1020-1022 St. Ann St.

"...the low roof of red tiles that peeped over the top of the rude decrepit board fence... on St. Ann Street near the corner of Rampart... December 31, 1879... forced open the half hinged gate and showed the way through the under and overgrowth of weeds and shrubs to the glass door of the building... The room was one of those low, close compartments with whitewashed walls and ceiling and bare floor... Through the passage way back could be seen the yard, and further back a house, well lighted, whence came the music of the organ and the sound of dancing. The room was almost completely filled with furniture... A large walnut bedstead took up two-thirds of the floor... All eyes turned to the occupant of the bed. Marie Laveau lay there in bed 96 years... seventy years before the date of this visit Marie Laveau was counted the most beautiful of all the quadroons of the parish. She was then in her prime, and was wedded by Jacques Paris, beloved Pere Antoine performing the ceremony. Later Jacques vanished and the famous beauty married Christophe Glapion. The children and grandchildren that thronged the room have different names but one, a handsome young boy of about fifteen, was frequently spoken to as a "Glapion"... Marie Laveau... was born in this strange little house; lived in it during her days of wealth and prosperity and now lay dying in it... This morning's paper announces the death of this interesting woman... "

"Sketch of the St. Ann Street house of Marie Laveau - The house is upwards of 200 years old---seven (7) generations of the Laveau family have been reared within its walls. Along with an article about Voodoo."

"Her (Marie Laveau) house, situated on St. Ann Street, between Rampart and Burgundy, is said to be one of the most ancient frame residences of the city. It is a rickety concern today and is retired from the street."

"...Her house (Marie Laveau) on St. Ann Street just off Congo Square, was not torn down till 1903... "

"Lone Canvas of Voodoo Queen's Crumbling Shack
Only Trace of Historic Headquarters of Cult in N.O.:

Are you one who have trembled when you ripped open a pillow and found the feathers curled into a snug little nest?

Do you avoid cracks in the banquette for fear 'Great Zombie' will poke his serpent head up and thrust his poison fan into your foot?..."

"Marie Laveau was a free mulatto and was born in New Orleans about 1796. On August 4, 1819, when she was in her early twenties, she was married to Jacques Paris, also a mulatto, the ceremony being performed by Pere Antoine. Paris died in 1826, and a year or so afterwards, Marie Laveau went to live with a mulatto named Christophe Glapion - there is no record of their marriage. She had a daughter in February 1827---whether by Paris or by Glapion is unknown---who was named Marie and who subsequently married a man named Legendre...

In her youth Marie Laveau... By profession she was a hair dresser... She became a member of the Voodoo cult about the time her husband died, and usurped Sanite Dede's place as Queen half a dozen years later... Marie Laveau performed the feat which made her a woman of property... The trial was held... he was found not guilty. His happy father... (rewarded) her handsomely in cash, but also gave her a cottage on St. Ann Street between Rampart and Burgundy, not far from Congo Square. This house was the home of her descendants until 1903, when it was torn down.

Marie Laveau was born a Roman Catholic, and appears to have returned to the Church---if, indeed, she ever left it... About 1875, only a little while before her death, she retired to the little cottage on St. Ann Street, and was never seen again in public. George W. Cable visited her during this period of retirement and thus recorded his impressions in the 'Century Magazine' for April 1886:

'...[h]er dwelling was in a quadroon quarter of New Orleans, but a step or two from Congo Square, a small adobe cabin just off the sidewalk, scarcely higher than its close board fence... In the center of a small room whose ancient cypress floor was work with scrubbing and sprinkled with crumbs of soft brick...'"