The LaLaurie Mansion is a building located at 1140 Royal Street, New Orleans. It is famous for being a haunted house and forms a part of most ghost tours in the city. People need to purchase tickets to be able to get a guided tour of the house. The original owner of the mansion was Madame LaLaurie who was alleged to have brutally tortured her slaves in the mansion. She is often referred to as ‘’Cruel Mistress of the Haunted House’. It is alleged that the ghosts of these tortured slaves are the ones that haunt the mansion.
Who was Madame LaLaurie?
Madame LaLaurie was born as Marie Delphine Macarty on 19th March 1787 to Marie Jeanne Lerable and Louis Chevalier Barthelemy de Macarty.
Marie Delphine belonged to the Macarty clan which was big, politically connected, and wealthy. Her family members were planters, military officers, huge real estate owners, slave owners, and merchants. They had arrived in America during the early period of French Colonization. As per legend, the patriarch of the family had fled to France from Ireland to escape the religious and political tyranny of the English monarchs. The baptismal record of Delphine was not noted in the register until 5 years after she was born. It is believed that the Catholic Church generally did this when the child was near death.
Delphine was married 3 times. Her first marriage was to Don Ramon de Lopez y Angullo in 1800. He died on his way to Spain. Her second marriage was to Jean Blanque in 1808. The couple had 4 children and Jean died in 1816. Her third marriage was to chiropractor/physician Leonard Louis Nicolas LaLaurie in 1825. Louis had come from France to treat her daughter. She was several years senior to him, but Louis had impregnated her, and hence had to marry her.
Delphine purchased the 1140 Royal Street property in 1831 and the couple moved there with their children. Theirs was, however, an unhappy marriage and profuse arguments between the two were repeatedly overheard by the neighbors. In 1834, Louis left Delphine.
After Louis left her, Delphine had a mental breakdown and this allegedly led her to harm, abuse, and torture her slaves.
In 1833, a young slave named Leia fell and died in the courtyard. Subsequently, Delphine was investigated by authorities and all her slaves were freed. Delphine purchased all her slaves back and all was quiet in the house until the fire of 1834.
The LaLaurie Mansion fire
On 10th April 1834, a fire erupted at the opulent LaLaurie Mansion. This fire damaged half of the house. It also led to the discovery of 7 slaves who were tortured, starved, and chained in the upper section of the mansion. They were taken to the Cabildo where medical treatment, drink, and food were given to them.
A huge crowd of almost 200 locals had gathered to witness the plight of the slaves. They were so horrified by the scenes that when the sheriff did not take any action for the entire day, they became a mob and attacked the house. Madame LaLaurie had managed to escape before this mob fury. The crowd destroyed what remained of the house and took all the valuables.
The fire had started in the kitchen, allegedly by a slave woman who was chained to the stove. It seemed that she had ignited the fire to bring to light her and her fellow slaves’ deplorable state of life.
Stories of slave torture within the LaLaurie Mansion
Most of the stories that have been told about the haunted house were based on the state of the slaves who were found in the mansion after the fire had been extinguished.
One story is about a slave with a hole that was drilled into the head. A wooden spoon was then inserted in that hole. Another story is about a slave whose bones were broken several times and then set in abnormal positions. Thus, when that slave moved, her limbs stayed bent and crooked, giving her a crab-like gait. Another story is about a slave whose intestines were removed and then twisted around the naked abdomen. Another slave was allegedly found with the skin peeled off the back, thereby making the muscles and tissue visible to the naked eye. There have also been stories about slaves being covered in honey and then later attacked by ants.
Reports indicate that most of the stories associated with the LaLaurie Mansion were over the top and exaggerated. Their origins can be traced to the commentaries and books written after the fire, with the most ghastly ones being in the 1946 book ‘The Haunted House of the Rue Royal’ written by Jeanne Delavigne.
Most local newspapers of those times had reported about the poor condition that the slaves were kept in, but there was no mention of torture. The only paper that mentioned about the torture of slaves being done as a medical experiment was the New Orleans Bee. The informant of this paper was Monseuir Montreuil, a neighbor who was repeatedly spurned by Madame LaLaurie after making advances to her for many years. Hence, he may have spread false stories about activities in the LaLaurie Mansion.
So what is the truth? It is true that a city lawyer did visit Madame LaLaurie to inform about the slave laws and warn her about her treatment to the slaves. This means that she may have been cruel to her slaves. However, the horror stories of holes being drilled in heads, etc. are probably false.
What happened to Madame LaLaurie and the LaLaurie Mansion?
Delphine returned to France after the fire. She died under mysterious circumstances. As per records in France, her death date is 7th Dec, 1849.
Stories about paranormal and ghostly activities in the LaLaurie Mansion have been circulating for nearly 200 years. Some have reported moaning sounds emanating from the slave room; some have stated that they felt as if they were captured by some kind of negative energy when touring the mansion; while some others have reported of hearing phantom footsteps.
Actor Nicolas Cage had bought the property in 2009 but lost it soon after to foreclosure due to bankruptcy. The current owner of the mansion is an oil magnate from Texas who has been living there since 2012/13.
LaLaurie Mansion – Tour
It is a private property and is not opened for a tour. People can see the mansion from the outside. The only tours available are the ‘ghost tours’ where you can walk along the sidewalk outside as the guide tells you story about the LaLaurie Mansion and Delphine LaLaurie.
LaLaurie Mansion – Pictures
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