devil’s Backbone: The Story of the Natchez Trace, by Daniels
Natchez On the Mississippi, by Kane
Archives: Natchez Democrat
The Judge Armstrong Library

© Copyright, 2010, Natchez Area Paranormal Society.  All or parts may be used with permission, we simply require that you cite your source.

Wiley Harpe, Samuel Mason & Aaron Burr in Natchez

by Mike Chapman

It is fascinating to study the history of my hometown and birthplace, Natchez on the Mississippi.  As paranormal investigators, part of our work is understanding the context and history of the places and sites that are known or suspected to be haunted.  As a result, historical research is almost a field unto itself, and functions as an interesting sideline for many of us.  This post unveils just a few of the basic facts about the history of Natchez around the turn of the nineteenth century.  The history of Natchez is rich throughout all of its periods, and the period surrounding the building of King’s Tavern is certainly no exception.  Exploring this time is indeed fascinating, and begins with an end: the Spanish ceding their claim and rule over the Mississippi Territory, to the Americans.  The claim to the area, which was decided in the Treaty of Madrid in 1795, didn’t take practical effect until August of 1798 when Governor Winthrop Sargent arrived to take control for the Americans.  It wasn’t known as a territory under the Spanish, but became an “organized incorporated territory of the United States" and was so from April 7, 1798 until December 10, 1817, until the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the twentieth State – the State of Mississippi.   

Sargent arrived in Natchez on August 6, 1798, but did not take office immediately due to being very ill.  He took his post on August 16.  He had been appointed governor over the territory by President John Adams on May 7, 1798, and he served until May 25, 1801.  He stayed at Concord, which had been the home of the Spanish Governor Gayoso.

This period then, is a period of great flux with the changing of flags over Natchez from the Spanish to the American, while across the river in Louisiana, due to the Louisiana Purchase, the flag changed from that of France to America.  I think we today so easily forget just how frontier and “on the edge” Natchez was, and made up of all kinds of citizenry and travelers.  The Revolutionary War had only ended in 1783, and this raw frontier had many refugees and unsavory characters around it from that upheaval.  It had French, Spanish, Americans, and Indians, as well as immigrants from Germany, Ireland and all over, plus the early slave population.  Enter into that mix we have some of the times’ most notorious bandits and murderers – Samuel Mason and his gang, as well as Wiley “Little” Harpe, who banded together with Mason during this time.  It was during all of this change and backdrop, that Mason and Harpe would meet their grisly and headless end, under the governorship of one William C.C. Claiborne.  Lastly, to close out this period, is the Aaron Burr controversy after his duel with Alexander Hamilton (in which he kills Hamilton), and Burr’s alleged treason.

Timeline: Period of the turn of the 19^th Century

1798:  Spanish rule in Natchez ends; Governor Sargent arrives at assumes his post for the Americans in the newly declared “Mississippi Territory” on August 16, 1798.  He was appointed on May 7, 1798 and serves until May 25, 1801.  Washington, MS, is declared as the territorial capitol.

1798:  King’s Tavern was built (by NAPS estimation).

1799:  August 21, Wednesday; Micajah and Wiley Harpe viciously murder the wife and baby of Moses Stegall, as well as a surveyor staying with them – Major William Love, five miles outside of Dixon, Kentucky.  They murder Major Love during the night for snoring, and kill the Stegalls the next morning and set fire to the cabin to try and cover their crime.  They then flee eastward.  A posse, including Moses Stegall, sets out after them. A few days later, the posse stumbles upon the Harpe party, which consisted of several women and children. In the confusion, Wiley Harpe escapes, but Micajah is shot and wounded, then beheaded alive by Moses Stegall.  His head is taken back near Dixon and hung in a tree.  Wiley flees to Natchez.

1801:  May; Governor William C.C. Claiborne assumes command of the Mississippi Territory and serves through the year of 1803.

