In April 1834, a fire broke out in a three-story mansion at 1140 Royal Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The building was owned by the famous socialite Delphine LaLori. When the neighbors, extinguishing the fierce flame, burst inside, apart from the mistress of the house, they found something there that had been in their nightmares for the rest of their lives.
At first it seemed to everyone that Lalori was alone in the mansion - the house was empty, only the attic was locked. The owner refused to give him the keys, but the neighbors, inflamed by curiosity, went to extreme measures and broke down the door.
There were seven slaves in the attic. They were alive, although looking at them it was hard to believe: bruises, bruises, broken limbs … One slave had a stick out of his head, with which Lalori was going to stir his brains, the mouths of several slaves were stuffed with excrement and sewn up. The bones of one of the women were broken, but then Lalori allowed them to heal incorrectly - after that the unfortunate woman resembled a crab. Another victim had his arms amputated, his skin removed in such a way that it began to resemble a caterpillar.
Rumors said that there were also dead bodies in the attic, mutilated beyond recognition. But even for those times when black slaves were powerless and the owner could do anything with them, such cruelty terrified the public.
Lalori's three husbands
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Of course, Delphine was not born a villain. She appeared in New Orleans in 1780, the son of a wealthy slave trader, Macarty. The first time she married at 25 years old, an influential Spanish officer Don Ramon de Lopez. The marriage lasted only 4 years, from him Dolphina left a daughter, Maria Borgia Delphina Lopez, whom she affectionately called Barkita. Then the next marriage followed - with a rich banker and philanthropist. Which, however, also did not last long.
Finally, the third husband of Dolphina was the doctor Leonard Louis Nicholas LaLaurie. He was much younger than his wife. Together they acquired Lalori's "family nest" - a three-story mansion.
In those days, everyone who could afford it kept slaves. Everyone who knew the Lalori family was amazed at how courteously and with what warmth Delphine treated her slaves. She even freed two, showing simply unprecedented nobility. But rumors spread quickly: they began to say that Madame LaLaurie was so kind only in public, and that what was going on behind the closed doors of her mansion - only God knows.
Rumors
They whispered that she had more slaves than everyone thinks - “secret” slaves were bought specifically for her medical husband, so that he could practice Tahitian voodoo on them. It is not known for certain whether this assumption was true, but several facts were documented.
It is known that the slaves were so afraid of their mistress that they chose death, just not to be subjected to her tortures. One of the men jumped from the third floor to avoid punishment. After this incident, Lalori ordered to cement the window so that no one else would have the opportunity to control their own lives.
But it did not help. A 12-year-old slave named Leah was brushing her mistress's hair and tugging too hard on a strand. LaLaurie flew into a rage and lashed the girl with a whip. She probably threatened that something else would happen, because soon Leah climbed onto the roof and threw herself straight onto the pavement. Witnesses noticed how LaLaurie was burying the girl's body, and the police came to Delphine. The slave owner was forced to pay a heavy fine and sell nine of her slaves.
Fire and escape
It took only a little time before the mansion was set on fire. There is speculation that this was done by a 70-year-old cook, who was chained to the stove by Lalori.
When no longer rumors, but news of Lalori's cruelty spread around the city, an angry crowd rushed to the mansion on Royal Street and smashed it without leaving a stone unturned. What the fire did not reach was destroyed by indignant townspeople.
But LaLaurie managed to escape - she secretly boarded a ship to Paris and began a new life there. In fairy tales, evil is always punished, but in life everything is different.
The circumstances of her death are still not known, only two copper plates have survived with the inscription: "Madame LaLaurie, nee Marie Delphine Macarty, died in Paris, December 7, 1842".
However, according to the French archives, she died later, in December 1849.
