Oak and Laurel Cemetery Preservation, LLC
  • About
  • Services
  • Portfolio
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • Blog

Llulla’s Louisa Street Legacy:  St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery and its Famous Founder

3/6/2016

20 Comments

 
Picture
Louisa Street gate, St. Vincent de Paul No. 1 (Photo by Emily Ford)
​On March 6, 1888, Don José “Pepe” Llulla died in what is now the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans.  At the age of 73, Llulla had made himself famous for two things:  he was a renowned duelist, and he also owned St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery.
 
Llulla’s life was the kind from which New Orleans legend are spun.  He was a valiant Spanish swordsman who frequently took up the mantles of honor and integrity on the field of one-on-one battle.  Upon being knighted by the King of Spain, he was gifted a wreath of victory spun from the shining tresses of Spanish women’s hair.  He once pulled a machete on a Cuban revolutionary.  His legacy, then, is double-edged: Llulla’s contribution to the landscape of New Orleans cemeteries is second only to his impact on the city’s romantic imagination.[1]
The Gentleman Duelist
Pepe Llulla was born in 1815 on the island of Menorca in the Mediterranean.  Today, the island is part of Spain.[2]  At a young age, Llulla became a sailor.  First under the mentorship of an English captain and later as an independent seafarer, Llula traversed “with whalers to the Antarctic Zone, and with slavers to the West African coast, and, after voyaging in all parts of the world, entered the service of some merchant company whose vessels plied between New Orleans and Havana.”[3]  Census records suggest that Llulla settled in New Orleans around 1840, at the age of 25.  At that time, he had secured a position working security for a ballroom and social hall.

Picture
Don Jose "Pepe" Llulla (1815-1888) (Wikimedia Commons)
The nature of his work in New Orleans caused Llulla to gravitate toward the art of fencing, which was practiced not only in combat but in private salons.  Llulla studied under a local duelist from Alsace named L’Alouiette, whose salon he later took over and became teacher himself.  From here, Llulla’s reputation as a witty, cunning, and skilled fencer and duelist only grew.  Although additionally skilled with firearms, his weapons of choice were more often swords, foils, and (to a lesser extent) knives.
 
Accounts differ as to how many duels Pepe Llulla actually engaged in (and won), but they generally agree between twenty and thirty matches.  Hearn notes that many of these ended not in bloodshed but with the retreat of his opponent.  In fact, he suggests that Llulla only actually killed two men.  The only match which Pepe had declined was reportedly one in which the opponent chose “poisoned pills” as his weapon of choice – a type of Russian roulette with cyanide – and this only after objection from the duel’s referees.  
Picture
The "dueling oaks," in Audubon Park. Print by Harry Fenn (c. 1895) (Wikimedia Commons)
While Llulla’s opponents on the field of honor were of many backgrounds – New Orleans Creoles, Alsatians, Germans, and others – he made special efforts to combat Cubans.  The man with the poisoned pills was from Havana.  In another instance, a Cuban opponent chose machetes as the weapon of choice, as he believed that such weapons were not available in New Orleans.  From the account, it appears as if Llulla instantly produced two matchetes, at which point the Cuban disappeared.
 
Beginning in the 1860s and finally culminating decades after Llulla’s death, the cause of Cuban independence from Spain had a theater in New Orleans.  Cuban revolutionaries frequented the Louisiana port and sought support among the Spanish-speaking citizens of the city.  Llulla’s passionate Spanish patriotism flared especially against these men, whom he saw as traitors.  Reportedly, he posted flyers all over New Orleans in French, English, and Spanish languages, challenging any Cuban revolutionary to duel him personally.  Llulla’s reputation and bravado prevented any takers to this challenge, although it did lead to a number of assassination attempts, one of which reportedly occurred in Llulla’s own cemetery, although he escaped unharmed.  For his bravery and loyalty, Llulla was formally knighted by Kings Charles III of Spain, who awarded him “a wreath and likeness of himself made from the silken tresses of Spanish ladies’ hair.”[4]
 
