Ghost of the Octoroon Mistress
There is a legendary story often told about a wealthy young man and his beautiful mistress in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. The relationship turned out to be tragic however, and the girl ended up as a shivering ghost on the roof on cold winter nights. The reason for the story is to show the social morals of 1850s New Orleans, which was at great odds with the traditional Southern ideas on certain social factors. The octoroon mistress was named Julie and she was 1/8th African American in her decent. People of this persuasion in that time were declared free people of color and not given the same rights as that of a white person.
Open relationships between wealthy families and octoroons were not allowed, yet it was common for young white men to take a fancy to these octoroons. These women were beautiful and known for having a good background education. Masked balls were one social event that white men could check out these women and possibly even select a mistress. When an octoroon mistress had the attention of a white male, this would bring her great wealth, an apartment, a slave, and fine food. These men would have a traditional family and they would keep their other affairs a secret. Julie was set up in a nice apartment on Royal Street, and the man’s name is now unknown at this point in time. He was very much under his family’s influence and traditions, and they had asked him to never marry someone of color into the family to keep his inheritance.
Over the years, Julie fell so deeply in love with this man that she wanted to be his wife more than anything. She insisted this to him many times, but he knew if he were to keep his inheritance this would not be possible because his family would not support this. Eventually, he came up with a ultimatum for her that he was sure would end the discussion. He told her if she spent the night on the rooftop naked, he would marry her.
The next morning he woke up and she was not in her bed. He walked up to the steps to the roof and found her dead lifeless body on the floor, frozen to death. The story eventually got out after the Civil War and her ghost is still seen to this day. People have reported seeing her walk along the roof at night, clearly visible from the street below. She only appears at midnight on the coldest nights of the year. She can also be seen in the pond location in the courtyard.
(Source: Dwyer, Jeff. Ghost Hunter’s Guide to New Orleans. 2007.)
