Vampires in New Orleans
On a recent trip to New Orleans I went on multiple “haunted
tours”, all were fun and interesting but one made me want to do more research
on my own. On an evening vampire tour, our tour guide was a young man from
Transylvania (how perfect if that); he started our tour by telling us
everything we had previously learned about Vampires is wrongJ.
Now I know that these tours are put together to entertain
and that stories are embellished, but by the time we were done I had gone from
a non-believer of vampires to being on the fence, perhaps there was some truth
to the stories. I have not become a believer in night creatures who turn into
bats, cannot stand in the sunlight or sparkle, but I wanted to learn more about
these legends so I have spent almost a year researching the stories he told
us. I was particularly interested in two
instances, that of Jacques de
St. Germain and that of the Carter brothers.
Comte de
St. Germain
Comte de St.
Germain is believed to have been born in 1712, but some including Madame
d’Adhémar insisted they had known him as an adult as early at 1710. St. Germain
was well known in European society; he spoke multiple languages fluently, was a
talented musician, an art lover and had a keen interest in science and alchemy.
He dressed impeccably, displaying jewels on his clothing, and showing his vast
wealth. No one knew for sure how he came
to be so wealthy or anything about where he came from or who is family was. St.
Germain claimed to be the son of Francis II Rákóczi Prince of Transylvania, but
this has not been proven.
St. Germain was
skilled at conversation and appeared to never age, the philosopher Voltaire
called him “the man who knows everything and who never dies”. Perhaps due to his immense wealth, the
mystery surrounding his family and his seemingly ability to have stopped aging ( multiple portraits done over several
year all show him looking about 40 )a great many myths and legends have
circulated about him. While he is said
to have died in Germany on 27 February 1784, many have claimed to see him since
his death.
One place he is
said to have been seen is the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Jacques de
St. Germain
In 1902 a man in
his mid 40’s by the name of Jacques St. Germain arrived in New Orleans and
moved into a home in the corner of Royal and Ursuline streets in the French
Quarter. Jacques St. Germain insinuated that he had come from France, he was
obviously wealthy but again no one really knew exactly where he came from or how he
came into such wealth; he did bear a remarkable resemblance to portraits of
Comte de St. Germain.
Jacques St.
Germain maintained a low profile in the city, rarely being seen in society, he
would however throw a lavish party once a year where he invited the New Orleans
most elite society members. He had these
parties catered, never preparing the food himself and never being seen eating
any of the food, he was often observed drinking wine during these parties.
Jacques St. Germain would spend these parties regaling his guests with stories
from history with such detail that it appeared he had witnessed them firsthand.
It was after one
of these parties that that a young women who had spent the night with Jacques
St. Germain made her way out of the bedroom onto the balcony screaming, she
appeared so frightened she ran right off the edge and jumped to the street
where she suffered from two broken legs. Passersby found the girl and called
for help, she reported that while in the home with Jacques St. Germain he had
come after with such force and speed she was unprepared, he then started biting
her neck, somehow she was able to break away and ran out of the house, jumping
from the balcony in an attempt to get away.
The police
knocked on Jacques St. Germain door, he answered and stated that the girl had
been drunk when she wandered out onto the balcony and fell off; he then asked
to be allowed to clean up and he stated he would come to the station in the
morning to give an official statement. The police agreed and left him at his
residence.
The next
afternoon when Jacques St. Germain had not come to the police station the
police returned to his home, they found the front door unlocked and entered the
home. When they got inside, they found him gone. Upon investigation of the
house it looked as though everything had been left as it was, interestingly when
they made their way to the kitchen area they were surprised to find no dishes,
no pots or pans and no food in the cupboards; what they did find was a pantry
full of wine bottles. During the investigation of the home, one of those wine
bottles was dropped and it was discovered that it was not ordinary wine; the
bottles were filled with a mixture of red wine and human blood.
 |
| Jacques St. Germain home in the French Quarter |
Jacques St.
Germain was never heard from again, but as late as the 1970’s there were
“sightings” of Comte de St. Germain, in 1933 he is said to have written to the
head of the masonic society in Costa Rica and the last one when Richard
Chanfray told French television viewers he was the immortal count. while Chanfray did
resemble Comte de St. Germain his claims
were not however taken seriously and he committed suicide in 1983. Today the
question remains are Jacques St. Germain
and Comte de St. Germain the same man and is he still alive somewhere in
the world.
The Carter Brothers
In the 1930’s the country was in the midst of the
Depression, times were hard and jobs were scarce. A local man happened to have an apartment on
Royal Street that had been for rent for quite some time when he received an
inquiry from two young brothers, John and Wayne Carter. He happily rented to the
brothers who had found work down on the docks.
The brothers became very well liked in the neighborhood,
they were known for helping others, young and old alike, they were hard
workers, showing up on time and putting in a full day’s work each day at the docks.
One day a young girl
is said to have escaped from the Carter brothers apartment, she fled to
authorities showing them her cut wrists. The story she told was of being held
in the apartment and “fed” upon by the brothers for several days. The authorities went to the apartment and
came across a frightening scene inside; multiple bodies were inside, bound to
chairs and cut and bleeding. Some of the victims were still alive though they
were close to death. Inside the bathroom
the authorities found piles of dead bodies stacked on top of each other in the
bathtub, all had been cut and their blood drained.
The authorities waited for the brothers to return home from
work, reports say that the brothers were small in stature but it took multiple
officers to restrain them.
John and Wayne Carter were convicted for their crimes and
executed, after their deaths the brothers were placed in a vault in a local
cemetery. After a year
the vault was opened and it was discovered that there were no bones, no sign of
any remains, the bodies had just disappeared.
Years later, there are still reported sightings of the Carter brothers in New Orleans. One particular sighting the owner of the building where the Carter brothers had lived spotted two men who looked similar to the bothers whispering on the third floor balcony, when they realized they had been spotted they jumped over the railing and ran away. Other reports have included residents of the apartment seeing what appear to be the two brothers on the balcony, with the same result they jump off and run away when seen.
While these are the two Vampire stories that I chose to research further, there are countless more tales ranging from historic to modern day vampires in the city. With all of the legends it is no wonder New Orleans is considered the most haunted city in the United States.
If you want to hear more about New Orleans Legends check out my blog post about the Lalaurie Manson.
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