Madame Lalaurie Attic

Delphine lalaurie also known as madame lalaurie was a wealthy and powerful slave owner during the early 1800s at her new orleans royal street mansion.

Madame lalaurie attic. The history of the lalaurie mansion. Lalaurie keeps many of her slaves in her attic where they inevitably become victims of grotesque experimentation and torture solely for the fascination of madame lalaurie. For nearly two centuries this infamous grey mansion has fascinated and terrified residents and visitors in new orleans. She was born in new orleans circa 1780 to an irish gentleman and a french lady of upper society.

As many society women did at the time madame lalaurie kept slaves. In 1831 madame lalaurie purchased a three story mansion at 1140 royal street in the french quarter. Losing her family and being buried for centuries has drained lalaurie of her will to live as is made apparent when she asks fiona goode to use her powers to end her torture. On april 10 1834 a fire at the lalaurie mansion in new orleans louisiana leads to the discovery of a torture chamber where enslaved workers are routinely brutalized by delphine lalaurie.

The fire when it broke out at madame lalaurie mansion took the lives of many innocent slaves who were caught up inside their quarters. Most of the city was shocked at how polite she was to them showing them kindness in public and even manumitting two of them in 1819 and 1832. Those that weren t invited were said to stand across the street hoping for a merest glimpse of the elegance twirling about inside. If true she was certainly a serial killer who had a torture chamber in her house and was only exposed due to a fire set in 1834 by a potential victim.

Madame delphine lalaurie a wealthy woman of new orleans is most famous for the torture and murder of her slaves. She married in 1800 to a spanish officer and in 1804 they went to spain. An early portrait of madame delphine lalaurie. Many onlookers tried to save the slaves from the attic but lalaurie and her husband refused to give them the keys to open up the attic.

Born during the spanish colonial period lalaurie married three times in louisiana and was twice widowed. The lalaurie mansion at night. The 12 000 square foot mansion was built in 1831 for marie delphine macarty lalaurie and her third husband the french native dr. The new orleans aristocrat madame lalaurie possessed a cruel darkness.

The public went berserk and broke the doors themselves. We visited the lalaurie mansion as part of a walking ghost tour and heard an incredible story involving madame lalaurie. Lalaurie was born around 1775 after her family moved from ireland to new orleans.