Location: The Historic Dumaine Plantation has been the local social hub of the tiny community of Dumaine for over thirty years. The small village is located five miles outside of Gretna, Louisiana in Jefferson County, ten miles east of New Orleans on Highway 39.

Description Of Place: Two stories tall with an attic and full basement, the Dumaine House is an antebellum residence replete with five Dorian columns out front on a large property including gardens, a barn (which burned down in 1979) and outbuildings. There are two graveyards on the land, one for the family and one for the old family slaves. The main house is decorated in 18th Century style Southern furnishings and includes large rooms, massive chimneys, a period kitchen and large parlor with minimal modern necessities such as electricity and modern plumbing.

Ghostly Manifestations: Joseph and Emily Armsworth and their two children moved into the antebellum home in 1978. Back then, the historical residence was in a state of neglect and badly in need of attention. Joseph was a historian and preservationist in American History, and the location was offered to him to restore to its original grandeur, but as is in the cases of so many others before him and to come, he forgot that some locations come with their own memory.

The Armsworths had two children, Constance and Alexander. Eleven years old at the time, Alex recalls being antagonized by the move as a lot of children would be at forced to move from home, but the property was very interesting to explore because of all the extra structures on the property, especially the barn used to store the belongings of past tenants. He was able to choose his own bedroom, but as he recalls, the window tended to stay open. It was something that failed to attract his attention, but over the few weeks, he began to realize its significance.

"I never believed in ghosts before I moved into the house." Alex now works as a forty-something forensic analyst for the Dallas Police Department. "I don't think I'd even seen a horror movie in my life, but now, I consider myself a believer because I encountered the ghost of Inez Dumaine as a kid."

As it turns out, Alex had chosen the former bedroom of Inez Dumaine, a young girl who had vanished under strange circumstances in the 19th Century. Known as the ghost of Dumaine Plantation, her spirit had been described haunting the house since the 1890s. Caretakers reported her footsteps, her voice in empty rooms, doors creaking upen and closed by themselves and the pattering and clicking of the feet of a phantom dog running through the premises. It is believed when Inez vanished in 1862, she owned a small toy poodle.

Over a few days of staying in the house, Alex recalls hearing a voice calling to him from through the house.

"At first, you think its your imagination," Alex recalls. "But the harder you try to ignore it, the more obvious it becomes. It was a girl's voice echoing through the house, and I'm pretty sure the first time I heard it, I thought it was my sister trying to scare me, but eventually I began to realize this voice had a French accent, and quite frankly, Connie just isn't that good at faking that kind of stuff."

Alex has fewer memories and recollections of befriending a young neighbor girl who may have been Inez Dumaine appearing as a fully-materialized apparition that ran around the property with him as he explored the grounds and the loft of the barn. Instead, he rationalizes that who his sister and parents recall him hanging out with was Blossom Culp, the niece of Lavinia Culp, the resident housekeeper, who he lost contact with several years ago. However, in several photos recording the stages of preservation in the house, Joe Armsworth has photos of something else, such as orbs, odd light formations and even what looks like a young girl in period clothes peeking out from around doors and corners.

"There's one photo I remember seeing..." Alex reflects. "I don't know what happened to it, that was the photo of the house and gazebo where if you looked in the background over by the well house you could pick out what looks like a young girl standing and watching from the shadows and she appears to be holding a small dog. Logic tells you its just pattern recognition. I mean, you can look at anything and see what you want to see, but everyone who looked at it always commented, "Oh my God, you got the ghost in the photo!"

Alex was not the only person who experienced things in the house. Connie recalled hearing footsteps and noises from upstairs as well as having her blankets pulled off at night. People thought they heard barking where no dog existed. Her mother, Lillian, had a strange experience with a portrait that she sent out to get reframed. When it returned, she was stunned to realize that what was supposed to be a water-color portrait of Victoria Booker, the wife of the original owner, was actually a charcoal rendering in shades of black, grey and dark white. Blaming her faulty memory, she just hung it over the fireplace in the library and quickly forgot about it to go on with her life. A few days later, she was in the basement when she heard ladies’ voices upstairs in the library. Since ladies from the town preservationist society were always stopping by to check on the progress of the house, she shouted out that she would be right up, but when she arrived up at the library a few moments later, the room was empty, in addition to the entire house and the drive up to the property.

