Who is the ghost in Pirates Alley?
Tony and Thais Seville are certain there is a ghost in Pirates Alley haunting the area around their Pirates Alley Cafe in the French Quarter but exactly who is that ghost? For some the ghost was believed to be Jean Lafitte the famous New Orleans area pirate. However recent research seems to name the ghost one Reginald Hicks, former English cabin boy turned associate of Pirate Lafitte.
Pirates Alley named because the old Spanish jail abuts the lane and when the pirates were arrested they would be lined up down the alley to face charges and be incarcerated. The old jail gate still stands facing the alley, a reminder of what the building was when Spain administered New Orleans.
It seems the many Ghost Tours that walk the streets of the French Quarter each have their special story to tell who is the ghost and why he is there, but all agree in the early mornings a spirit walks the area between the old jail and the cafe. Today many small weddings take place in Pirates Alley. Couples elope to New Orleans and find the romance of a ghost who is searching for his bride a compelling reason to celebrate their wedding there. As the story now goes the late Pirate Hicks, before he went off the help fight the Battle of New Orleans with Lafitte and General Andrew Jackson, married his sweetheart there, but when he returned after the battle was won, she could not be found? It is said he returns early each morning looking for her but no one has yet heard him explain his presence.
Couples familiar with this romantic story of the first wedding in Pirates Alley elope to the very spot Pirate Hicks and the sweet Marie Angel were once married. On any given weekend people witness the rite done over and over again and some couples dress as pirates too. Whatever the story it is fun to sit in the alley with an absinthe and debate who exactly is the ghost in Pirates Alley. Just ask Joe at the Faulkner House bookstore in Pirates Alley, he has the latest ghost story readily available.
Story taken from previous blog entry see http://ht.ly/24ENV for more links.
