The Savage Mistress of New Orleans

Delphine LaLaurie was a cruel slave owner and serial killer in 19th century Louisiana

The LaLaurie Mansion is one of the most famous houses in New Orleans. It is notorious for its dark history.

On April 10, 1834, a fire at the LaLaurie mansion led to the discovery of a torture chamber in the mansion. Rescuers found several slaves, bloodied, chained, and tied up with spiked iron collars in the attic.

One of the slaves, a 70-year-old woman had purposefully started a fire to escape being tortured by her slave-owner mistress, Delphine LaLaurie.

The slaves were so badly mistreated that the rescuers themselves were shocked at the extent of their condition. The injuries sustained by the slaves from Delphine’s torture were described as gruesome. The words “cruel and inhumane” were also used to describe the treatment of the slaves.

Delphine was a wealthy Creole socialite. Until the fire, not many people knew that she was a sadist and a serial killer who targeted slaves and brutally mistreated and killed them.

How did this wealthy socialite become a serial killer and what was behind her deep-seated and savage hatred towards these enslaved and innocent people?

A life of wealth and multiple husbands

Delphine was born in 1787 to a life of privilege and wealth in Louisiana when it was ruled by Spain. Her father was a wealthy landowner with a military background and her mother was a party-loving hostess.

When Delphine was quite young, her mother died and Delphine’s father started a long-term relationship with a woman of mixed race.

At the age of 14, Delphine was married to her first husband, Ramon Lopez y Angulo de la Candelaria who was a high-ranking officer who worked for the Spanish Crown and the Louisiana government. Ramon was a widower when he married Delphine.

The marriage was unhappy because Ramon was not over the death of his first wife and he was in trouble for disobeying orders from the Spanish Crown. Five years after the marriage, Ramon died suddenly. When he died, Delphine had already given birth to their baby daughter.

It did not take long for Delphine to move onto her second husband. By then Delphine was very wealthy, having received inheritances and gifts from her parents. She was left with 2 plantations, 78 slaves, livestock, farm equipment, and properties.

Delphine’s second husband was a businessman and slave trader, Jean-Paul Blanque. The couple had 4 children and lived a very nice lifestyle. However, several years later, Blanque would die leaving Delphine a widow for the second time.

Delphine’s third husband was 25-year-old Dr. Leonard Louis Nicolas LaLaurie. Delphine was a much older woman at the age of 40 when she married LaLaurie.

The third marriage was not happy but it was during this time that Delphine built the infamous and lavish LaLaurie Mansion. The mansion became known as one of the grandest homes in the city. It was also here that Delphine’s reputation as a serial killer and sadist came to light.

The torture and murder of slaves

There had been rumors floating around by New Orleans residents that Delphine had been abusing her slaves. Her slaves always looked haggard and were in poor health. At least 12 slaves were recorded to have died at the LaLaurie Mansion although no reason was given for their deaths. A witness also saw a child fall to her death from the roof of the mansion because she was being chased by Delphine who was holding a whip.

Based on the rumors, the city authorities made an official call to investigate the well-being of the slaves. Delphine and her husband were accused of cruelty and forced to forfeit 9 slaves. However, Delphine managed to get the slaves back and continued to abuse them.

Only after the fire at the mansion, the public became aware of the true extent and atrocity of Delphine’s crimes.

seven slaves, more or less horribly mutilated….. suspended by the neck, with their limbs apparently stretched and torn from one extremity to the other

The extent of the slaves’ suffering must have been so horrifying and Delphine’s torture so brutal that even the authorities who condoned slavery felt it had gone too far.

The public became angry at the LaLauries and burned their house down. When authorities dug up the yard, they found the bodies of slaves and even that of slave children.

Delphine and her husband fled to France. Delphine died in Paris at the age of 62. However, there was no justice for the slaves that she tortured and murdered.

A dark legacy

No one knows why Delphine targeted her slaves. Did it have something to do with her father’s relationship with a mixed-race woman after her mother’s death? Maybe she was unhappy about the relationship.

A simpler reason could be that Delphine grew up evil and found the slaves to be the perfect victims for her sadism. After all, she knew that no one would help the slaves as they had no power in 19th century America.

Today, Delphine is a legend in New Orleans history. In New Orleans lore, she is also known as the Savage Mistress.

The LaLaurie Mansion that was burned down has been rebuilt. It stands in New Orleans as a historical landmark. People believe that the mansion is haunted by the ghosts of the slaves that Delphine murdered. Some say that they can still hear the moaning and groans of the slaves from within the walls of the mansion.

Sources: History, Wikipedia, Ghost City Tours, Vice

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