1801:  September 14; first printed record of robber Samuel Mason’s activities on the Natchez Trace, recorded in The Kentucky Gazette on this date.

1802:  Springtime – Smallpox epidemic breaks out in the territory; Claiborne’s aggressive actions result in the first recorded mass vaccination in the territory and saves Natchez from the disease.

1802:  April 27; Claiborne writes three letters to different commanders of posts scattered around the territory, promising a “generous reward” for the capture of Samuel Mason and Wiley Harpe.  Controversy surrounds the actual amount of this reward, often said to be two-thousand dollars.  More likely it was five hundred by Claiborne, and four hundred by the U.S. Government itself, for a total of nine hundred dollars.

1802:  April; it is reported that about this time Wiley Harpe, going under the assumed name John Setton or Sutton, joins the Mason gang; which is headed by Samuel Mason.  They are robbing people up and down the Mississippi River and on the Natchez Trace. Harpe also uses the names John Taylor and Wells to conceal his true identity.  It is believed by many that even Samuel Mason did not know that this man who joined his gang was Wiley Harpe.

1803:  Napoleon Bonaparte by Treaty of Paris sells Louisiana Territory to United States.

1803:  January; Mason gang including Samuel Mason and Wiley Harpe posing as John Setton are arrested at Little Prairie and tried in New Madrid – both in Spanish held territory.  The presiding magistrate finds that they have committed no crimes in Spanish held territory and orders that they be transferred to New Orleans to stand trial under the Americans for alleged crimes in American territory.  The entire party is to be transported by boat down the river to New Orleans under the charge of a Captain McCoy, and begin the trip in February.

1803: March 26: Mason and Wiley Harpe make a daring escape from the boat near Point Coupee, about 100 miles south of Natchez.

1803:  June 6: mason’s gang is spotted near Coles Creek just northeast of Natchez.

1804:  February; Wiley Harpe and an accomplice named James May murder Samuel Mason and behead him.  After they seal the head in a ball of blue clay to keep it from decomposing (so it can be recognized), they set out to get the reward money that Claiborne issued.

1804:  January; Wiley Harpe (Little Harpe) attempting to pass himself off as a John Sutton, is recognized and taken prisoner at the courthouse along with James May while trying to cash in on the reward for turning in Samuel Mason’s head, and are executed by hanging on February 8, 1804, just outside of Natchez.  Wiley’s head is then cut off and stuck on a pole on the Trace, as is May’s.  The actual place of execution is Gallows Field, in the community of Greenville (at the time said to be about 300 people living there), but no longer exists.

1806:  June; Cowles Mead becomes the third acting Governor of the Mississippi Territory, appointed by President Thomas Jefferson; serves from June 1806 to January 1807.

1807:  February; trial of Aaron Burr in Washington, MS.  He was found not guilty of any crime or misdemeanor by the Grand Jury and released.

The History of the Myrtles Plantation

A HISTORY OF

THE MYRTLES PLANTATION

 This History was compiled by N.A.P.S. Paranormal Investigator Cheryl Freeman

The Bradford’s:

The Myrtles Plantation (Laurel Grove) was built in 1796 by General David Bradford.   

David Bradford was born in America to Irish immigrants and was one of five children. In 1777, he purchased a tract of land and a small stone house near Washington County, Pennsylvania. He became a successful attorney, businessman and Deputy Attorney General. His first attempt to marry ended only days before his wedding.  In the early 1780’s, he met and fell in love with Elizabeth Porter and in 1785 they married. 

As his family and business grew, Bradford needed a larger home and built an enormous mansion in the town of Washington, PA. The house became well known for its size and craftsmanship.  Bradford used the parlor of the house as an office where he met with his clients.

