Grelaud, Marie “Deborah” Claudine D’Espaigne, 1765-1856

Madame Marie “Deborah” Claudine D’Espaigne Grelaud was the owner and headmistress of the exclusive boarding school: Mme. Grelaud’s Female Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mme. Grelaud’s background is unknown, but it is likely that she was a white aristocratic refugee from the Haitian Revolution in the 1790’s. Her husband likely died in the Revolution, leaving her a widow with four children to raise, three sons and a daughter. Mme. Grelaud’s Female Seminary was expensive and exclusive, requiring a fee of $500.00 a year from Oct 1 to Aug. 31. The school’s curriculum specialized in French and other languages, art, and music; however the girls in the school were taught: history, philosophy, natural science, and geography, as well as manners, elocution, and deportment. Mme. Grelaud’s sons, Titon, John, and Arthur, sailed with naval officer Stephen Girard during the War of 1812. Her daughter, Aurora, taught with her at the school. Madame Grelaud died in 1856.