Through his lifetime, Pepe Llulla dabbled in many different business ventures.  He purchased real estate and ran a logging company.  For some time, he staged bull fights in Algiers.  Yet he is best remembered as the proprietor of the “Louisa Street cemeteries,” which he likely purchased in the 1840s – although one source states date of purchase as 1857.
Picture
Winged hourglass, Hazenkampf tomb, St. Vincent de Paul No. 1 (Photo by Emily Ford)
“One of Our Finest and Best-Managed Burial Grounds”
St. Vincent de Paul Cemeteries No. 1 and 2 are located on Louisa Street, near Robertson in the St. Claude neighborhood of New Orleans.  Often confused with another set of cemeteries with the same name located Uptown, these cemeteries were likely the parish cemeteries for the Catholic church of St. Vincent de Paul, located on Dauphine Street in the Bywater neighborhood.
 
The exact founding date of this cemetery is quite unclear.  Some sources have presumed the property came into use as a burying ground in the 1830s, but an exact citation or primary source is not provided.  In fact, the exact year in which Llulla purchased the cemetery remains unclear.  On the far periphery of twentieth century studies of New Orleans cemeteries, St. Vincent de Paul experiences the twin historical blows of scant documentation and academic apathy.
[5]
Picture
Tomb of the United Brethren Society (1860s) (above) and Benevolent Association of the Sons of Louisiana (1873) (right) (Photos by Emily Ford)
Picture
Despite its present-day low profile, St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery flourished under the management of Pepe Llulla.  Wall vaults in the cemetery’s oldest sections are galleries for some of the most talented stonecarving of the 1840s and 1850s – the delicate hand-tooled flowers of Florville Foy, ornate German Fraktur by Anthony Barret, inverted torches and wreaths carved by Americo Marozzi and Audré Samonzet are all present.  The integrity of these stones surpasses that of even the older, better-known St. Louis Cemeteries, which have been frequently altered over time.  Most of these tablets are framed with railings of cast- and wrought-iron, accented with zinc finials.
 
The aisles of St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery No. 1 retain the marks of large-scale tomb development.  Rows of identically-built structures line the brick-paved walkways, each bearing the alterations and changes in material that would develop over time and use.  The society tombs of the United Brethren and Sons of Louisiana (signed by “Joseph Llulla, 1873”) while today faded from their Classical-revival glory, bely the historic grandeur of the landscape.
 
In the 1870s, St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery was described as “one of our finest and best-managed burial grounds” by the New Orleans Democrat.  By this time, the cemetery had developed into a verdant landscape with reportedly excellent drainage – a constant problem in New Orleans cemeteries.  Juniper and cedar trees shaded the aisles, roses and other fragrant flowers grew in the garden lot of the Hermann Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (no longer present today).  Newspapers even took note that families in Uptown New Orleans had begun to purchase lots in St. Vincent de Paul, preferring it to the Lafayette Cemeteries of their home district.[6]
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Above Left:  1845 tablet in French carved by German carver Vlau.  Above Right:  1853 tablet for Cuban native, carved by French carver Florville Foy.  Bottom Left:  1862 tablet in German carved by Italian carver Azereto.  Bottom Right:  1852 tablet in French carved by Italian carver Parelli. (Photos by Emily Ford)
The cultural associations of those who buried loved ones in St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery No. 1 and 2 are strikingly diverse.  While in other cemeteries it is clear that those with linguistic or national similarities typically utilized the same burying grounds – for example, French-speakers in St. Louis No. 2, Americans in Lafayette No. 1, Italians in St. Roch No. 2 – St. Vincent de Paul represents all walks of life and nations of origin.  Tablets in French, English, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and even Chinese line its wall vaults.  In addition to the tombs of the French Sons of Louisiana and the Societe Francaise, St. Vincent de Paul was also once home to tombs dedicated to the members of the German Louisiana Wolthatickeits Verein and Italian Tiro al Bersaglio, although both tombs have since disappeared.
Picture
Aisles of identical tombs line St. Vincent de Paul No. 1. These were likely constructed between 1870-1880. (Photo by Emily Ford)
After Llula’s death in 1888, sources state that ownership of the cemetery was passed on to Llulla’s children – although this fact may be incorrect, as Llulla’s only son died in the 1860s, and he had but one other daughter.  It is possible that his siblings obtained ownership.  For this reason, it is unclear whether management of the cemetery after 1888 was effective or perhaps misguided.  The landscape of the cemetery shows slowed development and little new tomb construction with the exception of some large, 1920s-style tombs near the Villere Street wall vaults.  St. Vincent de Paul No. 2, which sits between Desire and Piety Streets, shows an explosion of coping construction, likely between 1910 and 1930.  It was during this period that two of St. Vincent de Paul’s more famous “residents” were buried, the African American spiritualist leader Mother Catherine Seal and the Romany “queen” Marie Boscho.[7]
 
