From Deadlier than the Male: More Prisoners of Eternity.

She was born Marie Delphine Macarty, the daughter of slave-owning Irish immigrants who were prominent members of New Orleans High Society and raised on a Plantation where all her life she would have been served by slaves. She never wanted for anything and her only ambition was to maintain her status in a status obsessed society, by making the right marriage, and finding suitors was never a problem for Delphine. She was tall and slim, almost angular in appearance, with long dark hair and large dark eyes, and it was said, a perfect complexion. She was teasingly intelligent and flirtatious, unquestionably beautiful and men fell at her feet. But she also hid a dark secret.

Delphine was first married in 1804 to the Spanish nobleman Don Ramon de Lopez y Angula, but he died not long after of heart failure in Havana. In 1808, she was re-married to the slave trader Jean Blanque but he later died in 1816 in mysterious circumstances. Twice widowed, perhaps she was just unlucky. There followed a long period of widowhood but on 25 June, 1825, she married Dr Louis LaLaurie, a prominent New Orleans dentist, though as there were only two dentists in New Orleans at the time, it was difficult not to be prominent. Still, it seemed to be the perfect match. They were very happy, and it was said, comfortable in each others company. They soon moved into a large mansion at 1140 Royal Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans where they regularly threw lavish parties and became doyens of the French Creole community.

Despite her popularity amongst the members of New Orleans High Society however, it had long been rumoured that despite her sweetness of nature she did in fact abuse and mistreat her slaves. On more than one occasion she had been investigated by the Authorities but she had previously given a number of her slaves their freedom and it was thought that anyone who would do such a thing out of an act of kindness could not have possibly committed the cruelties of which she had been accused. Indeed, she would make great public show of affection towards her slaves, but it was also noted how she could not abide any infraction of the rules and flashes of temper would often manifest themselves in ways that would terrify those who could read them.

Delphine, who insisted on being referred to as Madame by both servants and friends alike, was always impeccably dressed and well-presented. One day in 1833, she was seen in the street her clothes ruffled and her hair unkempt, viciously whipping a 12 year old girl. The terrified screaming girl managed to break free of the Madame’s grasp and flee back into the house with the Madame hot on her heels. A few minutes later she was seen to fall to her death from a third floor balcony. The body was quickly retrieved and dragged back into the house but the scene had been witnessed and a complaint filed. It later transpired that the girl had been combing the Madame’s hair when she had come upon a knot and had tugged at it.

The Judge who investigated the complaint was Jean Francoise Canonge, a close personal friend of the LaLauries who had been involved in previous investigations. In the past Delphine LaLaurie had always been cleared of all charges but such was the severity of the case and her reputation that Canonge felt obliged to fine her $500 and confiscate her slaves and put them up for auction. But this was just a slap across the wrists and those few slaves that were sold were purchased by her relatives and returned to her.

For a time things seemed to return to normal at the LaLaurie Mansion. Lavish parties continued to be thrown and Delphine appeared to be as gracious as ever. At one such party, however, on 10 April, 1834, a fire broke out in the kitchen and quickly began to spread. The guests were forced to abandon the house and firefighters were called. As they fought their way into the smoke filled kitchen they found two slaves chained to a stove. They had, despite the risk, started the fire deliberately to draw attention to themselves. As her neighbours arrived in numbers to help subdue the fire it was Madame LaLauries own behaviour that now came under scrutiny. Where were her servants and why wasn’t she concerned for their welfare. All she seemed interested in was retrieving her jewels and valuables. When she was asked, ” Where are your servants, Madame?” She disdainfully replied, ” Nevermind my servants, you must save my valuables.” But the crowd was more interested in saving her slaves. They were after all, human beings and would be burned alive in the flames. But where were they? They were to be found locked in rooms and chained to walls in the Slave’s Quarters. When the Madame refused to produce the keys the doors were forced open and the chains broken. What they found inside was later described as a charnel house.

Following the fire the local press was unequivocal in its condemnation of Madame LaLaurie whom they described as  “that wretched woman”. Published on 11 April, 1834, the New Orleans newspaper, The Bee, described how, ” Upon entering the apartments the most appalling spectacle met their eyes. Several slaves more or less horribly mutilated were seen suspended from the neck, with their limbs apparently stretched and torn from one extremity to the other . . . the slaves belonged to a woman cast as demon, and they had merely been kept alive to prolong their suffering.” It was said that slaves had had their bones broken and their bodies re-shaped, their lips sewn together, that women had been found nailed to the floor, that crude attempts at sex change operations had taken place, and that buckets full of body parts and gore had been found – a Grand Guignol Horror! Surviving slaves later described how they trembled with fear at the prospect of being taken to the attic, because no one ever re-emerged from the attic.

Whether or not we can believe the more lurid accounts of what occured at the LaLaurie Mansion there is little  doubt that Delphine LaLaurie brutally abused and mistreated her servants, in a society where such mistreatment was not uncommon. For all the vagaries of time something truly horrible took place in that house. But then as The Bee went onto state – why dwell upon the particulars. 

As the news of events spread public indignation turned to rage and angry crowds gathered outside the LaLaurie Mansion to vent their fury. At the same time the Authorities were compiling a case against her and were keen to investigate her relationship with New Orleans Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau, who lived nearby.

Early in the morning of 14 April, 1833, Madame LaLaurie emerged seemingly unperturbed from the house with the intention of taking her usual carriage ride through the streets of New Orleans. She was as impeccably dressed and graceful as ever as she paused to look upon the crowd who were hooting derisively at her from a distance. As she entered the carriage drawing the curtain across its window to block out the onlookers, it dashed at full pelt away from the house careering through the streets and dispersing the crowd as it went. It was obvious she was trying to escape. People shouted for someone to stop her but it was impossible to do so.

What became of Delphine LaLaurie from this point on is unknown. It is thought that she fled to the Northshore near Lake Ponchartrain and took ship to Manderville and thence to France. What is known is that she was never seen again. A funeral epitaph was later discovered in Paris, it was broken and incomplete, but read, ” Madame Delphine LaLaurie died 1842.” Later renovations at the LaLaurie Mansion uncovered the skeletons and body parts of up to 70 people and possible victims.

It has been suggested that Delphine LaLaurie was not responsible for what occurred but that her husband Louis was not only a willing participant in events but had been the main protagonist in the horror, but so little is known of him. He maintained a low profile throughout the proceedings. All that is known is that he was in the carriage with his wife the day they fled New Orleans.