NOLA Ghosts

2. Beauregard-Keyes House

New Orleans, LA

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Briefly the home of General P.G.T. Beauregard, who would fire the first shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter, this antebellum home has long been said to house a number of hauntings. In the nearly two centuries of its existence, the home has accumulated a number of restless spirits. Confederate soldiers, mafia gunmen, a chess champion, and even a handful of beloved family pets are said to spend their afterlife here in the mansion. Built in 1826 for Joseph le Capentier, the ghost of his grandson, the famed chess champion Paul Morphy, is said to inhabit the home. Morphy was said to have spent many happy hours in his grandfather's home throughout his years, and perhaps this is why his spirit is still drawn back here. He is heard playing the piano in the front parlor. Morphy's ghost is also said to still be willing to play a game of chess with a worthy opponent: chess boards left out overnight will often have their pieces moved overnight, often corresponding with famous chess strategies pioneered by Morphy. General Beauregard lived in this home for two years, just after the end of the Civil War. Almost immediately upon taking up residence in the home, Beauregard began to hear what sounded like distant gunshots and cannon fire. Over the course of many months, these sounds would seemingly get closer and closer, soon joined by the moans and groans of dying soldiers. Soon these apparitions would begin to appear before Beauregard's eyes, the wretched spirits of the men who had died under his command. The final straw came when one of these bloodied ghosts stood in front of Beauregard and hoarsely shrieked "Shiloh!", the name of the battle in which Beauregard had lost many soldiers in a poorly-designed battle maneuver. It seems that the general had brought these spirits back from the battlefield to New Orleans when he returned at the end of the war. He would move out of the home just two years after taking residence. The soldiers' ghosts, it seems, liked the mansion more than Beauregard: their ghosts stayed in the mansion after his departure. Decades later, in 1904, the home was occupied by an Italian wine merchant, Pietro Giacono. Giacono and his family fall victim to a ransom scheme executed by the Italian mafia in New Orleans. In 1908 a $3000 ransom was demanded by the local crime boss, or else the Giaconos would pay with their lives. The family refuses to pay, and on June 17 of that year, four enforcers with the local crime boss arrive to collect, but the Giaconos were waiting � with loaded shotguns. They shot and killed three of the intruders, leaving the fourth badly injured. This gun battle is said to be played out over and over again through the years, with passersby hearing gunshots, panicked shouts in Italian, and the thud of bodies hitting the pavement in front of this gracious home. During the 1920s the author Francis Parkinson Keyes takes up residence in this mansion. She was said to be so affected by the spirit activity in the home that after a few years she would refuse to step foot in the main home, relegating herself to a detached slave quarters in the rear of the property, which she said was less filled with spirit activity. Some claim to seem Ms. Keyes spirit in the garden adjacent to the home, where she passed many hours writing and reading. Keyes would die in the house, followed days later by her beloved cocker spaniel, Lucky, who also haunts the mansion, along with a long-haired white cat.