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Ormond Plantation

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May 4, 1998, 3:00:00 AM5/4/98

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<H1>Ormond Plantation</H1>
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<UL>
<LI>To: <A HREF="mailto:afrig...@msstate.edu">afrig...@msstate.edu</A></LI>
<LI>Subject: Ormond Plantation</LI>
<LI>From: "Saundra Brown" <<A HREF="mailto:Saun...@msn.com">Saun...@msn.com</A>></LI>
<LI>Date: Thu, 27 Feb 97 00:41:02 UT</LI>
</UL>

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<PRE>
<A HREF="http://www.plantation.com/history.html">http://www.plantation.com/history.html</A>

Built before 1790 on a tract of land granted by the Spanish Governor of
Louisiana, Ormond Plantation has survived into the late 20th Century with its
unique character and sometimes tragic history.

In the early 1780's, Pierre d'Trepagnier was awarded a tract of land by the
Spanish Governor Don Bernardo deGalvez, in recognition of Trepagnier's service
in subduing the British at Natchez during the American Revolution. The main
building was completed shortly before 1790 and occupied by Mr. and Mrs.
d'Trepagnier and their children. d'Trepagnier began growing indigo, and then
sugar cane, and the Plantation began to prosper.

The house is built in the "Louisiana Colonial" style for plantations, which is
modeled after the great sugar plantations of the West Indies. The house was
constructed using bricks between cypress studs ("Briquettes Entre Poteaux" -
Brick Between Posts) on the front and rear walls and a type of adobe filling
on the sidewalls. Round cemented brick columns supported the front porch, or
gallery, with wood columns on the second floor supporting the roof.

The home was often the scene for entertaining officials of the Louisiana and
Spanish Governments. In 1798, the first of the mysteries occurred. Pierre
d'Trepagnier was summoned from a family meal by a servant to meet a gentlemen,
supposedly dressed in clothes signifying a Spanish official. After a word to
his wife, Pierre d'Trepagnier left with the man and never returned. No trace
of d'Trepagnier was ever found.

On June 25, 1805, Col. Richard Butler, son and nephew of American
Revolutionary war heroes bought the plantation home and land from Mrs.
d'Trepagnier. Butler had served in the U.S. Army and had fallen in love with
the South. He named his new home "Ormond", after his ancestral home, the
Castle Ormonde in Ireland. On August 7, 1809, Butler became a business partner
with Captain Samuel McCutchon, a merchant and sailor, originally from
Pennsylvania, when he sold to McCutchon, one-third share in Ormond Plantation.
On June 29, 1819, in a private pact signed at the Plantation, Richard Butler
turned over all of his holdings to Samuel McCutchon, and moved to Bay St.
Louis. Some say that Butler moved to escape the Yellow Fever epidemic, but no
true reason has been documented. If he did move to escape the fever, he did
not move far enough away. The Yellow Fever hit Bay St. Louis and both Mr. and
Mrs. Butler died from the disease in 1820. Richard Butler was forty-three.

There is some disagreement as to when the two existing wings, or garconnieres,
were built. Some say that they were built around 1811 by Richard Butler. An
equal number believe that they were built in 1830 by Capt. McCutchon. It is
these garconnieres that give Ormond its distinctive look. The garconnieres are
taller than the main building, and of a design possibly from an Atlantic
Seaboard influence. Capt. McCutchon prospered both as a planter and
merchantman and Ormond was one of the beneficiaries of that prosperity.
McCutchon filled his home with furnishings from Great Britain, France and the
Orient. During this time, Capt. McCutchon's eldest son, Samuel B., married
Adele d'Estrehan, the daughter of the owner of neighboring Destrehan
Plantation. Samuel B. and his brother James William took over the Plantation
upon the death of Capt. McCutchon, and continued its prosperity.

Like many other plantations of the South, Ormond fell on hard times following
the War Between the States. She changed hands twice before being sold at
public auction in 1874, and again in 1875.