In 1910, ownership of the St. Vincent de Paul Cemeteries transferred to the Stewart family.  Stewart Enterprises later became the second-largest funerary corporation in the world, which also owned Metairie-Lakelawn Cemetery and Mount Olivet Cemetery in Gentilly.  During this time, St. Vincent de Paul No. 3 was heavily developed, including a large community mausoleum on Villere Street. 
 
In 2005, a service building and other property belonging to St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery on Louisa Street was damaged in Hurricane Katrina and was demolished.  In 2013, Stewart Enterprises was purchased by first-largest funerary corporation Service Corporation International (SCI), who now owns St. Vincent de Paul Nos. 1, 2, and 3.
Picture
Piety Street wall vaults prior to "improvement." September 2015.
Picture
Piety Street wall vaults after inappropriate "improvement" which will damage this 140 year-old structure over time. March 2016.
Picture
Iron enclosures removed from wall vaults and lying tangled in aisleway. March 2016.
A Threatened Legacy
In 2015, SCI announced that it would spend $7.2 million in “improvements” to its recently-acquired cemeteries in New Orleans, including St. Vincent de Paul.  Unfortunately, these improvements have dangerously ignored preservation ethics and best practices.  For St. Vincent de Paul No. 1, this has meant encasing the Louisa, Urquhart, and Piety-street wall vaults in heavy, inappropriate Portland cement-based stucco, as well as treating its 140 year-old tablets with harsh bleach and pressure washing.  Perhaps most troubling, the delicate ironwork rails that once framed each wall vault have been torn out and lay entangled in the cemetery’s aisles.  The extent of the damage to these vaults will only be truly visible in decades to come, when material constrictions, lack of ventilation, and material weight will destroy the historic fabric underneath.
 
The legacy of Pepe Llulla is one of romance and anachronistic bravado, of sword fights and burning candles on marble tombs through the night of All Saints’ Day.  The place of the cemetery he built in New Orleans’ larger funerary landscape is much more important than it has been given credit for.  If this fact is not soon realized, St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery will be lost before it is ever truly understood.
Picture
c. 1850 limestone tablet carved by Anthony Barret in German Fraktur lettering. This tablet was irreversibly damaged by pressure washing.
[1] The vast majority of knowledge regarding Don Pepe Llulla comes from the observations of Lafcadio Hearn, whose documentation of Llulla appears to have influenced all later writing on the man. 
Lafcadio Hearn, and S. Frederick Starr, ed., Inventing New Orleans:  The Writings of Lafcadio Hearn (Oxford:  University Press of Mississippi, 2001), 49-60.
[2] Ciaran Conliffe, “Jose ‘Pepe’ Llulla:  The Gravedigging Duelist,” http://www.headstuff.org/2015/03/jose-pepe-llulla-the-gravedigging-duellist/
[3] Hearn, 52.
[4] “Death of Senor Don Jose Llulla,” States Item, March 7, 1888, p. 4.
[5] Christovich, Huber, et. al., New Orleans Architecture, Vol. III:  The Cemeteries (Gretna:  Pelican Publishing, 1974), 32.
[6] “A Mournful Holiday. How All Saints’ Day Was Celebrated in Our Cemeteries,” New Orleans Democrat, November 2, 1878, p. 8; “All Saints’ Day. An Outpouring of All Our Population to Decorate the Graves,” New Orleans Democrat, Nov. 2, 1878, p. 1.
[7] Author Zora Neale Hurston wrote an excellent piece on Mother Catherine, which can be read here:  http://www.fiftytwostories.com/?p=1068. 
20 Comments
Janice Broussard Coari
3/23/2016 09:24:12 am

Loved your articles. Well written and great photos. Thanks for your dedication and hard work.

