14 Facts About Louisa Picquet

Louisa Picquet was born on a plantation in Lexington County, South Carolina.

In Mobile, Louisa performed domestic duties for Thomas M English, who owned the house where Cook was boarding.

When Cook defaulted on his debts, Louisa Picquet was sold at auction to John Williams in New Orleans, separating her from her mother and infant brother.

Louisa Picquet remained in the Williams household until Williams' brother informed her that he was selling the house.

Louisa Picquet then moved in with her friend, a Black woman named Helen Hopkins.

Louisa Picquet began to sell some of Williams' furniture, which allowed her to raise enough money to move with her children to Cincinnati, Ohio.

Louisa Picquet began exchanging letters with her mother and Mr Horton in 1859.

Shortly after Louisa Picquet's mother arrived in Cincinnati, the Civil War began.

Louisa Picquet's application was eventually approved and he began receiving six dollars a month, but he died of heart disease shortly thereafter.

Louisa Picquet's only surviving daughter, Elizabeth, was eighteen when they reached Ohio.

Louisa Picquet met her husband, Henry, three years after moving to Cincinnati.

Louisa Picquet arrived in New York City in May 1860 and met Mattison, who became her amanuensis.

Louisa Picquet explains how enslaved women with domestic occupations, such as housekeepers or seamstresses, were particularly vulnerable.

Louisa Picquet became a member of the Zion Baptist Church in Cincinnati and was baptized in 1852.