another mayfair , a favorite of mary beth 's , who was convicted of assault and battery after a drunken brawl in a french quarter nightclub , was said to be more afraid of mary beth 's disapproval and retribution than of any criminal court he was fatally shot trying to escape from jail and mary beth refused to allow him to be buried in the lafayette cemetery another unfortunate girl - louise mayfair who was pregnant out of wedlock and gave birth at first street to nancy mayfair ( whom mary beth adopted and accepted as one of stella 's children ) , died two days after the birth , and numerous stories were circulated that mary beth , displeased by the girl 's behavior , had let her die alone and unattended but the stories of mary beth 's occult powers , or evil doings , regarding the family are relatively few even when one considers the secretiveness of the family , the reluctance of most mayfairs to gossip in any way about the legacy family to anyone , there simply is n't very much evidence that mary beth was a witch to her own kindred , so much as a magnate when she did use her powers , it was almost always with reluctance and we have numerous indications that many mayfairs did not believe the 'superstitious foolishness ' repeated about mary beth by servants , neighbors , and occasionally by family members they considered the story of the purse of golden coins to be laughable they blamed superstitious servants for these tales , they considered them to be a holdover from the romantic plantation days , and they complained against the gossips of the neighborhood and the church parish .