The Mummified Heart of an Historical Vampire - Real Vampirism - The one and only Auguste Delagrange

View the remains of Auguste Delagrange, including the desiccated lump of his well-preserved heart.

Hoodoo is often associated with the practice of harm. This is the exact opposite of its origin in African religion. In New Orleans some early black Americans continued to practice a religion centered on nature, where the goal of life was to achieve balance.

Some parishioners of Saint Beatrice church, approached the priest with fears about the recent crime wave in Louisiana. Whole families were being found, whose figures were completely drained. It was their concern that this was being caused by the nocturnal activity of Nosferatu. It was 1911 and the concept of a serialkiller was completely unknown.

Father Henri Jette assured them he would look into it. Henri's first thought was to seek the advice of his long-time friend, who was also his only local competition, the Hoodoo Doctor of the same district. His name was Moses Aubuchon.

Moses spent most of his life in a wheelchair, so it was usually Henri who brought the libation to Moses' residence. Moses agreed the suspect was most likely not a vampire, but said he was worried that if it was, he knew of no spirits which could be compelled to fight it. He insisted on carrying a wooden stake. Henri agreed to help him.

Moses marked the locations of the tragedies on a map. They followed the path of the railroad. That's why the police were rousting camps of vagrants near railway stations. But they were looking in the wrong place. Moses believed the suspect was an employee of the railroad itself.

Cheneyville was the only station along the route that was not associated with any incidents. Either Cheneyville was due, or it was the home town of the culprit. The two holy men claimed a bench on the loading dock, and night after night, they observed the comings and goings of train personnel. It was only five days before they got a lead.

They observed the arrival of a white porter, of middle age and red hair, with red splatter on his uniform, and his hands. Within twenty four hours they knew his name - Auguste Delagrange, reportedly a calm and reserved employee of the T&NO line. One more day, and they located his residence. That night they decided to act.

It was one of those shacks in the Bayou, without any neighbors. Henri was exhausted from pushing Moses' wheelchair over uneven ground, which was covered with roots, and pitted with soft soil. Their only defense was the stake that Moses insisted on bringing along. Henri would have to go in alone, because the wheelchair was too unwieldly.

Delagrange was asleep on his pallet. Henri drove the wood into the beating core of Auguste Delagrange. Delagrange made no sound, but his eyes opened wide with surprise, and then the light went out within them.

Perhaps because the victims were not white Americans, today the heroism of Henri Jette and Moses Aubuchon is all but forgotten.

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