When Julia Brown was alive at the turn of the 20th century, the towns of Ruddock, Frenier, and Napton were thriving settlements clustered along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, sustained by the logging of cypress trees and the cultivation of cabbage in dense black soil. The railroad was a lifeline for the town, delivering goods from New Orleans and shipping logs and cabbage to Chicago. They had no roads, doctors, or electricity but created tight-knit and self-sufficient communities.

The hurricane destroyed the community. The collapse was so strong that the story of Julia Brown can't be now separating fact from fiction. They wonder whether it is so overwhelming that people believe in the power of voodoo more than the facts.

However, in the middle of the 20th, local voodoo practician Mary didn't believe Brown cursed the town. "Voodoo is more about healing than cursing," she proclaimed. Residents she spoke with remember Julia as a beloved local healer, not a vengeful type. Mary speculates that Julia's song may have been more of a warning to townspeople than a curse against them. Perhaps Brown even attempted a ritual against the storm and could not stop the hurricane. Mary says that whatever she did, was not out of malice. And if her spirit is still in the swamp, there's nothing to fear from her any more than from alligators.