The Origins of Doctor John
Doctor John is one of the most important figures in American Voodoo history, but before I begin to write about his significance and what he did in his life, I will first discuss how Doctor John became that way. He started out in telling his story by saying that his father had been a king in Senegal and he marked his face in the traditional custom of the royal family. When the Spaniards invaded, they were all sold into slavery. He became the slave to a man who lived in Cuba. In Cuba, John became such a great cook that he was able to bring his owner into letting him become a free man.
He then went to work on sailing vessels and on one of these trips he went back to Senegal. There he found out that his father had died, so he moved on. When the vessel reached New Orleans, he decided to quit. He then went on to work as a cotton roller on the docks. It was here that John believed that he discovered his “powers.” The employer noticed that all the others would listen to John when he spoke so he made John an overseer to the work. His fame began to spread, so then John began to charge people for his services on different things.
He bought property on Bayou Street with the money and built a house on it. He then started to buy slaves, but only females. He even married some of them, where he performed his own ceremonies. It is believed that he had approximately 15 wives and 50 children. In his home he contained snakes, lizards, embalmed scorpions, animal skulls, and human skulls that he took from the cemeteries. Doctor John became one of the most significant and famous witch doctor’s in American Voodoo history, and this will be explained and discussed in future articles.
(Source: Tallant, Robert. Voodoo in New Orleans. 1994)
