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Loyd Hall
Nestled in the heart of Cheneyville sits Loyd Hall, an antebellum plantation built in 1820. The 640-acre working plantation is currently a bed and breakfast inn. Owners and current staff workers at Loyd Hall believe the plantation is home to four, more permanent resident “souls”. Beulah Davis, who has worked at Loyd Hall for the past 36 years, recalls several heart-pounding moments at the three-story plantation, but does not feel the “spirits” in the home want to harm anyone. “They let you know in some strange ways they are here, but I think they are watching over the house and protecting it,” Davis says.
Footsteps of the late William Loyd, the original owner of Loyd hall, are heard pacing the floors of the mansion, as if in an anxious state awaiting his fate. During the Civil War, Loyd was reportedly a double spy for both the Union and the Confederacy. Once discovered, the Union forces tarred, feathered and hung him from a tree in 1864 on his own plantation. “William Loyd was of the Lloyds of London, but was considered the black sheep of his family. They paid him to leave London and he could only use one ‘L’ in his name,” Davis notes.
Loyd obtained a land grant and built the plantation home, on which 60 slaves farmed tobacco, sugarcane and cotton. He meddled in the local Choctaw tribal affairs, and Loyd Hall several times came under attack. “You can still see broken tips of arrows in the dining room door,” says Davis.
Some overnight guests of Loyd Hall have reported hearing a woman crying on the third floor, while others claim they have seen a ghostly woman’s image floating along the hallways. The sound of fingers running over the keys on the grand piano is often heard, yet no one is seated on the piano stool. It is thought to be the spirit of Ines Loyd, the niece of William. “She was engaged to be married, but was left at the altar. Ines felt great shame, and threw herself from the third-floor window. Sometimes while working in the house, I will see an image out my side vision. Sometimes it is a woman, and sometimes it is a man,” Davis says.
The fourth ghost believed to be a resident of the mansion is Sally Boston, a former slave nanny. She lived in the house and cared for the family, but died mysteriously. “She might have been poisoned. Something happened to her. Sally has been seen dressed all in white with a turban on her head,” Davis notes, adding that the aroma of food being cooked or coffee brewing in the morning often accompanies the sightings of Sally.
On a daily basis, Davis has heard doors being opened and closed with no one in the house but her, and often hears loud footsteps or crashing sounds upstairs. When the crashing noises were investigated, nothing would be out of place or broken. “In the past, I would chalk it all up to my imagination, but not anymore. In some areas, there are cold sensations. Chairs rock with no wind around or with no one sitting in them. I would be outside and hear loud banging of pots and pans in the kitchen, with no one there. The doorbell will ring, and there won’t be anyone there,” Davis says. On numerous occasions, the large dining room table will be set for a wedding with place settings, napkins and glassware, and items will go missing. “We will find them in the strangest places. We will find missing silverware in a drawer somewhere,” Davis recalls.
Years ago, when the Fitzgerald family—previous owners of Loyd Hall—resided on the plantation, their young daughters would tell Davis about seeing a Union soldier upstairs in their old school room. Funny thing though, the girls had not been told about the ghost of Harry. “Back then, I had not believed them. But we had a lady on tour, who was a medium, and she saw Harry and described him to me exactly as the girls had. He was tall, with dark hair, weighed about 170 pounds and wore a Union soldier’s uniform. The lady told us Harry’s last name was Henry,” Davis says, adding she now believes Harry manifested and showed himself to the girls. Harry told the girls he was protecting them, and years later after the girls graduated from college, they tell the same story. There was a time when the home stood vacant for 18 years, but Davis says nothing was vandalized. “It was like the spirits were protecting the plantation all along,” she adds.
What really convinced Davis that something paranormal was happening at Loyd Hall was the day she heard a voice call her name. “I knew I was the only one in the house. I was shocked when my name was called. After that, I knew there is a spirit or ghost here,” says Davis. Lights flickering off and on, mysterious screams and loud banging noises have reportedly been witnesses by guests of Loyd Hall. “I don’t feel scared. Spirits can’t hurt you. They may spook you though,” smiles Davis.
Sarto Old Iron Bridge
Rumor has it that, during the construction of the bridge, one of the workers fell in the wet cement of a pillar and slowly drowned as his fellow workers watched helplessly. He was reportedly encased in the cement. Locals believe the man’s ghost haunts the area. “Construction of the bridge started in 1913. People have walked on it and say they get a feeling someone is watching them. The boards go clackedy-crack. But the thing that draws the most attention is the round center concrete pillar of the bridge. If you look close, you can see the image of a man standing up,” Bernard says.
