Imagine if you will, being a young girl, a student at an all-girls school in New Orleans, Louisiana. This was a new school, a primary school for young African-American ladies. A place to learn and grow. But unfortunately, that’s not all that would happen. You would be physically assaulted, running to your teacher with your sleeve rolled up, showing your forearm, scratched and bruised. You can’t help but cry, and when the teacher would ask, “Who did this to you?” the only thing you could say was, “That woman.” What woman would do such a thing? Who, or rather what, was in that school? What if I told you, that the school was once known as the LaLaurie Mansion?
The LaLaurie Mansion, located at 1140 Royal Street in the French Quarter, was once home to Madame Delphine LaLaurie. She was a wealthy woman, a society woman, and had purchased the mansion in 1831,complete with the attached slave quarters. Her husband at the time was a very busy doctor, and she was often left home alone with her daughters.
Although to the outside eye, LaLaurie presented herself as a caring woman. In public, she came across as generally polite to black people, and even showed concern for the health of her slaves. Behind closed doors was a completely different story, especially when she and her husband began having marital problems. He moved out and it is said that LaLaurie went mad.
There are numerous accounts of her mistreatment of slaves. Two verified accounts say that one slave, terrified of being punished, threw himself out of a third-story window. He would prefer to die than be subjected to the cruel and grotesque torture he would no doubt endure. Another report is that of 12 year old Lia. One evening, Lia was brushing LaLaurie’s hair, and pulled just a little too hard. The woman flew into a rage and whipped her severely. To escape further punishment, Lia climbed out onto the roof and jumped.
Then, on the afternoon of April 10, 1834, the LaLaurie Mansion went up in flames. When police and marshals barged into the house to get the fire under control, they found a 70 year old slave woman chained to the stove, while LaLaurie frantically tried to save her valuables. The police set the woman loose, and she led them up to the attic. There they found seven slaves, tied with spiked iron collars. As the authorities were releasing the slaves, they discovered that their bodies were badly mutilated with their limbs deformed, and in some cases, their intestines had been pulled out of their bodies and tied to them. They also discovered discarded corpses and mutilated body parts.
During the chaos, LauLarie escaped the city with her Creole black coachman, Bastien driving. It was written in 1838 by Harriet Martineau that they fled to a waterfront, and boarded a schooner. They traveled to Mobile, Alabama, and then to Paris.
The Mansion sat in decay and disrepair for the next several years. Once renovations began in order to restore the home, more horrors were discovered. Skeletal remains were uncovered under floorboards and in the yard. Those who walked past the building often remarked that they could hear the cries and screams of agony coming from within. There were even reports of ghost sightings appearing and then disappearing from the iron-lined balconies.
The renovations made it possible to turn the mansion into an all-girls primary school for african-americans. Teachers became concerned that Madame LaLaurie’s ghost was haunting the school. Girls were being attacked, bruises, and whip marks – the whip being one of LaLaurie’s preferred devices for use on her slaves.
The Mansion was converted into apartments. Unfortunately, the previous tenants hadn’t left, and they made their presence known. New tenants had confrontations with the previous and never stayed for long. One such confrontation included a resident being attacked by what appeared to be a naked man, bound in chains. Another resident woke to find a dark figure, presumably a woman, standing over a baby’s crib.
The Mansion is home to endless cries, moans, screams, and even phantom footsteps. But it was never just minor assaults and scares as one man discovered in 1894. The man had lived in one of the converted apartments when he was brutally murdered. His home had been ransacked, as though someone had been searching for something. His death appeared to be the result of a robbery gone wrong. What’s interesting though, is how the man had spoken to his friends and neighbors. He confided in them that he believed he had a demon in his house. A demon who would not rest until the man was dead. Could this have been a robbery gone wrong, or the result of a robber being influenced by the demon in the apartment? We may never know.
The Mansion has passed from owner to owner over the years. Probably the most note-worthy being actor Nicholas Cage, who purchased it in 2006 for $3.4 Million. The property was foreclosed on in 2009, and was purchased by Michael Whalen, an energy trader from Houston. Whalen took up the task of renovating and restoring the house, and visits it about once a month.
To those who love to visit a good haunted house, we have some bad news. Since Whalen purchased the LaLaurie Mansion, he has not allowed any paranormal investigators inside, nor has he allowed tours. Fortunately for those who still wish to see it, Ghost City Tours does provide a few options that will take you to the house, just not inside.
You can read more about Madam Delphine LaLaurie here.
