Aldige Tomb / Langles Monument

EDIT AND BIG “OOPS:” Big time THANK YOU to Gé Brogden, who took the time to write and correct me about this tomb.

Beware, beware, beware of the reliability of online research. I know better, but didn’t double check, because…well, because the story fit. Two women, dead from the sinking of a ship, just like the ones depicted on this tomb, in the same cemetery, in the same row, even, sooooo…must be the same tomb, right?

No. This beautiful tomb was erected to honor members of the Aldige family who were, like the Langles family, residents of New Orleans and victims of the sinking of the Bourgogne.

But…and here’s an important distinction…without all the infighting and nastiness. I’ve corrected the info below and apologize for the error. Again, thanks to Gé for setting me straight.

Photos of the Aldige tomb of two angels clinging to each other and weeping as they stand on the anchor of a sinking ship follows, and those of the Langles monument are below.

They were broadsided by a British iron ship and saved only 164 of the 725 passengers- oddly, 120 of those were crew, there were 0 children saved and only 1 woman.*

Thus began a years long bizarre lawsuit because the women had reciprocal wills- the mother left everything to her daughter, and the daughter left everything to the mother, so whose heirs would get not one but two considerable fortunes hinged on the question of who died first.

Normally, you’d think the mother, being older (as mothers are apt to be), would’ve died first, but the daughter was sickly and frail and wouldn’t have lasted long in the water.

Also in question was what country’s laws to follow- dead Americans aboard a French ship, struck by an English ship in international waters.

Ultimately, though, it was decided that they would follow the traditional lines of succession, and the daughter’s heirs inherited all- not happy with just that, they tried to have removed the only stipulation in her will- that $3,000 be set aside for her tomb.

If you’d like to read the whole history of the case, you can find it here.

The family didn’t want to spend the money (a tiny fraction of the estate, even in 1905) on a tomb with no body to be interred, and the judge scolded them at length for their greed. In the end, the only inscription on the obelisk is their last name and the Supreme Court case number.

*In fact, the first news from the ship was sent back was as follows:
Less Than 200 were Saved, and the
Survivors Tell a Terrible Story of the
Battle for Life aboard the Ship, in the
Boats and on Rafts.
The Crew Threw Women and Children
into the Sea to Save Themselves”

Similar Posts:

• St. Marys Assumption and St. Alphonsus Churches
• “Our James” – Swoop Tomb, St. Patrick’s Cemetery
• St. Louis No. 2
• Don’t wanna work. Wanna whine.
• Myrtles Plantation