Our story begins with a newly married couple, Mr. & Mrs. Clarke Woodruff. Mr. Woodruff was a prestigious Judge and owned numerous slaves – as was the norm at the time. One of his house slaves went by the name of Chloe, who for many years fell victim to Woodruff’s cruelty.

Chloe tried to protect herself from the abuse by listening in to the Woodruffs’ conversations and modifying her behaviour. One day, after being caught eavesdropping, Woodruff had Chloe’s ears cut off. Forcing her to carry the shame and disfigurement the rest of her life. Her mutilation was hidden, at the request of the Woodruff’s, by the use of a green turban. No one would see this terrifying mark, but the painful experience would stay with Chloe and inspire her to make plans for revenge.

On the 9th birthday of the Woodruff’s daughter, Chloe placed poisonous oleander leaves into the cake. Chloe’s plan was to poison Mrs. Woodruff and their children. Some sources claim that it was never her intention to kill the three family members. They suggest that Chloe wanted to get them sick so she could nurse them back to health. In the south, local healers were among the most respected of the community. If Chloe could heal the family, she would be safe from the harsh reality of working in the fields.

Tragically, the dosage was lethal, and it ended up killing Mrs. Woodruff and her two children. After word spread of her actions on the plantation, the other slaves were the ones to take revenge. Chloe was hanged by the neck, for everyone to witness, until the life was drained from her body. She was then weighed down by rocks and thrown into the Mississippi river. 

The plantation was the sight of other gruesome activity after Chloe’s death. The new owner, a wealthy family-man, and his five children would pass away from tuberculosis on the property. The home was later passed to one of his surviving daughters & her husband, the Winters. Mr. Winter was a proud member of his community and did his part by teaching Sunday school at his home. One day, as Mr. Winter was teaching, an unknown man rode up on a horse yelling to see him.