In October 1794, Bradford was forced to flee his home leaving his family behind because of his involvement in the infamous Whiskey Rebellion.  Legend has it that President George Washington placed a price on his head for his role in the Rebellion. 
Bradford left Washington County, took his family to Pittsburgh for safety and he traveled down the Ohio River to Mississippi.  He finally settled in Bayou Sara, which is now St. Francisville, LA.  (Bradford had previously traveled to the area years earlier to try to obtain a land grant from Spain).  He purchased 600 acres of land and built a large home and named it Laurel Grove.  He lived in the home alone until 1799 when President John Adams granted Bradford a pardon for his role in the Rebellion.

Bradford then returned to Pennsylvania to get his wife, Elizabeth, and their 5 children and they returned to Laurel Grove.  In 1801, he returned to Pennsylvania to try to sell his home there.  For 2 years he tried to sell but had no buyers.  He then agreed to trade his home for 230 barrels of flour that were to be delivered to Laurel Grove.  Because New Orleans was suffering from a flour shortage, Bradford thought he could sell the flour and make back lost revenue from trading his home.  Unfortunately, the day Bradford died in 1808 he still had not received the barrels of flour that were promised to him in the trade.

While living in Laurel Grove, Bradford occasionally took in students who wanted to study the law. One of his law students was Clark Woodruff.

The Woodruff’s:

Clark Woodruff was born in Litchfield County, Connecticut in August 1791. Having no desire to follow his father's footsteps as a farmer, he left Connecticut at the age of 19 and sought his fortune on the Mississippi River, ending up in Bayou Sara. 

Still seeking to make his fortune, Woodruff placed an advertisement in the new St. Francisville newspaper in the summer of 1811. He informed the public that "an academy would be opening on the first Monday in September for the reception of students." He planned to offer English, grammar, astronomy, geography, elocution, composition, penmanship and Greek and Latin languages. The academy was short-lived and in 1814 he joined Colonel Hide's cavalry regiment from the Feliciana parish to fight alongside Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. When the War of 1812 had ended, Woodruff returned to Bayou Sara with the intention of studying law.
He began his studies with Judge David Bradford and soon earned his degree. He also fell in love with and married Bradford’s daughter, Sarah Matilda, on 11/17/1817.  They had 3 children: Mary Octavia, James and Cornelia Gale

After Bradford died in 1808, the plantation was turned over to his wife, Elizabeth, who in turn allowed her daughter Sarah and her husband Clark to manage it.  Clark expanded the holdings of the plantation and planted 650 acres of indigo and cotton.

Sarah died in July, 1823 from yellow fever.  The disease swept over the entire region.  Although heartbroken, Woodruff continued to manage the plantation and care for his children with the help of Elizabeth.   On July 15,1824 his only son, James, died of yellow fever.  Two short months later, in September 1824, Cornelia Gale also died of yellow fever.

Woodruff decided to buy the plantation outright from Elizabeth.  Woodruff and Octavia continued to live at Laurel Grove caring for Elizabeth until her death in 1830.  On January 1, 1834 he sold Laurel Grove and its slaves to Ruffin Grey Stirling and his wife Mary Catherine Cobb. 

Woodruff’s attention changed from farming to law.  He and Octavia moved out of Laurel Grove and left a caretaker to manage the plantation.  They moved to Covington, LA where he was appointed a Judge’s position over District D.  He served this position until April 1835. 

He also was elected as President of Public Works for the city. During this time, Octavia was sent to a finishing school in New Haven, Connecticut but she returned home to live with her father in 1836. Two years later, she married Colonel Lorenzo Augustus Besancon and moved to his plantation, Oaklawn, five miles north of New Orleans.

In 1840, Louisiana governor, Isaac Johnson, appointed Woodruff to the newly created office of Auditor of Public Works.  He served one term.  At 60 years of age, he retired and moved to Oaklawn to live with Octavia and her husband. He devoted the remainder of his life to the study of chemistry and physics and died on November 25, 1851. He was buried in a cemetery in New Orleans.

The Stirling’s:

The Stirling's were a wealthy family having 9 children.  They owned several plantations on both sides of the Mississippi River. On January 1, Ruffin Grey Stirling and his wife, Mary Catherine Cobb, took over the house, land, buildings and all of the slaves that had been bought from Elizabeth Bradford.  

