Quick Facts
Biography
Louisa Picquet (c. 1828, Columbia, South Carolina – June 11, 1896, New Richmond, Ohio) was an African American whose history in slavery was published in 1861.
Synopsis
Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Louisa Picquet was a product of a slave and master relationship. Her mother, Elizabeth Ramsey, had been raped by John Randolph, her owner, when she was 15 years old. Randolph later sold Piquet and Elizabeth to David R. Cook, who then moved to Mobile, Alabama.
In Mobile, Louisa performed domestic duties in Alabama for Thomas M. English, who owned the house where Cook was boarding.
When Cook defaulted on his debts, Piquet was sold at auction to John Williams in New Orleans, separating her from her mother. Williams forced Piquet to be his concubine. After Williams' death in the 1840s, Piquet obtained her freedom. She remained in the Williams household until Cook's brother informed her that he was selling the house.He then gave her money to move to Cincinnati, Ohio.
In Cincinnati, Piquet assumed the name of Louisa Williams.After meeting Henry Picquet, the couple married in 1850 and had two children.
Publication
Once in Cincinnati, Piquet concentrated on buying her mother from slavery.She met Hiram Mattison, an abolitionist pastor,who helped her publish her story to raise money.
Piquet's story was published in Louisa Picquet, the Octoroon, or, Inside Views of Southern DomesticLife.The story is about her life in slavery as octoroon with attention to the sexual exploitation that she and other female slaves experienced at the hands of their owners.
In 1860, Piquet succeeded in buying her mother out of slavery.