Ormond was bought on December 1, 1898, by State Senator Basile LaPlace, Jr.,
son of the famous New Orleans pharmacist and land owner after whom the town of
LaPlace is named. LaPlace's stay was short and tragic. He had earned a name
for himself as a Justice of the Peace and then as a State Senator, and also by
successfully managing the LaPlace Station, the land that his father left him.
He used his wealth to buy Ormond, with hopes of profiting from its rice
production. But, as is typical in politics, LaPlace also made a few enemies.
On October 11, 1899, Basile LaPlace, Jr., met an ugly death.

Local legend has it that LaPlace had made enemies with the Ku Klux Klan, also
known as the "White Caps". Supposedly he was called out into the night, and
the members set upon him, riddling his body with bullets, and then hanging him
in the large oak tree which stands on River Road in front of the plantation
home.

Ormond passed from LaPlace's widow to his mother and then to the Schexnaydre
family, all during the year 1900. The five Schexnaydre brothers (Joseph,
Emilien, Barthelemy, Albert, and Norbet) each held an undivided one-fifth
share of the property. The brothers drew straws to determine who would live in
the House. Emilien drew the lucky straw, and moved his family into Ormond.
Emilien died in 1910, but his children continued to live and raise their
families in the house. At one time there were five families living under the
roof of Ormond. The Schexnaydre's held the property until 1926 when they
turned it over to the Inter-Credit Corporation.

The story of Ormond becomes hazy in the late 1920's and through the 30's. It
seems that a number of tenants occupied the house and land. Reports tell of
the crumbling walls and ceilings, the sagging porch, and the general
deterioration of the house.

Fortunately for us, it was not too late to salvage Ormond. Thanks to its great
original construction, it was able to be restored and renovated by Mr. and
Mrs. Alfred Brown, owners of the Brown's Velvet Dairy in New Orleans.
Beginning in late 1943, the Browns undertook major restoration, and
renovations, which included enclosing the carriage ways and making the
garconnieres an integral part of the building. The Browns' family added modern
conveniences, such as indoor plumbing, gas and electricity.

After the death of Mrs. Brown, Mr. Brown sold Ormond to a real estate
developer, and moved back to New Orleans. Original plans of the developer,
Johnson and Loggins, included using the Manor house as the club house for a
golf course. The developer began making changes in the Manor house but stopped
in 1971.

In 1974, Johnson and Loggins sold the Manor and 17 acres of land to Mrs. Betty
R. LeBlanc, then executive vice-president of Barq's Beverages, Inc., in New
Orleans. Through the late 1970's and early 1980's, Mrs. LeBlanc began
restoring the Manor house, which began suffering from the changes made by the
developer. She had hoped to finish restoring the home, but unfortunately
cancer struck and quickly took Mrs. LeBlanc in June, 1986, her dream
unfinished.

Ormond is presently under the care of Ken Elliott, son of Mrs. LeBlanc, and
executor of her Estate. Mr. Elliott now carries on the work of restoring
Ormond, and at the same time, opening the home to the public for the first
time in its history.

This condensed history of Ormond is dedicated to the following people who
unselfishly dedicated countless hours & support towards the same dreams of
opening (and keeping open) Ormond to the public for all to share. In
alphabetical order; Robin Aikens, David Becnel, Henry Billups, Jr., Thomas R.
Blum, Esq., Aaron Burchfield, Jesse Burchfield, Madge Burke, Irvin J.
Carmouche, Jr., Bonnie Cheek, Jimmy Cheek, Diana Damrill, Marilyn Damrill,
Emmet Davis, Don Dufour, Diane Elliott, Jesse Elliott, Esq., Ken Elliott,
Kendall Elliott, Kristan Elliott, Paul Elliott, Pierre Elliott, Todd Elliott,
Mark Foto, Marie Gamache, Richard Green, Kathleen Guillote, John T. Lambert,
Madge LeBlanc, Vicki LeBlanc, Jessie Medina, Dave Miller, Joey Murray, Patrick
Murray, Paul Murray, J. Bradley Oubre, Louis Petrie, Joan Reviere, Charles L.
Rivet, Jack Sloan, Toni Sloan, David I. Smith, George Spicuzza, Sr., George
Spicuzza, Jr., Mark Spicuzza, Rosemary S. Spicuzza, Andre Stefferud, Dave
Stefferud, Fred Thomas, Joyce Wielbaecher, Gail Yoes and Patrick Yoes.