The Stirling's were of high status in the community and they needed a house that would fit their social status. So, after purchasing Laurel Grove, they restored and added onto the home doubling its size.   The new renovation included a broad central hallway, an entire addition to the southern section of the home, formal dining room, a game room and repositioned the original walls of the home to create 4 large rooms.  These rooms were used as ladies and gentlemen’s parlors. The remodeling also included raising the ceilings in the home by one foot. On the outside of the house, Stirling added a 107-foot long front gallery that was supported by cast-iron support posts and railings. The original roof of the house was extended to include the new addition.  After all the renovations were complete, furnishings from Europe were imported.  The name was then changed from Laurel Grove to The Myrtles Plantation. 

Four years later, on July 17, 1854, Mr. Stirling died of consumption.  The Myrtles Plantation and all his other plantations were left to his wife Mary Cobb.  Most of the plantations were sugar plantations.

The family faced many tragedies.  Of the nine children, only four of them lived to be old enough to marry.  The Starlings’ oldest son, Lewis, died the same year as Mr. Stirling.  The Civil War caused many hardships for the family as well.  The family’s belongings were looted and destroyed by Federal soldiers.  The wealth they had accumulated was worthless in Confederate currency.  Mary had invested heavily in sugar plantations only to have them ravaged by the war. 

On December 5, 1865, Mary Cobb hired William Drew Winter to help manage the plantation as her lawyer and agent.

The Winter’s:

William Winter had been born to Captain Samuel Winter and Sarah Bowman on October 28, 1820 in Bath, Maine. Little is known about his life or how he managed to meet Sarah Stirling, daughter of Mary Cobb. They were married on June 3, 1852 at the Myrtles and together, they had six children:  Mary, Sarah, Kate, Ruffin, William and Francis. Kate died from typhoid at the age of three. The Winter's first lived at Gantmore Plantation, near Clinton, Louisiana and then bought a plantation on the west side of the Mississippi known as Arbroath.

When Mary Cobb hired Winter to help manage the Myrtles, along with the responsibility of the Myrtles were also Ingleside, Crescent Park and Botany Bay.  Later, Mary gave the Myrtles to Sarah and William. 

But times got tough and Winter was unable to hold onto the Myrtles.  By December 1867, he was completely bankrupt and the Myrtles was sold by the U.S. Marshal to the New York Warehouse & Security Company on April 15, 1868. Two years later, on April 23, the property was sold back to Sarah as the heir of her father, Ruffin G. Stirling. It is unknown just what occurred to cause this reversal of fortune but it seemed as though things were improving for the family once again.

But a short time later, tragedy struck.  According to the January 1871 issue of the Point Coupee Democrat newspaper, Winter was teaching a Sunday School lesson in the gentlemen's parlor when he heard someone approach the house on horseback. The stranger (a suspected E. S. Webber) called out to him relaying he had business to discuss.  When Winter went onto the side gallery of the house he was shot. He collapsed on the porch and within minutes died. Those inside hurried outside to find Winter. Winter died on January 26, 1871 and was buried the following day at Grace Church. The newspaper reported that Webber was to stand trial for Winter's murder but no outcome of the case was ever recorded. 

Sarah was so devastated that she never married again.  She continued living in the home with her mother and siblings until her death in April 1878 at the age of 44. 

Mary kept the Myrtles Plantation until her death in August 1880.  She is buried next to her husband in a family plot at Grace Church in St. Francisville.

The Plantation was then passed to Mary’s son, Stephen.  Stephen owned the home until March 1886 when he sold it to Oran D. Brooks because the plantation was very much in debt. 

Oran Brooks:

Oran owned the home until 1889.  The home changed hands a few more times and in 1891 Harrison Milton Williams, his wife, Fannie Haralson, and his son bought the home. 

