Haunted Mansion - Gracey Family Tree, V1

So… this piece is, as the title clued you, the family (dead oak) tree of the Graceys, the family that once ruled over the Haunted Mansion, as per my headcanon. This is a work in progress: there are a few more Graceys and relatives that I want to include. Until then, I think you'd like to know who all these people are. Therefore, going down the family tree:

The DE CLAIRES: A noble French family in New Orleans, of excellent reputation.

The GHASTS: Wealthy family of vaguely Germanic origins.

The GRACEYS: A family of unknown origins. The first known Gracey was William, a gunrunner, who made the family rich and respected in the New Orleans area.

William Gracey: Speak of the Devil. William is the version of Master Gracey depicted in the Slave Labor Graphics comics, although the report made by those comics is not entirely accurate: after all, the narrator was the Ghost Host, who isn't exactly a reliable source. The outlines were true, but his connection to Madame Leota, for instance, is completely incorrect and was an embellishment made by the Ghost Host to the story to speak ill of the psychic, whom he heavily dislikes. Similarly, William did not hang himself from the cupola immediately after Emily De Claire's tragic demise, and had time to marry again, without love, carrying on the bloodline.

Emily De Claire: She too is from the SLG comics. This sweet creature got engaged to William Gracey without knowing he had been a pirate. The ghosts of Captain William's wedding, revengeful, appeared to Emily on the day of their wedding and told her of her groom's past. She died, although no one knows if it was of fright or of grief.

Antoine De Claire: Nevertheless, Emily had a brother, Antoine, who married shortly after the mourning had ended (perhaps as a way of coping with his beloved sister's disappearance). Antoine had a son who inherited (and increased) the De Claire fortune. This one I made up to fill a gap.

Marc Gracey: In the Mansion's Family Graveyard (the one in front of the house, not the one you visit at the end of the ride) is a tombstone to “Grandpa Marc”. For this project, I assumed all epitaphs had been written by the Ghost Host and Master Gracey. Never learning the past of his bitter father, Marc Gracey had a dull but well-schooled childhood, and grew up into a perfect gentleman. He married Juliet Desmoulin in France and had several sons (George is the only one depicted on the tree so far).

Juliet Desmoulin: She is Master Gracey's grandmother in the 2003 film's backstory. I decided to keep her here, with a story similar to the movie version's: while in London, Marc met Juliet whose family had been forced to flee Paris during the French Revolution and stayed in London ever since.

Lucretia Gracey: “Aunt Lucretia” was supposed to be a sixth singing bust accoridng to Marc Davis's concepts. The bust was eventually used in the Ballroom, minus the "singing" part. In my headcanon, Lucretia was a member of the Singing Busts' choir in life, but in death decided to go on with her merry afterlife rather than resume her musical activities, wanting to enjoy some free time.

Rosamund Fogg: I made up Rosie to fill another gap. She might be related to Phileas Fogg. 

Myall Gracey: Among the tombstones in the family graveyard is "Uncle Myall" (with no more details). I was hesistant as to who among the "Uncles" would be the father of the three known "cousins"; I eventually decided for Myall because he's the least well-defined of them all. Uncle Theodore is extremely avuncular in design, and I have a tough time even imaigning him as a married man; Aunt Lucretia is the perfect spinster; and absent-minded Blaine is not the kind of guy who'd get married. Myall is pretty much a name and a blank page, which suited me perfectly.

Gregorius Hatter: My Hatbox Ghost's father, Gregorius was just as much of an old grump as Hattie, excep the was taller and wore a mustache. Gregorius now haunts his old haberdashery, although he sometimes comes to the Mansion to visit his sons Hattie and Ezra.

Annabelle Gracey: The name given to Hattie's mother by askthehatboxghost on tumblr. The tumblr Annabelle was beautiful and romantic; my Annabelle is plumper and motherlier. 

Theodore Gracey: The lead Singing Bust (the one played by Thurl Ravenscroft) is named, in Marc Davis's concepts, Uncle Theodore. Theodore Gracey set up the band, first inviting his sister Lucretia and nephew Algernon, and later also including some of his acquaintances, such as Rollo Rumkin, who was so close a friend that he was eventually buried in the family plot as a last favor to him.

Blaine Gracey: Yet another tombstone character, his epitaph reading "A train/Made a stain/Of absent-minded/Uncle Blaine".

