Carnival Day was celebrated on February 8, 2005, 

John Norris Teunisson was born in Pike County, Mississippi on January 20, 1869. He came to New Orleans 1892 and worked initially as an inspector for the Underwriters Inspection Bureau. The New Orleans city directories do not list him as a photographer until 1901, and the 1900 census gives his profession as "insurance inspector." In 1893, he married Mary Ellen Frost (his marriage announcement states that he was from Summit, Mississippi); the couple had four children, one of whom, Nellie May Teunisson, served for a time as her father's photographic assistant.  Once established, Teunisson had a long career as a photographer in New Orleans. His photographs were widely reproduced during his lifetime in tourist guides to New Orleans, in newspapers, and as postcards. In the 1950s, Teunisson moved to Washington, D.C., where he died on February 8, 1959, at the age of 90. He is buried in Metairie Cemetery. (NOPL)  View the New Orleans Public Library's collection of Teunisson photos.

On February 8, 1779, Governor Galvez called the Cabildo into extraordinary session to consider the epidemic of small pox, and having been advised of its prevalence along the river front, he has taken steps to isolate those afflicted to the other side of the river, notwithstanding the heavy expense to the Royal Treasury, providing excellent care and permitting parents to accompany their children. His Excellency suggested the calling of an assembly of prominent people and parents of the city to meet in this chamber with the Cabildo to determine measures to be taken, and if accepted, enforced. The Commissioners agreed to this, and also voted to implore the Governor to continue the care and attention of those afflicted with the disease. (NOPL)

On May 5, 1821, on the Isle of St. Helena, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte lay on his death bed. At his side was Dr. Francesco Antommarchi, the man who shared his exile, as well as being a friend and personal physician. When Napoleon took his last breath, it was Dr. Antommarchi who pronounced him dead and closed his eyes for the last time. To preserve the moment for all eternity, Dr. Antommarchi made plans to construct a mold for a death mask. Plaster necessary to make the mold was not immediately available because of a severe storm.

It was 40 hours after Napoleon’s death that proper materials were available. This unfortunate incident, along with Napoleon’s lingering and painful death, were the main reasons for the death mask looking more like Caesar than the Emperor Napoleon.

In 1824, Dr. Antommarchi reached France with his cherished mold. He was able to obtain a royal mandate to the French mint to make three bronze castings of Napoleon’s death mask. The first of the three to be cast was brought to New Orleans by Dr. Antommarchi in November of 1834; the other two were placed in a museum and a hotel in Paris.

The good doctor was received by the people of New Orleans with great enthusiasm. He was profoundly impressed by the generous sentiments of the populace, and he was moved to the point of donating the original casting of Napoleon’s death mask to the City of New Orleans.

After a fitting parade, the mask was put display in the illustrious Cabildo. It was appropriately placed in the same room where Louisiana, through Napoleon’s maneuvering, was transferred to the United States in 1803.

The mask of the dead exiled emperor remained at the Cabildo until 1852 when it was moved to the newly constructed City Hall on St. Charles Street – now Gallier Hall.

The war between the states brought destruction as well as confusion. In 1866, after the war had ended, Mr. Adam Griffin of New Orleans, while walking on Canal Street, saw the Napoleon death mask being carried away in a junk wagon. He purchased the mask from the junk dealer, took it home and displayed it on his library table. Upon his death in 1890, it was given to Mrs. Robert Griffin, the widow of his son. She sold it to Captain William G. Raoul, president of the Mexican National Railroad, who brought it to his home in Atlanta.

When New Orleans city officials finally found out where the mask was, they contacted Captain Raoul, who generously agreed to sell it back to the city of New Orleans for the price he paid plus interest. His only other request was that a fitting inscription of his act be placed beside the relic. Mayor Martin Behrman agreed to his terms, and the mask was returned to New Orleans on February 8, 1909. It was once again placed in the Cabildo after a 57-year absence.

From Cabildo to City Hall to who knows where before being put on a junk wagon, to two private homes, and then back to the Cabildo, where it survived the 1988 fire, the death mask of Emperor Napoleon, like the man himself, is well traveled, controversial and has remained very much in the news.

By Buddy Stall.  Source: Buddy Stall at http://clarionherald.org/20010802/stall.htm   Photo by heurtelions.