Downtown Alexandria
Bolton High School
Likewise, Bolton High School in Alexandria boasts its own active apparition. Having celebrated its centennial just last year, Bolton has seen generations of Cenla residents pass through its halls. Tales have been passed down through the years about the mystery of the school’s elusive ghost, Gail, believed to have once been a student at the historic campus. Shelby Curry, a current student, recently researched the stories.
The dressing room in question is currently empty and has not been used in years. Although there is little proof to ascertain what actually happened to Gail, it is commonly acknowledged by veteran faculty members that Gail was, indeed, a Bolton student. The question of how Gail died and why remain unsolved. Even now, incoming freshmen are warned by upperclassmen to beware of Gail. Today, most comments about Gail occur when unexplained phenomena like strange noises are heard, doors open or close themselves suddenly, or items disappear and reappear in unusual places. Students blame Gail for such instances and joke that she must be upset. Some alumni and former staff even report they have seen Gail’s ghost in the windows of the hallway that connect the two wings of the building together.
Lynda Ellington, who started teaching at Bolton in 2007, said she recalls every morning things on her desk were moved or missing. “I started asking around. One of the older teachers said, ‘It’s probably just Gail up to her tricks again.’ My question was: Who is Gail?” Ellington recalls. The version of Gail that she recounts spoke of a young freshman in the 1940s with a love for theater. Gail, being very shy, decided to try out for the school play as a way to make new friends and overcome some of her shyness. She was shocked to find out that she had been awarded the lead in the play. The male lead in the play was the school’s star quarterback. His girlfriend had also auditioned for the female lead. When she did not get the part, she threatened Gail. Opening night came. Gail was given the private dressing room on the 3rd floor. Her first scene was about to start, but Gail did not show. People started looking for her. When they entered the dressing room they found nothing but a message written in lipstick on the mirror: Beware! No one ever saw Gail again. But, the light witnessed moving on the third floor between classrooms on dark and lonely nights is rumored to be Gail.
Central Louisiana State Hospital
Cotile Lake
Loud screams and wailing are reportedly heard near Boyce by an area of Cotile Lake. A ghostly woman, known locally as the Swamp Woman, has been linked with luring people to their death by drowning them in the lake. An investigative team with the TV show, “Haunted Highways,” was sent to explore the legend. In the early days, French settlers supposedly planned to steal Natchez Indian land and the tribe retaliated by killing the French. But 8,000 French troops were called in to wipe out the tribe. According to legend, all were massacred but for one woman. She is rumored to be the ghost that now tries to lure people to Cotile Lake to drown them. During the production crew’s investigation, thermal images were recorded, as well as cold sensations, wailing and ghostly disembodied voices in the area.
Natchitoches/Northwestern State University
Isabella, a young French beauty, once lived in the original Bullard mansion. The young maiden had many suitors, but preferred the company of a young man from the East, sent to Louisiana on business. They fell in love and were to be married. Shortly before the wedding date arrived, the young man was killed in a duel. Legend has it that the duel concerned a dispute over another woman. Overcome with grief, Isabella entered a convent and became a nun. Her beauty wasted away due to constant mourning. It was rumored she went mad from grief and one stormy night, she plunged a dagger into her heart. She was found the next morning, a bloody handprint on the wall beside her. It is said her spirit roamed Bullard mansion until it was torn down
Lisa Abney, NSU provost and vice president for academic affairs, says, “In general, people may not believe in ghosts or hauntings, but sometimes they can’t explain why something occurs—the bump in the night, the wafting smell associated with a loved one, music boxes playing when they shouldn’t. These instances are often re-framed as visits from beyond as they are not the kinds of hauntings of a haunted house or haunted woods, but are more personalized and specific instances which often become evidence for beyond the grave communication. Indeed, those who experience these eerie occurrences may work within an array of scientific discussions which form the basis of evidence which can explain away the instance. In other cases, the experience may remain an unnerving and/or reassuring exchange.”
Magnolia Plantation
It seems that no section of Cenla is exempt. Ghostlike wraiths have been reported by residents living nearby an old sawmill in Longleaf. Locals swear they hear whistling and an occasional sawing sound in the midnight hour. In Forest Hill, a crying woman dressed all in black, has been spotted drifting among the graveyard of Butter Cemetery Road. Spanish moss drapes eerily from the towering Oak trees near the cemetery by Lone Star Baptist Church in Hineston. Locals tell the story of a young girl named Nancy who was kidnapped and found murdered decades ago. On a moonlit night, people say a ghostly apparition of a little girl in a white gown walks along the curve in the road by the church cemetery. Nearby residents often report they have seen her floating by her grave and hear her crying. And in Sabine Parish, the ghost of Minnie Nelms, a 27-year-old woman who was murdered just before Valentine’s Day in 1927, is said to roam the railroad tracks at night. While New Orleans may hold the distinction as the most haunted city in the nation, these stories and many more illustrate that Cenla has a rich haunted history all its own.