Rosedown Plantation
Rosedown Plantation is located in St. Francisville, Louisiana, and it was originally constructed in 1834 by Daniel and Martha Turnbull. It contained 3,455 acres of land that was worked by a group of 50 slaves. Today, the plantation is about 371 acres of land with thirteen historic buildings. William Turnbull was one of the children of Daniel and Martha. By the beginning of the Civil War, Daniel has become one of the richest men in the country due to his cotton empire. In 1856, William started a plantation of his own on DeSoto Island. This was a good start in the cotton business, of course, no where near the estate of his father at that point however.
Even though he had started his own business, William would return to the Rosedale Plantation almost every weekend to see his family. William traveled by skiff across the river to get to the plantation from Desoto Island. Things were going pretty smoothly until one night the riverboat, Bella Donna caused the skiff to tip over into the water and as a result he was killed. Daniel and Martha were never fully able to bear the loss of their oldest son. The ghost of William is now believed to haunt the plantation. This ghost seems to be a fan of playing with the electrical system of the house. William always likes the place filled with light, so many times staff have had to turn off the lights at night two times. Furniture in the house has been mysteriously moved with dried mud on the floor. In the beautiful gardens on the plantation grounds, people have seen the apparition of William running through the hedges.
Images of William’s arm and neck have been depicted in a photograph taken by a visitor. It appears that the ghost of William Turnbull was placing his arm around the woman who was in the picture on the porch. Cold spots are felt throughout the grounds and sensations of the presence of spirits are in the kitchen and barn. The spirits in the barn may be dangerous and tend to push those who venture inside.
(Source: Dwyer, Jeff. Ghost Hunter’s Guide to New Orleans. 2007.)
Rosedown is not haunted. I have worked there for years, none of the “ghost stories” are true. There is nothing at Rosedown that can not be explained by old electrical timers, relays, muddy feet employees, and tempermental HVAC systems. Electrical upgrades and a new HVAC system has solved all mysteries. None one has ever been pushed in the barn. If someone falls down, it’s because they tripped on uneven bricks or their own feet. The furniture does not move on it’s own, no one has ever seen William in the garden or anywhere else except in their own imagination.