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| Very little is known as fact about Marie's early life. Some say that she was born in New Orleans, others say Santo Domingue (Haiti) and still others say Santo Domingo. It has been said that she was born in the year 1783, or 1794, or 1796. In 2001, Ina Fandrick claims to have found Marie's birth certificate. According to Ina Fandrick, Marie was born in 1801, to a free mulatto woman named Margarita in New Orleans. Fandrick says that this birth date also best fits the events in Marie's later life. The most widely accepted therories, though, are that Marie was born in 1794, a free woman of color, to Marguerite Darcantre. Marguerite was said to be a mulatto woman with a strain of Indian blood. Marie is believed to have been the illegitimate daughter of Charles Laveau, a wealthy white planter. Marie was described as tall, statuesque with good features, red tinted, dark skin and curly black hair. Marie was raised a devout Catholic. She attended daily Mass and had a friendship with Pere Antoine, the Chaplin at St. Louis Cathedral. [One of the allies that run next to the Cathedral has been named after this man, the other is named Pirate's alley.] On August 4,1819, Marie married Jacques Paris at St. Louis Cathedral, the ceremony being performed by Pere Antoine. The record of their marriage can still be found there. Jacques was 1/4th black, a free man, from Saint Domingue, he was also a Catholic. By all accounts it was a faithful marriage. The couple lived in the 1900 block on North Rampart Street in New Orleans. Jacques Paris disappeared soon after they marriedand although no one knows for sure, or why, some think that he may have returned to Saint Domingo. The death certificate was filed 5 years later without a body. Soon after his disapperance Marie began to call herself the Widow Paris and her work as a hairdresser, it is also probably when she began Voodoo, for there was no accounts of her practicing it before then. Voodoo was alive in New Orleans before Marie Laveau became the Voodoo Queen. Sanite Dede was a Voodoo Queen before Marie. Sanite was a free woman of color that could be found selling food near the Cabildo and in Place d'Armes. There was also Doctor Yah Yah, a slave who was popular until he gave a man a magic elixer that was poisonous. Then there was John Montenet, better known as Dr. John. He was a freeman of color who was said to have once been a Prince in Senegal. He was an African Priest, or Voodoo Doctor. Dr. John owned property, had waives and mistresses, is said to have had up to 50 children and he may have owned slaves. What he was famous for, though, was predicting the future, casting spell, curing illnesses, making gris-gris and reading minds. He was the leading figure in Voodoo before Marie. Marie worked with, traded information with and learned from Dr. John. She then took what she learned, added her own theatrics, personality and beliefs. She then rose to a level that over shadowed even Dr. John. In about 1826 Marie began a romantic relationship with Christopher Glapion. Glapion was a freeman of color who worked as a cabinet maker. Although they were probably never married, (no records that I know have been found) Marie and Glapion stayed together until his death in 1835 (although some say he died in 1855). The couple also had 15 children together. One of their daughters, also named Marie, would later take her mother's role as Voodoo Queen. While working as a hair dresser, Marie would listen to her clients as they talked about all the intimate details of their lives. Since she was often called on by the wealthy white woman of New Orleans, Marie heard many things that were not for public knowledge. Affairs, marriages based on buisness arrangements, illegitimate children, buisness problems and the such were common gossip for the women sitting for hair cuts. They would speak about their own lives and the lives of those they knew. Marie just listened and let them talk. Marie also had a network of spies. The black slaves and servents in the area respected, loved and feared Marie Laveau and the magic that she worked. Often Marie would help these people by healing, doing a spell, or a curse, for 'free'. She would not charge money, instead she would ask them for information on others that they knew and on those that they worked for. Many would provide Marie with information so that they would be in her good graces. Her power over the slaves and servants in New Orleans eventually became absolute. Marie used the information that she heard to add to her power. I have no doubt that by appearing to 'just know' all the little secrets of so many helped Marie's rise. Marie mixed what she knew with her knowledge of spells and potions, added her personal touch and eventually became the undisputed Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. To visit Marie for a reading became fashionable. Officials would pay her as much as $1,000.00 for her help in winning elections. People paid as much as $10.00 for a simple love potion. Blacks saw her as a leader with equal amounts of love, fear and respect. Her magical power was well known, and repsected. There are 2 stories to show this. In about 1830 a young man was accuse of murder. Even though the lawyer and the young man's family believed he was innocent, they feared that he would be found guilty. His father, a man of wealth and means, went to Marie and asked her to help his son. If she did, he said that he would give her a house that he owned. Marie agreed to assist the man and his son. On the day of the trial Marie went to the Cathedral. She prayed with 3 Guinea peppers in her mouth all morning. Then Marie went to the courthouse (the Cabildo) where she persuaded a worker to let her into the empty courtroom. She hid the 3 peppers under the judge's seat. The young man was found innocent and Marie received her house on Rue St Anne. Some people think that Marie threatened a juror with Voodoo, (although I have never found proof that she did this and I don't know why they claim it.) others believe that it was her prayers and her spells that led to the man's freedom. Reguardless, Marie's reputation and respect for her and her powers only grew stronger. |
| The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans Madam Marie Laveau |
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| Marie Laveau, a name known by so many, yet so much about her is unknown. Fact and fiction about her (mother and daughter) blend so well together it is hard to know where each ends and begins. |