Reply
Emily link
3/24/2016 06:21:42 am

Janice, thanks so much for the kind words. It's very much a labor of love!

Reply
Linda Suarez Lee
8/4/2016 12:54:44 pm

Loved reading this. Have some additional info if interested. Pepe Llula is my great, great granfather. His daughter Luisa married Manuel Suarez. Manuel, according to an obituary I have, took over as Sexton of St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery after the death of Llula in 1888.

Reply
Emily Ford link
8/5/2016 08:32:28 am

Dear Linda,

I've seen Suarez' name signed on tablets in St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery! It's remarkable how often it turns out that a lot of these signatures were so closely related.

I would love to learn more. I'll be in touch by email if that's okay.

Thanks for your comment!

Reply
Nancy Suarez Gustitus
10/19/2016 02:37:49 pm

Not to muddy the waters but perhaps the Suarez signature is not just that of Manuel. Manuel's younger brother Vincente also worked for Llulla and was married to his daughter Isabella. So brothers married sisters. Isabella died in 1880 and sometime thereafter Vincente remarried and moved to Chicago. I am the great granddaughter of Vincente. Not sure if you are still researching anything but feel free to contact me.

Nancy Suarez Gustitus
10/19/2016 02:41:25 pm

Linda, your great grandfather and mine (Vincente) were brothers. I am working with two of the Llulla relatives in Spain contributing to a family tree they started. If you are interested, please contact me. I believe you will receive my email address thru this site?

Reply
Emily Ford
10/20/2016 10:04:09 am

Dear Nancy,

It's so exciting to hear from you! Linda was excited to see your comment as well. I'm not sure if she can see your email via your comment, but please drop me a line at restoration@oakandlaurel.com and I'll put you in touch. I've already learned so much about this family from Linda, I'd love to chat with you as well about your remarkable family.

Best,

Emily Ford

Janice Broussard Coari
11/6/2016 03:00:37 pm

Hi and thanks again for your great work on st. Vincent de Paul cemeteries. I have u covered documents that show Pepe llula and my great grandfather were friends and business associates. My great grandfather Juan Preto y Frederick was. Also from Majorca, Spain. Juan died in 1872 and I recently obtained a copy of the original deed for the vault signed by Pepe Llula. I can scan. And send you a Copy if you'd like to see it. I was a.azed to find out I am a part owner of the vault as the deeds were recorded "in perpetuity" so they were passed down to the heirs. Very pleased to know this, but sad to see the historic aspect is disappearing. I have 5 generations buried there, including my brother and father up to my 2 x great grandparents. Sad state of affairs. Thanks for the March 2016 pics. I am afraid to visit there alone. Dangerous area😑live your work, thanks so much.

Reply
Emily Ford
11/7/2016 12:18:24 pm

Dear Janice,

It's great to hear from you! I'd love to discuss your family heritage in St. Vincent de Paul with you. And would ABSOLUTELY love to see a copy of the original deed from St. Vincent de Paul. Please contact me anytime at restoration@oakandlaurel.com or by phone at (504) 602-9718.

Thanks so much for your comment. I'm very grateful to have been put in touch with so many St. Vincent de Paul families.

Reply
Daria Felice Palmer
10/19/2018 09:44:56 am

Dear Janice,
I would be happy to go down there with you. My great (great?) grandfather was a friend and business associate of Llulla as well. I have 5 generations of family there including my mother and am wondering how you found the original deed. I would like to find ours. Also, correcting inaccuracies in the records of the current cemetery owner has been difficult. The staff does not return phone calls. Very frustrating!
Anyway, much thanks for your useful information.

Daria Felice Palmer



Much thanks,

Reply
Janice Broussard Coari
4/4/2019 12:04:14 pm

I obtained the original deed to the vaults and tomb in 1991 when my uncle passed away .You can visit the office at greenwood cemetery on Canal Blvd. for copies of deeds. They don't answer their phones the best way is to go down there in person as they have all the records of St . Vincent de Paul. Good luck to you.

www.herooutdoors.com link
2/16/2017 12:20:46 am

The degree of the harm to these vaults might be genuinely noticeable in decades to come, when material tightening influences, absence of ventilation, and material weight will demolish the notable texture underneath.

