The Witmore Brousard Case: A Disturbing Tale of Deception and Murder

In August 1848, the sudden disappearance of Samuel Whitmore and his family rocked the community of Baton Rouge. Samuel Whitmore, a wealthy plantation owner, and his family seemingly vanished without a trace. A local shop owner, Richard Caldwell, found a carriage near the Mississippi River belonging to the Whitmore family, but there was no sign of the family. The only items found in the carriage were a glove, a notebook, and a silver locket.

The official story told by Samuel Whitmore was that he had gone to visit his brother in Natchez, but this was quickly dismissed, as there was no record of any brother. His absence became a subject of quiet concern, but no one in the community seemed overly worried. In fact, the work on the plantation continued as usual, with the enslaved workers remaining unaware of the family’s disappearance.

The investigation was delayed, and the answers remained hidden for decades. A disturbing report emerged, revealing that a woman named Adeline Brousard, an enslaved houseworker, began to act strangely in the wake of the family’s disappearance. She was found wearing Mrs. Whitmore’s clothes and began giving orders, impersonating the family matriarch. The most chilling part of the story was that she began to represent herself as Mrs. Whitmore to outsiders and plantation visitors, fooling many into believing the family had simply gone away on business.

As time went on, it became clear that something sinister had occurred. The family’s disappearance was covered up, with local officials, including the sheriff, turning a blind eye to the truth. It wasn’t until the testimony of Isaiah Cooper, a former enslaved person, came to light that the true horror of the situation was revealed.

Cooper’s account, supported by other testimonies, described how Adeline had poisoned the entire Whitmore family. After their deaths, Adeline, along with several of the enslaved workers, took part in burying the family’s bodies and covering up the crime. This was not just a tragic case of a woman’s revenge against her cruel owner, but also a complete breakdown of the social and racial structures of the time.

The case was intentionally kept quiet, with Judge Martin Lambert, who had been investigating the case, facing threats and ultimately losing his position. The cover-up extended beyond the Whitmore plantation, as the surrounding community seemed to accept Adeline’s new role as the head of the household, ignoring the truth.

Adeline Brousard: The Woman Who Took Over

Adeline Brousard was an enslaved woman bought by Samuel Whitmore in 1842. She had been educated and spoke both English and French fluently. Initially, she worked as Mrs. Whitmore’s maid, but over the years, Samuel Whitmore’s treatment of her grew cruel. Cooper’s testimony suggested that over time, Adeline changed. She became a victim of Whitmore’s abuse, which broke something inside her.

On the night of August 1st, 1848, after a lavish dinner prepared by Adeline, the entire Whitmore family began showing signs of distress. According to Cooper’s account, they were poisoned by Adeline, and in the aftermath, she calmly orchestrated the cover-up, telling the enslaved people that the family had gone to Natchez and that she would manage the household in their absence. The community, including local plantation owners, simply looked away.

A Portrait of Silence and Deception

What makes this case so disturbing isn’t just the murder, but the way society turned a blind eye to the reality of what had happened. Adeline was allowed to take over the plantation and pose as Mrs. Whitmore, even though everyone knew the truth. But admitting the truth was too terrifying for the community — both white and black — so they chose to maintain the fiction.

Despite the clear signs that something horrific had happened, the community chose silence. They chose to accept the story Adeline had crafted, rather than face the truth that an enslaved woman had taken her revenge and erased the family that had once controlled her life.

The Fate of the Whitmore Plantation

The Witmore plantation remained active, and the records of the estate continued to be managed under Adeline’s leadership. When the Civil War disrupted the economy, the plantation continued, albeit at a smaller scale. In 1866, after the war, the plantation was formally transferred to a woman named Adelaide White, described in the records as a “free woman of color.”

This shift in ownership marked the final stage in Adeline’s transformation from an enslaved woman to a plantation mistress. Under her new identity, she not only survived but thrived. The transition of the plantation’s ownership to her also marked the end of the Whitmore family’s legacy.

The Erasure of History

Despite the efforts to keep the truth hidden, pieces of the story survived. Letters, testimonies, and records from the time continued to surface, shedding light on the terrible events at the Witmore plantation. One letter, written by Caroline Bowmont, Elizabeth Whitmore’s sister, expressed her growing concern over the disappearance of her sister’s family. She, too, was met with indifference and hostility when she tried to investigate.

Ultimately, the story was erased from the public record, but the legacy of the Witmore case still lingers. As the years passed, the plantation was redeveloped, and the memories of the horrific events were buried beneath the expanding city of Baton Rouge.

The Enduring Legacy

The case of the Witmore family is not just a story of murder, but a story about the power of denial and the ability of a society to erase uncomfortable truths. The people involved — both the victims and the perpetrators — were caught in a system that allowed them to look away and continue on with their lives.

In the years since, the story has emerged in fragments, passed down through oral histories and academic studies. But the full story is still difficult to face. As Dr. Marcus Freeman wrote, the Witmore Brousard case represents a tragedy that “reveals our willingness to embrace a lie rather than face a truth that disturbs our sense of order.”

The story of the Witmore family and Adeline Brousard reminds us that history is often shaped by the narratives we choose to accept. Sometimes, the most disturbing horrors aren’t the ones we can see, but the ones we refuse to acknowledge. This is the real tragedy — the death of an entire family, and the silence that followed, allowing a community to maintain a comfortable fiction at the cost of confronting the ugly truths lurking just beneath the surface.