George Gracey: Wealthy, obtuse and snobbish, Master George Gracey was Marc's first-born son and inherited the whole Gracey estate. The big mistake of his life was to marry Abigail Ghast, who, in their common last years, could not bear him anymore and eventually strangled him to death. George Gracey Sr. and Abigail Patecleaver were initially meant to be the characters in the Stretching Portrait that has now been retconned to depict George Hightower and Constance Hatchaway. Therefore, I retcon them to be the couple in this abandonned changing portrait (the first phase of which is also a Sinister Eleven at Walt Disney World).

Abigail Ghast: Her banking father arranged her marriage with George Gracey, for which she never forgave her father, nor George. As they were both in their fifties, she eventually strangled him. She is the woman on this abandonned changing portrait (the first phase of which is also a Sinister Eleven at Walt Disney World).

Huet Gracey: A tombstone reads "Dear departed Cousin Huet/We all now you didn't do it", implying he was tried and executed for some crime the Graceys believe he was innocent of.

Algernon Gracey: Cousin Algernon is, according to Marc Davis's concepts, the name of one of the Singing Busts. He was a rather dim-witted individual, and I imagine he was dragged into the whole business by his Uncle Theodore.

Victor Gracey: Another tombstone reads "Cousin Victor - He brewed a batch of bad elixir". This is an allusion to a Sherman Brothers song where we learn that "Cousin Victor's elixir" was a (presumably phony) miracle-medicine that allegedly cured everything. One imagines Victor was forced to drink a batch of his own liquid and died poisoned.

Ezra "Beane" Hatter: As is covered in greater details here , Ezra Dobbins Hatter was the Hatbox Ghost's younger brother. He always found the art of hat-making to be dumb and boring and kept trying to hitchhike his way out of town in his childhood and teenagehood. When he was an adult, he decided to go by "Ezra Beane" to remove any link he had to the profession.

Thomas Ernest Hatter: The beloved Hatbox Ghost. 

Dorothea Cavanaugh: Daughter of rich bankers from Rhode Island. In the Haunted Mansion's family graveyard, there is a tombstone that reads "Our dearest Dorothea". Since there is no direct family link mentioned, I assumed she was an in-law. Incidentally, the tombstone is a tribute to female Imagineer Dorothea Redmond, who was an extremely talented artist; I believe in-universe Dorothea was too, and used to amaze her young daughter Emily with her paintings. The family name and Rhodesian origins are a leftover from the Ghost Gallery, where Emily's maiden name was Cavanaugh and she was the rhodesian bankers' daughter; although I don't tend to use the Ghost Gallery mythos much, the name of "Emily Cavanaugh Gracey" for the bride has also been used outside of this context, such as by Emmacabre, so I figured I could include it.

Claude Gracey: "Dear departed Brother Claude/Lying here beneath this sod.” is yet another epitaph in the family graveyard.

Dodd Gracey: In Tokyo Disneyland, there is a "Brother Dodd" tombstone in place of the "Brother Claude" one, bearing the exact same epitaph.

Dave Gracey: Another tombsotne: "Dear departed Brother Dave/Chased a bear into a cave".

Dorian Gracey: As explained in greater details here, he is the Aging Man from the morphing portrait, also popularly known as Master Gracey (that is a title held by both Dorian and Vincent in my headcanon, explaining the general confusion). He inspired Oscar Wilde's Portrait of Dorian Gray, although for copyright reasons, Wilde removed a few later from his hero's name.

Vincent Beauregard Gracey: As covered in greater detail here, Vincent Beauregard Gracey (you can call him Beauregard if you want, but never Beau -- he hates it) is the Ghost Host and was the master of the house until he hung himself over the loss of his bride, leaving the estate to his younger brother Dorian.

Emily De Claire: The great-(…)-grand-niece of William Gracey's Emily De Claire, whose life is covered in more details here. Orphaned while barely an adult yet, Emily met Vincent Beauregard Gracey at her parents' funerals (the Ghost Host was attending because he already liked cemetaries in general). However, someone murdered her before she could marry Vincent, in circumstances that made her believe her beloved had betrayed and killed her.

Elody Ghast: Main protagonist of a little webcomic I do using a comic-making software, Elody can't remember much about her mortal life, and didn't even know she was dead until the Ghost Host pointed it out to her. She stays at the Mansion but is not yet ready to perform during the tours. She is also very bitter about the fact that her etheral appearance is that of a pretty anonymous-looking skeleton, whereas some other ghosts (like the Brides) have kept a complete body.



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