Reply
Judy Geddes Bajoie link
4/4/2019 03:22:18 am

Wonderful article!
Note: #MotherCatherineSeals funeral arrangements were handled by #GeorgeDGeddesUndertakers, in 1930.
Obituary @
George D. Geddes History and Legacy on Facebook


Reply
Ken mclaughlin link
6/9/2020 09:57:43 am

Are burial records available anywhere? My GGrandfather was buried there in 1892, died Jan 4, 1892.

Very distressing to read about the recent care (or lack of care) by SCI. Thanks, your writings are terrific.

Reply
Emily Ford
9/27/2020 05:21:21 pm

Dear Mr. McLaughlin,

I'm so sorry that I just saw your comment. The records for St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery are owned and managed by SCI. If you call Lake Lawn-Metairie Cemetery, they can put you in touch with the records department and they can do a search for your great grandmother. I'm not 100% sure their records go back that far, but it's definitely worth a shot.

Reply
Michael Edward Hingle
9/25/2020 10:34:40 pm

Thank you for this article. There are Hingle family members spread out throughout number 1 and 2.

My immediate family is in number 1. The first person listed is my great-grandmother, Mrs Walter Hingle. She died in 1918 working as a nurse at Mercy hospital during the Spanish flu.

I've been thinking a lot about that recently during covid-19 times. Your article is the best history of the cemetery that I've ever read.

Reply
Emily Ford
9/27/2020 05:19:44 pm

Dear Mr. Hingle,

Thank you so much for the kind words! It's always so wonderful to meet someone who has family buried in St. Vincent de Paul, especially someone as courageous as your great-grandmother.

Reply
william hill link
9/27/2020 11:14:09 am

Could someone tell me where Jose "Pepe" Lulla's tome is located in the cemetary? I plan on visiting, I have an ancestor that was friendly with Pepe Lulla back in the 1850 time era. My Great Grand Father's Uncle was a respected New Orleans Blacksmith and shoed some of Mr. Lulla's horses and repaired his carriage. His shop was near what is today Audobon Park.

Reply
Emily Ford
9/27/2020 05:23:09 pm

Dear Mr. Hill,

What a cool family legacy! Pepe Llulla is buried in the Suarez family tomb. If you come in from Louisa Street, make your first left at the wall vaults, and it should be the second or third aisle on your right, the tomb will be on your left right as you turn in.

Reply
Emily Shamburger
10/11/2020 03:32:18 pm

I live 2 blocks from this cemetery and just walked through today. I will have to go back in light of this article to take note of some of the information you pointed out. This is very interesting and well-written, thank you!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    ​About the Author:

    Emily Ford owns and operates Oak and Laurel Cemetery Preservation, LLC.  

    In addition to client-directed research, she meanders through archives and cemetery architectural history. 

    Follow Oak and Laurel's blog for updates and check out our Facebook page for more interesting content.

    Archives

    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015

    Categories

    All
    All Saints Day
    Brick
    Burial Records
    Canal Street Cemeteries
    Cemetery Symbolism
    Ceramic Portraits
    Chalmette National Cemetery
    Charity Hospital Cemetery
    Civil War
    Community Mausoleums
    Cypress Grove Cemetery
    Epidemics
    Girod Street Cemetery
    Greenwood Cemetery
    Historic Preservation
    Jewish Cemeteries
    Labor History
    Lafayette Cemetery No. 1
    Lafayette Cemetery No. 2
    Landscape Preservation
    Marble And Granite
    Mardi Gras
    Masonry
    Metairie Cemetery
    Odd Fellows Rest
    Sextons
    Society Tombs
    St. Joseph Cemetery No. 1
    St. Louis Cemetery No. 1
    St. Louis Cemetery No. 2
    St. Louis Cemetery No. 3
    Stonecutters
    St. Patrick Cemeteries
    St. Roch Cemetery
    St. Vincent De Paul Cemetery
    Vandalism
    World War I
    World War II
    Yellow Fever

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!

    CONTACT US

Submit
About
​
Blog
Services
Portfolio
Resources
Contact
Proudly powered by Weebly