A few months later, Joseph was sitting in the library reading when he glanced up at the portrait and noticed that a charcoal rose was turning a brilliant red! When he walked to the picture, he noticed that the girl’s dark hair was lightening to show shades of violet and dark blue, and her light gray skin was starting to take on a peach tone! Over the next few days, the picture continued to change until it was once more a vibrant, colorful piece and the girl became a vibrant burnette with piercing blue eyes sitting in a green chair next to a jade colored vase holding a red rose.

The voices of women talking and laughing were heard intermittently during the months that the portrait was changing. After the picture was completely transformed, the voices were no longer heard.

During the time they lived in Dumaine Plantation, the whole family was experiencing the ghost of Inez Dumaine in some capacity or another. Several guests at a party in 1979 reported seeing her on the veranda or watching from the windows. Even Alex recalls that she seemed to have vanished completely by time he was fifteen, but Connie continued to hear footsteps and a phantom dog up until she left for college. When she came home for Thanksgiving with Violet Ostrum, a college roommate, Violet shared her room with her in the house, waking up in the middle of the night to see a young girl peeking into the bedroom and then vanishing. At breakfast, she inquired about Connie's little sister, but was met with confusion and perplexing responses.

Over the years, the smell of fresh oranges and roses sometimes wafts through the air, and a rocking chair in the attic is sometimes heard creaking by itself. Furniture can be heard being dragged across the attic floor, and heavy footsteps can often be heard going up and down the stairs. Lights go on and off for no reason. Alex often wonders if Inez still haunts the property, or if someone else lurks on the property who refuses to make himself known.

History: Built in 1745 on 15,000 acres by Amos Cole and his wife, Victoria Booker, on what was once remote property near Gretna, the property was won in a poker game by Captain Jacques Dumaine, a local riverboat captain. The community grew up around it following the Civil War by refugees who lost their homes in Mississippi to Union Soldiers with Dumaine established as a village in 1879.

According to tradition, the Southern-style mansion "held many stately balls until the estate fell into ruin under Captain Dumaine whose fondness for the bottle was out-matched by a fondness for gambling." His infamy came to an end in the Fall of 1862 when he went insane and hung himself in the hayloft of the barn. However, what the local lore doesn't mention is the rumor of an alleged treasure on the grounds for which Dumaine was reportedly searching. If any such treasure existed, it is doubtful.

Since then, the house and grounds had fallen into ruin since Dumaine's death until it was acquired in October 1978 by Joseph Armsworth, who spent a great deal of time, money and effort in the renovation of the huge estate. Now a local landmark, the property is used for local town galas to meet politicians and traveling celebrities as well as for holiday gatherings.

Identity Of Ghosts: According to legend, the ghost of Captain Dumaine wanders the house looking for treasure when he is not busy lurking around his tomb at Jefferson County Cemetery. However, the most oft reported ghost at Dumaine is that of Inez Dumaine, who drowned in the well house on the property in November 1862, and whose remains were recovered during the 1978 preservation. She was laid to rest in the family plot in Baton Rouge. However, another reputed phantom on the property is Amory Timmons, a local reprobate who worked on the property as caretaker from 1957 to 1978 when he was arrested for burning down the barn. Passing away in 1982 after a severe bout with alcohol, Timmons is believed to be lurking the grounds and the road to Highway 39. 

Source/Comments: Child of Glass (1978) - Activity and location loosely based on the Haw Branch Plantation near Amelia, Virginia, the Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana and Historic Allaire Village in Wall Township, New Jersey.