Harrison Milton Williams:

Williams planted cotton and gained a reputation as a hard-working and industrious man. He and his family, which grew to include his wife and seven children, kept the Myrtles going during the hard times of the post-war South. But tragedy was soon to strike the Myrtles again.

During a storm, the Williams' oldest son, Harry, was trying to gather stray cattle and fell into the Mississippi River and drowned. Shattered with grief, Harrison and Fannie turned over management of the property to their son Surgent Minor Williams.  Surgent married a local girl,  Jessie Folkes, and provided a home at the Myrtles for his sister and Aunt Katie.  Katie was a true Southern character – eccentric, gruff yet kind - she kept life interesting at the house for years.

Marjorie Munson:

By the 1950's, the property surrounding the house had been divided among the Williams heirs and the house itself was sold to Marjorie Munson, an Oklahoma widow, wealthy by chicken farming. It was then that strange occurrences started being noticed. 

Dease/Ward:

The property was transferred a few more times and in the 1970’s, Arlin Dease and Mr. & Mrs. Robert Ward purchased the property.  They did not own the home for very long.

The Myers:

James and Frances Myers were the next owners.  Believing the home was haunted, it began to be featured in books and magazines about haunted houses. Frances, publishing as Francis Kermeen, wrote a book about the Myrtles and it’s supposed haunting.




The Moss’:
The home currently is owned by John & Teeta Moss and is now a bed & breakfast. Historical and mystery tours are also offered. The plantation house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

The Legends of the Myrtles Plantation

LEGENDS OF

THE MYRTLE’S PLANTATION

Research compiled by NAPS Investigator Cheryl Freeman

Widely regarded as one of “America's most haunted homes," the Myrtle’s is supposedly the home of at least 12 ghosts with 10 murders occurring in the home.  However, the facts are far different from the legends and stories surrounding the site.  Historical records only indicate the murder of William Winter.

The Legend of Chloe:

Chloe, the most well known ghost, was Clark Woodruff’s slave mistress.  She was also a household servant who had to give in to Woodruff’s sexual advances in order to stay in the home and not have to work the fields.  Woodruff grew tired of Chloe and chose another mistress.  Chloe, fearing she would be sent back to the fields, started eavesdropping on private family conversations and she got caught.  To teach her a lesson, her ear was cut off.  To hide her shame, she wore a green turban on her head.  She decided to poison the family and then nurses them back to health as a way to get back onto Woodruff’s good graces. 

Photo at Left: The infamous photo supposedly of Chloe, seen standing between the two buildings just to the right of the column.


Chloe added the extract of a handful of crushed Oleander to the children’s birthday cake.  Only 2 of the children and Sarah ate the cake.  Once sick, Chloe tended to the needs of the family but within hours they died.  Knowing what Chloe had done, and fearing they would be punished, the other slaves hung Chloe from a tree and then threw her body into the Mississippi River.

The poisoning took place in the children’s dining room and so after the death of the 3 family members, it was never used again. The historical record does not support this legend. There is no record of the Woodruffs owning a slave named Chloe or Cleo. The legends usually claim that Sara and her two daughters were poisoned, but Mary Octavia lived well into adulthood. Finally, Sara, James, and Cornelia Woodruff were not killed by poisoning, but died of yellow fever.  Regardless of the factual accuracy of the Chloe legend, some believe a woman wearing a green turban haunts the plantation.  The ghost of Chloe has been reported at the Myrtles and was even accidentally photographed by a past owner. The plantation still sells picture postcards today with the cloudy image of what is purported to be Chloe standing between two of the buildings (see photo above). The former slave is thought to be the most frequently encountered ghost at the Myrtles. She has often been seen wandering the place at night. Sometimes the cries of little children accompany her appearances and at other times, those who are sleeping are startled awake by her face, peering at them from the side of the bed.



Other Legends:
It has been alleged that as many as six other people had been killed in the house.  Lewis Stirling, the oldest son of Ruffin Grey Stirling, was claimed 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 at the age of 23 from yellow fever.


