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The city had a unique, convoluted race and color taxonomy that included the designations of free person of color, slave, mulatto, griffe, quadroon, metis and sang-mêlé.

Among mixed bloods, one never made the mistake of calling an octoroon a quadroon or a quadroon a mulatto, although all mixed bloods were loosely called mulattoes.

She recalled a comedy writer who told her that her and Anderson’s children were “quadroons or octoroons” — “because people think that being aggressive is funny, I guess.”

Grandmother Baxter was a quadroon or an octoroon, or in any case she was nearly white.

A quadroon nurse followed them about with a far-away, meditative air.