Marie Laveau

Marie Catherine Laveau (September 10, 1801– June 15, 1881) was a Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voodoo, who was renowned in New Orleans. Her daughter, Marie Laveau II, (1827 — c. 1862) also practiced rootwork, conjure, Native American and spiritualism as well as Louisiana or what is known today as New Orleans Voodoo. She and her mother had great influence over their multiracial following. "In 1874 as many as twelve thousand spectators, both black and white, swarmed to the shores of Lake Pontchartrain to catch a glimpse of Marie Laveau II performing her legendary rites on St. John's Eve (June 23–24)." 2Early life Historical records surmise that Marie Laveau was born free in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, Thursday September 10, 1801. She was the natural daughter of a free woman of color of Native American, African and French descent, Marguerite Henry and Charles LaVeau, a free man of color , African and French descent and merchant. On August 4, 1819, she married Jacques (or Santiago, in other records) Paris, a French immigrant who had fled as a refugee from the black Haitian massacre in the former French territory Saint-Dominque. Their marriage certificate is preserved in the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orlean