According to 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. One account has it that after the Myrtles was opened as an inn, a maid was mopping the floor and came to a spot that, no matter how hard she scrubbed, the spot would not disappear. Supposedly, the spot was the same size as a human body and was said to have been where one of the Union soldiers fell. The strange phenomenon was said to have lasted for a month and has not occurred since. No soldiers were ever killed in the house. There are no records or evidence to say that there were and in fact, surviving family members denied the story was true.

Another murder allegedly occurred in 1927, when a caretaker at the house was killed during a robbery. No record exists of the crime.  The story may have spawned from the actual occurrence of the death of the brother of Fannie Williams.  He was killed while being robbed but this did not occur in the main house, as the story states.

The only verifiable murder to occur at the Myrtles was that of William Drew Winter and it differs wildly from the legends that have been told. In the legend, Winter was shot and then staggered back into the house, passed through the gentlemen's parlor and the ladies parlor and onto the staircase.  He then managed to climb just high enough to die in his beloved's arms on exactly the 17th step. It has since been claimed that ghostly footsteps have been heard coming into the house, walking to the stairs and then climbing to the 17th step where they, of course, come to an end.  Winter was indeed murdered on the front porch.  He was shot, fell down and died immediately.

The Haunted Mirror Legend:

Another "haunted highlight" of the Myrtles is a large mirror that is said to hold the spirits Sara Woodruff and two of her children.  According to custom, mirrors were covered after a death, but legend says that after the poisoning of the Woodruffs, this particular mirror was overlooked.  The uncovered mirror reportedly trapped the spirits of Sara and her children. 


Those who photograph the mirror will often find that the developed picture holds the images of handprints of several seemingly inside of the glass. When these spectral images first appeared, the mirror was thoroughly cleaned but the prints remained. Perplexed, the owners then tried replacing the glass, thinking that perhaps they were flaws in the mirror itself. Strangely though, the handprints returned!

Those who studied the mirror have suggested that perhaps the handprints (or images like them) are in the wood behind the mirror and not in the glass at all. In this way, lights (like a camera flash) pass through the glass and pick up the marks on the wood. This would cause the "handprints" to appear in every mirror that hangs in this location, no matter what glass is used.




Indian Burial Ground Legend:
Legend also has it that the house built on Tunica Indian burial mounds.  General Bradford was supposedly the first to see a ghost – a naked Indian girl. 

Myrtles Plantation Ownership Timeline

The Myrtle’s Plantation

Ownership Timeline

Compiled by NAPS Investigator Cheryl Freeman

1796 – House was built by General David Bradford and wife Elizabeth

1808 – Elizabeth Bradford took ownership when husband, General David Bradford died

1808 – 1823 – Elizabeth allowed daughter, Sarah and her husband Clark Woodruff to manage the Plantation

1824 – Woodruff buys the Myrtles from Elizabeth

1834 – Woodruff sells home to Ruffin Grey Stirling and wife 

1854 – Ruffin Stirling died, leaving home to wife Mary Cobb

1865 – Mary Cobb hires William Winter to manage home

1865-1868 – during this time Mary Cobb gives home to daughter Sarah Stirling and husband William Winter

1868 – Winter is bankrupt and has to sell home - sold to New York Warehouse & Security Company

1870 – Winter buys the home back from New York Warehouse & Security Company

1871 – Winter murdered at home, leaving home to wife, Sarah

1878 – Sarah dies leaving home to mother, Mary Cobb

1880 – Mary Cobb dies leaving home to son, Stephen

1886 – Stephen sells home to Oran Brooks

1889 – Oran sells home, home changes hands several times over next few years

1891 – Harrison Williams purchases home

1950’s – home sold to Marjorie Munson

1970’s – home sold to Arlin Dease and Mr. & Mrs. Robert Ward

Over the next 30 years home belonged to:

James and Frances Myers

John & Teeta Moss