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1. All Hail the Queen The tale was perhaps a mixture of fact and legend, set in antebellum New Orleans around 1830. A father, a Creole gentleman, was greatly disturbed over the possible future of his son, a young man who stood accused of a murder. The Creole gentleman, a man of some means and influence, had retained the services of prominent attorneys to save his only son. They saw little hope of winning the case, even though they believed the boy was innocent. Frantic, confused and desparate for help, the Creole gentleman recalled that a local woman was known for her ability to provide supernatural aid to those in hopeless situations. Though skeptical, the father sought out this sorceress. He arrived in haste at her door with no money, but instead offered her ownership of his own house on Rue Ste. Anne in the Vieux Carre (the original site of Old New Orleans -- the "Old Quarter" known as the French Quarter today), if only she could save his son from a certain injustice. The gentleman told the woman all the facts of his son's case, and the woman listened intently as her calculating mind absorbed all the information. When she promised that the boy would soon be free, the father was shocked, but began to feel somewhat relieved. He bid adieu to the woman who now controlled his son's destiny: the sorceress, Madam Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen. On the day of the trial, Marie, who was raised as a Roman Catholic, visited the St. Louis Cathedral. She spent the morning in prayer holding three Guinea peppers in her mouth. Then she entered the Cabildo, the seat of government and courthouse adjacent to the Cathedral. Marie persuaded a worker there to give her access to the then empty courtroom. Then the sorceress hid the Guinea peppers under the judge's chair and departed. Later that day the trial took place. Marie was waiting in Place d'Armes (today Jackson Square) just outside the Cabildo. After some time, the Creole gentleman exited the Cabildo with his son at his side; the young man had been found innocent and released.
As a result Marie Laveau acquired ownership of the Creole's house on Rue Ste. Anne, near Rue Burgundy and Rampart Street. The gentleman, delighted his son was now a free man, had kept his word transferring ownership of his house to Madam Laveau. Was it witchcraft or earthly influence that saved the life of the accused? This story, perhaps Marie Laveau's most important case, is documented in several sources. One authority has suggested a rational explanation for Laveau's great success. Supposedly, Marie had approached one of the witnesses to the case, who was a Voodoo believer and who intensely feared Marie Laveau, and told him to testify that this was a case of self-defense, which in truth it probably was. This testimony and the judge's sympathy for the young defendant probably resulted in the release of the accused. (The source of this plausible explanation for Laveau's success is Robert Tallant's historical novel The Voodoo Queen. Tallant, a noted historian on the subject of New Orleans, also discussed Laveau's works in his book Voodoo in New Orleans.) With this undertaking, winning a seemingly unwinable murder trial, Marie Laveau became instantly renowned within all classes of New Orleans society, including the Creole elite -- aristocratic locals of French and Spanish descent. Next: Voodoo Rising
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