LIBRARY BLOG
Our Terrebonne Parish Resident Ghost
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Ghost stories have been around for as long as people have been dying, and they often gain cultural significance when shared and retold over time. As we look to understand death and the afterlife, ghosts occasionally manifest in the research, and Louisiana has quite the archive. Terrebonne Parish, with its tall, moss-covered oak trees looming over old, antebellum houses like the Ardoyne Plantation off of 311 truly set the scene for paranormal activity. Even Hollywood enjoys using our bayou country for eerie films. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, Terrebonne’s folklore is full of them, and we’d like to share one of our favorites.
Sarah Dunn Gagne, an early-Houma native, is documented in volume three of Helen Wurzlow’s I Dug Up Houma-Terrebonne series. Sarah was considered a remarkable character who kept a journal of daily happenings that included her husband Joseph and their household of 10 children. It’s recorded that Sarah lived through and possibly witnessed a Civil War incident where several men—her husband being among them—were “forced [by Union soldiers] to dig up the bodies” of Union soldiers who were captured and killed by the townsfolk. In 1865, she wrote, “a new calvary of Yankee soldiers came to Houma last night…I heard the cannon and saw the smoke of the cannon in Houma.” There was another incident where Union soldiers “threatened to kill one of the servants” if she didn’t reveal the silver in the home. Now, I’m no doctor, but I think it’s safe to say that there’s some trauma there, because anyone experiencing a home invasion would certainly be affected to some degree, right?
It seems Sarah thought that after experiencing so much in the house, it was hers forever. Legend has it that after her death in 1903 and a change of ownership of the Gagne home, Sarah came back as a ghost, haunting the house and scaring its residents with a good ole “I want my house. Get out!” And it worked. The first and second families living in the home both packed up their things and scurried off quickly. If you’re in the area, here’s a heads up: Sarah and her family were buried in a private cemetery behind the home, so she doesn’t need to take an Uber in order to spook a few humans before her morning coffee.
Gagne Graveyard Cemetery: Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana
Photo from Louisiana Gravestones
In 1919, after the ghost moments became well-known across town, the Methodist Episcopal Church bought 18 acres of land which included the Gagne house. Deaconess Ella Hooper and the Methodist Women’s Missionary Council began a school for girls there. They also knew of Sarah’s ghostly appearances and chalked the hocus pocus up to squirrels dropping pecans (maybe an assortment of nuts or trail mix?) down the gutters. If these critters are to blame for scaring off residents, the council owes the squirrels a big thank you for helping them get this sought-after estate.
Sarah Dunn Gagne’s live oak tree stands next to the National Historic Wesley House.
Out of curiosity, I decided to visit the grounds where the Gagne family lived and learned that residents and staff over the years have had what could be described as paranormal experiences on the property. Several staff claimed to have seen a man wearing a straw hat and overalls walking around the estate doing a bunch of nothing. His deep voice could sometimes be heard throughout the halls of the buildings, but no one has been able to make out what he was saying. Others smelled cookies baking when there were no cookies to be found, and an unknown family was briefly seen in the ground’s cafeteria. Was straw-hat-overall–man baking cookies for a lovely ghost family? If so, that’s my kind of ghost.
While Sarah’s ghost story is entertaining and has thus been thoroughly debunked by Ella Hooper, I’d be remiss not to mention that Sarah is also known for planting several live oaks on the lush 18 acres. One of these trees is named after Sarah Dunn Gagne herself and stands to the right of the National Historic Wesley House. For all the spooking Sarah’s ghost might’ve done, her tree has sheltered children as they’ve played, learned, and grown into young adults. Sarah may or may not be a ghost, but at least she left Terrebonne Parish with a pretty awesome tree to admire.
Learn more about Terrebonne Parish
If you’re interested in learning more about Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, Helen Wurzlow provides a comprehesive record of its local history in her seven-book series I Dug Up Houma-Terrebonne. Most of this collection was first written and published in the 1970s via Terrebonne Parish’s local newspaper, The Houma Courier.
A few more ghosty reads you may enjoy
-Rachel LeCompte, Reference Department