LaLaurie Mansion - History
The famous haunted history of the LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans makes it one of the most haunted houses in the city. The origin of the haunting dates back to 1832 when Dr. Louis Lalaurie and his wife, Delphine, moved into their Creole mansion in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The two became renowned for their social affairs and were respected for their wealth and prominence. Madame Lalaurie became known as the most influential French-Creole woman in the city. Her daughters were among the finest dressed girls in New Orleans.
For those lucky enough to attend social functions at LaLaurie Mansion were amazed by what they found. The three-story mansion was graced with delicate iron work and lavish interiors. The house had been furnished for grand events and occasions. Guests dined from European china and danced and rested on Oriental fabrics which had been imported at great expense.
The finery of the Lalaurie Mansion was attended to by dozens of slaves and Madame Lalaurie was brutally cruel to them. She kept her cook chained to the fireplace in the kitchen; many of the others were treated much worse. It was the neighbors on Royal Street who first began to suspect something was not quite right in the Lalaurie house. There were whispered conversations about how the Lalaurie slaves seemed to come and go quite often. Parlour maids would be replaced with no explanation or the stable boy was suddenly just disappearing never to be seen again.
A neighbor was climbing her own stairs when she heard a scream and saw Madame Lalaurie chasing a little girl, the Madame's personal servant, with a whip. She pursued the girl onto the roof of the house, where the child jumped to her death. The neighbor later saw the small slave girl being buried in a shallow grave beneath the cypress trees in the yard.
A law that prohibited the cruel treatment of slaves was in effect in New Orleans and the authorities who investigated the neighbor's claims. The authorities impounded several of the Lalaurie slaves and sold them at auction.
The stories continued about the mistreatment of the Lalaurie slaves and uneasy whispering spread among her former friends. Party invitations were declined, dinner invitations were ignored and the family was soon avoided by other members of the Creole society.
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