Marie Laveau facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Marie Laveau
Marie Laveaux
1920 portrait by Frank Schneider, based on a lost 1835 painting by George Catlin (Louisiana State Museum)
Born	Marie Catherine Laveau (1801-09-10)September 10, 1801 New Orleans, Louisiana (New France)
Died	June 15, 1881(1881-06-15) (aged 79) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Resting place	Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1
Nationality	American
Occupation	Occultist, voodoo priestess, midwife, nurse, herbalist
Known for	Voodoo Queen of New Orleans
Spouse(s)	Jacques Paris, Christophe Glapion
Parent(s)	Charles Laveau and Marguerite Henry (known as D'Arcantel)

Marie Catherine Laveau (September 10, 1801 – June 15, 1881) was a Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voodoo, herbalist and midwife who was renowned in New Orleans. Her daughter, Marie Laveau II (1827 – c. 1862), also practiced rootwork, conjure, Native American and African spiritualism as well as Louisiana Voodoo. An alternate spelling of her name, Laveaux, is considered by historians to be from the original French spelling.

Early life

Historical records state that Marie Catherine Laveau was born a free woman of color in colonial New Orleans (today's French Quarter), Louisiana (New France), Thursday, September 10, 1801. Marie Laveau was the biological daughter of Charles Laveau Trudeau, a white Frenchman and politician, and her mother Marguerite D'Arcantel, a free woman of color who was of white, black, and Native American ancestry. Some historians claim that Marie Laveau's father was a black man named Charles Laveax, however there is a lack of evidence to support this theory.

On August 4, 1819, she married Jacques Paris (also known as Jacques Santiago in Spanish records), a Quadroon free man of color who had fled as a refugee from the Haitian Revolution in the former French colony Saint-Domingue. Their marriage certificate is preserved in the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. The wedding mass was performed by Father Antonio de Sedella, the Capuchin priest known as Pere Antoine. Jacques was part of a large White and Creoles of Color immigration of refugees to New Orleans in 1809, after the Haitian Revolution of 1791–1804. They had two daughters, Felicite in 1817 and Angele in 1820. Both disappear from records in the 1820s. Jacques Santiago Paris worked as a carpenter. The death of Jacques Paris was recorded in 1820.

Personal life

Following the reported death of her husband Jacques Paris, she entered a domestic partnership with Christophe Dominick Duminy de Glapion, a nobleman of French descent, with whom she lived until his death in 1855. They were reported to have had 15 children (it is unclear if that includes children and grandchildren). They had seven children according to birth and baptismal records: François-Auguste Glapion, Marie-Louise "Caroline" Glapion, Marie-Angelie Paris, Celestin Albert Glapion, Arcange Glapion, Felicite Paris, Marie-Philomene Glapion, and Marie-Heloise Eucharist Glapion. The only two children to survive into adulthood were daughters: the elder named Marie Eucharist Eloise Laveau (1827–1862) and the younger named Marie Philomene Glapion (1836–1897).

Marie Laveau is confirmed to have owned at least seven slaves during her lifetime.

During her life Marie Laveau was known to have attended to prisoners who were sentenced to death. Rumors circulated that some prisoners would receive poisons or other substances before going to the gallows, but this was never proven. A reporter from the New Orleans Republican detailed one such visit in an article published on May 14, 1871, in which he describes Marie Laveau as a “devout and acceptable member of the Catholic communion." Following her death, her daughter Philomène confirmed during an interview with a reporter from the Picayune that only Catholic traditions would take place during these visits, and that her mother would also prepare the men's last meal and pray with them. Marie Laveau also sought pardons or commutations of sentences for those she favored and was often successful in her efforts.

She was known to care for the sick in her community during the yellow fever epidemic of 1878 by providing herbal remedies and prayers for the afflicted. Her other community activities included visiting prisoners, providing lessons to the women of the community, and doing rituals for those in need without charge.

Career

Marie Laveau was a dedicated practitioner of Voodoo, healer, herbalist, and entrepreneur. Laveau was also known as a prominent female religious leader and community activist.

Laveau started a beauty parlor where she was a hair-dresser for the wealthier families of New Orleans. She excelled at obtaining inside information on her wealthy patrons at the beauty parlor by listening to ladies gossiping, or from their servants whom she either paid or cured of mysterious ailments. She used this information during her Voodoo consultations with wealthy Orleanian women to enhance her image as a clairvoyant; and used this intel to give them practical advice. She also made money by selling her clients gris gris as charms to help their wishes come true.

In her role as a Voodoo practitioner, customers often appealed to Laveau for help with family disputes, health, finances, and more. Laveau performed her services in three main places: her own home on St. Ann Street, within Go Square, and at Lake Pontchartrain. She was the third female leader of Voodoo in New Orleans (the first was Sanité Dédé, who ruled for a few years before being usurped by Marie Salopé). Marie Laveau maintained her authority throughout her leadership, although there was an attempt to challenge her in 1850. Due to her strong influence, New Orleans Voodoo lost a large number of adherents after her death. Her daughter, Marie Laveau II displayed more theatrical rubrics by holding public events (including inviting attendees to St. John's Eve rituals on Bayou St. John).

Of Laveau's magical career, there is little that can be substantiated, including whether or not she had a snake she named Zombi after an African god, whether the occult part of her magic mixed Roman Catholic saints with African spirits, and Native American Spiritualism.

Death

Plaque at the grave of Louisiana Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau

Marie Catherine Laveau Paris Glapion died on June 15, 1881, aged 79. The different spellings of her surname result from many different women with the same name in New Orleans at the time, and her age at death from conflicting accounts of her birth date.

On June 17, 1881, it was announced in the Daily Picayune that Marie Laveau had died peacefully in her home. According to the Louisiana Writer's Project, her funeral was lavish and attended by a diverse audience including members of the white elite. Oral tradition states that she was seen by some people in town after her supposed demise. News of her death was featured in a number of newspapers, including the "Staunton Spectator" in Virginia, the "Omaha Daily Bee" in Nebraska, as well as several newspapers published in Minnesota.

At least two of her daughters were named Marie, following the French Catholic tradition to have the first names of daughters be Marie, and boys Joseph, then each use middle name as the common name. One of her daughters named Marie possibly assumed her position, with her name, and carried on her magical practice, taking over as the queen soon before or after the first Marie's death. Malvina Latour has also been reported as being Laveau's successor.

Legacy

The mausoleum where Marie Laveau is said to be interred, in Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1

Laveau's name and her history have been surrounded by legend and lore. She is generally believed to have been buried in plot 347, the Glapion family crypt in Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans, but this has been disputed by Robert Tallant, a journalist who used her as a character in historical novels. Tourists continue to visit and some draw X marks in accordance with a decades-old tradition that if people wanted Laveau to grant them a wish, they had to draw an X on the tomb, turn around three times, knock on the tomb, yell out their wish, and if it was granted, come back, circle their X, and leave Laveau an offering.

As of March 1, 2015, there is no longer public access to St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. Entry with a tour guide is required because of continued vandalism and the destruction of tombs. This change was made by the Archdiocese of New Orleans to protect the tombs of the Laveau family as well as those of the many other dead interred there.

See also

In Spanish: Marie Laveau para niños

• Mary Oneida Toups