1995 Cascade, Inc. v1.08

Copyright © 1995 - Ormond Plantation
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Circa 1787
13786 River Road, Destrehan, Louisiana 70047
Phone (504) 764-8544 - Fax (504) 764-0691 or in...@plantation.com.

This site was designed and is maintained by AccessCom

<Picture>
Of the innumerable traditions about ante bellum residents, there is one that
should be related. Perchance the central scene of the tale is the Ormond
house, which you see a short while after turning your face up the road from
the Red Church. Having already described a few of the ante bellum mansions, it
is only necessary to say that the Ormond house is a residence characteristic
of the country seats of the past. Looking through the intervening yard, which
is overgrown with rare trees and flowers you discern that it is a large,
quaintly proportioned two-story structure, with an annex, or wing on either
side, each stretching across the yard to slightly elevated spots of ground,
beneath which are darksome wells, well-walled and well-domed with bricks and
cement. The house obstructs the view of the grange in the rear. But go up
stairs, through the corridors and to the rear of the balcony of the right wing
and then you see the old brick negro quarter houses, the stables, barns and
ante bellum pidgeon houses, the large, old fashioned fireplaces looming
through the shattered portals of the back yard buildings. Far away are the
ruins of the old sugar house, one of the first sugar mills erected in
Louisiana. A tottering chimney and crumbling walls, the last of the sugar
house, are reflected in the pool beyond the ruins.

In old times, runs the legend, when the splendor and glory of the plantation
were in bloom, some ghostly being came gliding into the house. Night had
fallen, and the bats were coursing erratically in the gloom of the trees and
the weeping moss, occasionally swooping about the chimney tops and gibbering
at the wind which moaned at every corner. A steamboat appeared, slackened its
speed, then landed at an old warehouse which stood a short distance above the
house yard. A negro was sent to acertain the object of the landing. When he
reached the landing place the boat was speeding away. He looked about in vein,
for nothing was there. Returning by a road under the trees in the pasture he
ran almost into something that was darker than the night. He started back. The
blackness vanished. He ran frantically into the plantation house and swore
that he had seen a ghost.

Late that night a man who was the solitary occupant of the cental portion of
the house wondered over these events. Strange it was, that landing of the
boat, and a ghost? A gust of wind swept down the gallery in front, struck a
stairway that led to the balcony of one of the wings, then rumbled into the
garret, entering an open trapdoor. The noise reverberated on and on, as though
it rolled into some deep, noisome chasm. Ha, ha, ha! A ghost! What was that in
the adjoining room? Was there really something moving? Horrors! What thing was
that obstructing the dim light seen through the transom above the front door?
The ghost, like all other ghosts either had a "passe partout" or, had passed
through the keyhole. The man became unnerved, and was in the hand of a
merciless terror: yet he lay motionless and silent. Slowly did the dark figure
move. The man knew not just where, yet he knew that it was gliding about in
the room. Then a cold shivering almost fleshless hand touched his face. A cry
of horror broke from his lips.

Years afterward an old mulatto woman was dying in New Orleans. As her life
ebbed away her mind wandered.

"Ha, ole marse done gone," she cried excitedly: "yes, he's done gone erway.
But he never would er died so soon if dat debil did; yes, he tuck ole marse's
place 'cuse, he sed, marse owed him er lot o' money, an' poor ole marse just
grieve hissef ter def. But I fix him. Yes, I fix him. De day after ole marse
wuz buried, I tuck de boat an' skurred de old debil till he b'lieve de sperit
done call him fur de jedgment day."

Footnote: This ghost story about Ormond Plantation has been quoted, word for
word, from an article published in the The Times Democrat, a New Orleans
publication.

Further research is being conducted in regards to other known ghost stories
surrounding the Ormond Plantation.

This site was designed and is maintained by AccessCom

</PRE>

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