Talk:Myrtles Plantation

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Contents 1 Issues - Advertising & Contradiction 2 Various edits 3 reverted page 4 WP:RFF

[edit] Issues - Advertising & Contradiction

All of this article, except for the last paragraph, sounds like it was taken straight out of a brochure for this plantation. There's no real history here, just a collection of ghost stories.

As far as contradiction, the daughter of Bradford is referred to as Sara and Matilda. Furthermore, whoever added the last paragraph didn't go through and fix the preceeding paragraphs, so the last paragraph contradicts the rest of the article. --Natalie 22:56, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Various edits

I have extensively edited this article, far too much to put in an edit summary. First, I added a lot more on the actual history of the house, as opposed to the ghost stories. I have also substantially reworked the ghost story section, which involved deleting most of the following (this is the part that read like an advertisement):

"Legend has it that the plantation house was built on Tunica Indian burial mounds in 1794, by General David Bradford. Supposedly General Bradford was the first to see a ghost at Myrtles - a naked Indian girl - who is still occasionally seen today. Eventually, the house belonged to Bradford's daughter Sara and her husband, Judge Clark Woodruffe.

"Legend says that a slave woman named Chloe was owned by the Woodruffes, and was the Judge's reluctant mistress. Eventually, the Judge seemed to tire of Chloe and she feared what might become of her so she took to listening at keyholes to learn her possible fate. The Judge caught her one-day and had her ear cut off in punishment. Because of that, Chloe always wore a green turban.

"Eventually, Chloe devised a plan for insuring her place in the household. She would save the family from a mysterious ailment! So, Chloe poisoned the birthday cake of the eldest daughter with Oleander leaves, intending to nurse the family back to health after the leaves made them sick. Unfortunately, Sara and her two daughters died from the poison, only the Judge was spared since he had not eaten the cake.

"Chloe was terrified and fled to the safety of the other slaves. But, the slaves knew hiding her could result in all their deaths, so they drug her out of hiding and hanged her in a tree. Her body was then weighted and thrown into the Mississippi River. The ghost of a turbaned woman has been seen at the Plantation ever since.

"The Chloe incident is not the only tragedy that the Myrtles has borne through the years. In fact, there have been at least 10 homicides or suicides on the property through the years. During the Civil War, a confederate soldier dragged himself through the front door where he died from his wounds. Legend says that he left an impression of his fallen body that could not be removed and that the spot even resisted cleaning, stopping mops before they could cross the area or filling the maids with dread as they approached.

"In 1927, a man was killed during a robbery of the plantation, and it is said that his ghost roams the property, as well, ordering strangers to leave. The Woodruffe children have also been seen and heard on the property, laughing and playing. They have even been spotted perched in the chandeliers or peering at guests from the foot of their beds. Startled visitors to the Myrtles have also reported seeing a Voodoo priestess, chanting over a little girl. And, even odder still, some have seen a ballet dancer, complete with black tutu, who dances about a foot off the ground. Some folks haven't seen a whole ghost, but have seen disembodied hands or candles floating in midair.

"Strange sounds also seem to abound at the Myrtles. The grand piano has been known to play by itself. People have heard crying babies. Others report the sound of a man staggering up the stairs in the dead of night and collapsing on the 17th stair. (This has been attributed to the ghost of William Winter, who staggered up the stairs as he was dying of a gunshot wound in 1871, and collapsed into his wife's arms on the 17th step.)

"The Myrtles Plantation is a bed-and-breakfast inn located on the outskirts of St. Francisville, 30 miles north of Baton Rouge. If you just want to visit - but wouldn't want to sleep there - tours and mystery weekends are also available."

I also took out the last paragraph, because it wasn't very well written, was somewhat POV, and I had covered all of its points previously. It had read as follows: "Essentially all of the conjecture about Chole and the death of Matilda and her two children are lies (Matilda actually died of yellow fever, she gave birth to thier third child before dying, and the older two children also died of yellow fever roughly a year later. In other words not from aresnic poisioning). Historical records, although the place is truly haunted, demonstrate the current mythology is either manufactured or extremely embellished. In truth only one person was ever murdered on the premisis and he never did get off the balcony in which he was shot. For better reference and detail of the difference between historical fact, and the "hype" coming from the owners of the property since 1950, consider your inquiry into the truth of the matter with this internet posting: http://www.prairieghosts.com/myrtles.html."

If you can add to this story, or to its sources, please do! I don't live in Louisiana, so I was relying on Internet sources, as I'm sure you can see.

--199.218.252.113 20:03, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

I suck. I forgot to sign in before I signed my name. --Natalie 18:06, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] reverted page

The section on the Chloe was changed to the following: "Possibly the most well known of the Myrtles supposed ghosts, was reportedly a slave owned by Clark and Sara Woodruff. According to legened, Chloe would always eavesdrop on her masters, listening to what would happen to her or Clarks buisness plans. But one day, Clark caught Chloe eavesdropping, and as punishment, cut off her her. To hide her wound, she wore a red turbon on her head. On their daughters birthday, Chloe was ordered to bake a cake for her masters daughters birthday. It is said the Chloe put poisonous leaves, Oleander leaves, inside the cake. The family ate it and died. Now it is said that Chloe and the daughters haunt the Myrtles Plantation for all eternity."

This change didn't add anything different, had no sources, and removed information which calls the legend into question, so I have reverted it. --Natalie 16:26, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] WP:RFF

I only glanced at this. You've done a very nice job, but it could probably stand a little more wikification. Maurreen 07:02, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Also, I added a couple Wikipedia:Categories. Maurreen 07:08, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Cool, thanks. I'm still not well educated on how to do that. --Natalie 18:25, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Do you mean the wikification or the categories? Maurreen 02:04, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

I don't know how to do categories. As far as wikification, what else do you think it needs? --Natalie 01:16, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

For the categories, you just put Category:Category name at the bottom of the article, with "Category name" being replaced by something more appropriate. You can use "Show preview" to see whether you are using a current category (in blue) or creating a new one (in red), which might not be needed. But if you use "Show preview" the category will appear on your screen at the bottom, after the editing screen. (Note: To discuss categories without putting the page into a category, a colon is placed before the word "category. The colon only shows in the editing screen.)

About the wikification, I didn't read this thoroughly, but you might consider adding "ghost" and "Indian", for instance.

Also, I would suggest moving the history section to the bottom. It seems like the place is more notable for the legends. If not, I would consider clarifying how or why the history is more important. Maurreen 15:46, 27 July 2006 (UTC)