Magnolia Plantation on Ghost Adventures: History, Folklore, and Television in 2009

While I’ve covered a lot of historical figures and their gravesites over the past year, this is my first column devoted to ghosts–conceptually anyway.

This coming Friday, June 26, Magnolia Plantation makes its television debut in the Travel Channel show “Ghost Adventures.” And while the show isn’t known for its in-depth exploration of heritage, it does open up a lot of opportunity to learn more about one our region’s most historic sites.

History Behind the Television Story

Magnolia was established in 1830 by Ambroise LeComte to grow and harvest cotton. LeComte built the original plantation house in 1850 and by 1860 had the largest slave population in the area on 5,000 acres of land.

The Ghost Adventures episode highlights both the Magnolia Plantation unit of Cane River Creole National Historical Park and the Hertzog family-owned portion of the site. Several folks with ties to the area were interviewed. Dustin Fuqua spoke about the history of the plantation and served as a liaison to the production crew. Dusty provided the crew numerous plantation records related to deaths of slaves, disease, and other “bad” things.

Folklore, Archaeology, and Interpretation

The Ghost Adventures people investigated the historic structures of Magnolia Plantation and were specifically-interested in the legend of the Civil War-era overseer “Mr. Miller.” According to local legend, Miller died violently at the plantation either defending it from Union troops, or as a result of some dispute with them. The house was also burned, a catastrophe common to the mythic origins of many a ghost.

The ravages of plantation life took their toll on the slaves, which is the focus of the television program. To quote their website, “The Ghost Adventures crew uncovers evidence of voodoo rituals that many of the slaves used to seek revenge on the plantation owners.” Rolanda Teal, who has done extensive research into the history of the local African-American community, spoke to Ghost Adventures about plantation life and the relationship between enslaved people and plantation authorities.

Additionally, archaeologist Ken Brown was interviewed about his excavations in the area that suggest voodoo-like practices. As part of these “ritual deposits,” African-Americans would bury objects such as religious medallions in their cabins. The tradition possibly originated in Haiti.

Betty Hertzog, a descendent of Lecomte, took the hosts of Ghost Adventures on a tour of the plantation house. The show’s hosts viewed artifacts from the history of the plantation and even tried on ankle stocks in their paranormal investigation.

According to the Ghost Adventures website, “The spirits of the repressed and tortured souls are still alive in this national park.” Make of that what you will, but perhaps the show will inspire a few more people to visit Magnolia and learn for themselves the story of this Cane River treasure.

The show will air at 8 p.m. on the Travel Channel. You can also visit the events section at www.natchitochespreservation.ning.com for additional thoughts from Dusty Fuqua.