Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1881-07-07
THE VOUDOU QUEEN.

daring veyager, and his safety was the source
of anxious debate and inquiry at Berlin.
--e--s--
THE VOUDOU QUEEN.
History That Throws Romance Far in the
Shade.
Marie Laveau. the Queen Of the YOU
dous," died in New Orleans the other day
at the advanced age of SO years. To the
superstitious creoles Marie appeared as a
dealer in the black arts, and person to be
dreaded and avoided. Strange stories
were told of the rites performed by
the sect of which Marie was the acknowl-
eyed sovereign. Many old residents asserted
that on st. Johns night, the Oath of June,
the Voudou clan had been seen in deserted
places joining in wild, weird dances, all the
participants is which were perfectly nude.
The Voudous were thought to be invested
with supernatural powers, and men sought
them to find means to be rid of their ene-
mics, while others asked for lave powders
to instill atfestion in the bosoms of their
unwilling or unsuspecting sweethearts.
Whether there ever was any such sect, and
whether Maria was ever its queen. her life
was one to render such belief impossi-
BILE. Besides knowing the secret healing
qualities of the various herbs which grew
in abundance in the woods and fields, she
was endowed with more than usual share
of common sense, and her advice was oft
times really valuable and her penetration
remarkable. Adding to these qualities the
gift of great beauty, no wonder that she
possessed large influence in her youth
and attracted the attention of Louisiana s
greatest men and most distinguished visit
OTIS. She was tug creature OF that peculiar
state of society in which there was no mar
rying or giving in marriage; yet they were
not like the angels in heaven.
Marie was the descendant of an old slave
woman on her mothers side. and on the
other hand the best French blood of Louis
isna coursed her veins. She was born in
the golden days of Spanish Louisiana, just
at the time when the gallant boy governor,
Galvez, cooperating with the struggling
colonies in the East, had driven the British
ont of the Gulf of Mexico. She was 10
years old when the flag of freedom was I'M
furled from the flagstaff of the Place
d Armes, the flag that brought with it new
prejudices against old social customs, aud
the Black Code, which made marriage be-
tween black and white a penal offense,
while the interblending Of the race was a
matter which the law left uninterfered with
by any statutory prohibition. This beauti-
full, bright-eyed, intelligent little creole,
while the men who made New Orleans
famous in those days were almost in daily at
tendance upon her, admiring her charms
and enjoying her conversation, was led to
the alter by jacques Paris, carpenter of
her own color. The ceremony took place
at the st. Louis Cathedral, Pere Antoine
officiating, and Mazereau, the brilliant lead
er of the bar, being one of the witnesses.
The union was short and happy one.
When Marie had been welded only one
year Jacques suddenly disappeared and as
no one knew where he had gone or what
had become of him, she was left neither
no tidings of the missing Jacques, she
consented to be the bride Of Capt. Christie
phe Dominique Glapion. The latter seems
to have been man of much character, and
served with distinction throughout the wal
of 1915 as officer in d'Aquin's gallant San
Domingo battalion. When peace was es-
tablished, Marie became mole sought after
than ever. She lived all her life in little
adobe house covered with red tiles, situated
in st. Ann, between Rampant and Burgundy
streets. 1t was built by the early French
settlers $50 years ago. Not a brick was en-
| ployed in its construction. The walls were
formed of peculiar combination of clay
and moss. The entrances were made very
low, and the panes of glass in the door were
of small size and peculiar make. When
this interesting residence was erected, il
stood on the very outskirts of the town
Rampant street was then wilderness, and
later it became line of intrenchment. Al
that time the cottage was considered the
handsomest dwelling house in the place
All the otherhou then existing have beer
torn down and more modern buildings
sprung up, so that the quaint Laveau man.
sion with the high, half broken down fence
in front, and the branches of several an.
cient trees peeping over, seemed relic OF
the New Orleans of long ago.
In this place Marie received the celebri.
ties of the day. Lawyers, legislators, plant
ters, merchants, all came to pay their re.
spects to her and seek her Offices
and the narrow room heard as much vii
and scancal as any of the historical saloons
OF Paris. There were business men who
would not send ship to sea before con.
sulting her upon the probabilities of the
voyage. Marie entertained her guests ir
royal style. Her cuisine was, excellent
and all who possessed characteristics en-.
titling them to more than ordinary consid.
Grafton were welcome to her table. Those
who came from the parishes of other state.
were compelled to take up their quarter.
under her roof, for she would allow nj
other house to be called more hospitabl,
than her own. Coming in daily contac
with the best informed men of that period
and possessing a remarkably retentiy,
memory, tits no wonder that she acquired
a large store of valuable information. Sh,
was by no means backward in deliverin,
her opinions, and as her predictions nearly
always came true, and the course shs
suggested generally proved the wisest
Matte soon possed larger clientele thar
the most astute and far.seeing legal coun.
selor. And it was not alone for advice tha
men and women of all conditions called OF
her. Her skill in medicine, already re.
ferred to, and her ability as nurse mad,
hel desirable at the sick bed. Marie hat
a large, warm heart and tender nature, ant
never refused q summons from the suffer.
Ing, no matter how dangerous the disease
Wherever she went she labored faithful,
and earned e-long friends. During vel
low fever and cholera epidemics sh,