Questions and Answers from 1901

On June 22, 1901, the St. Tammany Farmer featured a list of random questions and answers about the people and history of St. Tammany Parish.These are all very interesting questions, and they refer to several statements which, at the time, were considered facts:

1. It was long believed that Audubon was born in Mandeville. 

2. The Indian maiden in Abita Springs was named Velasco.

3. Fontainebleau State Park land was once owned by G. W. Nott.

4. Monroe Street in Lewisburg was once named "Route du Roi" for the King of France, Louis Phillipe. He was one of the Royal French princes who rode up and down Monroe Street in Lewisburg while he was the guest of Bernard Marigny. He later became the King of France.  

6. The name of the popular steamboat Camelia was changed to the "New Camelia" in 1878.

7. There was a home in Lewisburg that was identified as the fictional place in the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" where Little Eva died. 

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Here is the list of the Questions and Answers published in the Farmer June 22, 1901. Links have been placed on the topics expanded upon in other Tammany Family blogs.

HISTORICAL AND INTERESTING

We have received the following questions from a correspondent and will answer to the best of our ability. In doing so, we have been rendered valuable assistance by our talented young attorney, Mr. Harvey E. Ellis.

Q. After whom and when was Lewisburg named?

 Lewisburg was named after Joshua Lewis, a native of Virginia, and appointed territorial Judge of Louisiana, by Thomas Jefferson.

Q. Give the year and date when Audubon was born in Mandeville.

Audubon was born May 4, 1780.

Q. When was the town of Whar­ton changed into that of Coving­ton?

March 11, 1816.

Q. Why was Abita so named? Who wrote the beautiful poem of Velasco the Indian Maid in con­nection therewith.

Legend of Abita—Published in the New Orleans Times between 1874-76.

Q. Give the name of the Judge of the Supreme Court of Louisiana who was born and reared in Cov­ington.
 
Judge Henry C. Miller.

Q. Who was the famous orator and member of Congress who was also born in Covington, and when did he die? 

 E. John Ellis. Died in Washington, D. C., Apnl 25, 1889.

Q. Where is Fontainebleau lo­cated in St. Tammany, and from whom did the name originate?

"Fontainebleau" is a plan­tation a few miles back of Mande­ville. It originally belonged to Mr. Bernard Marigny's father, and was named for the royal palace and forest in France. It is now owned by Mr. G. W. Nott, of New Or­leans.

Q. What is the name of the pub­lic road running from Mandeville to the spring ot Lewisburg? After whom was it named? Why was it first called Route du Roi?

The name of the road is Monroe Street, and was thus called in honor of James Monroe. It was first named  "Route du Roi" for Louis Philippe —afterwards King of France.

Q. Who were the royal princes that frequently rode up and down there, one of whom afterwards be­came King of France?

Louis Philippe and his courtiers; he was King of France from 1830 to 1848.

Q. Which of the Marigny family was their host?

Mr. Bernard Marigny, son of Marigny de Mandeville.

Q. Where did Dr. J. W. Thompson first locate in Covington? Whose residence did he occupy?

In the old home of Judge Penn.

Q. Give the name of the tribe of Indians whom Sanvolle, the first royal governor of the Province of Louisiana in 1698 found inhabiting the site now occupied by Lewisburg, Mandeville and Fonntainebleau.

Choctaw Indians, some­times called Apalaches, and Mar­tin's history says there were also here about sixty Oumas (Red men)

Q. What three steamboats made excursions from Milneburg and the old wharf at "Bucktown," to Cov­ington, in 1857-1861?

A. G. Brown, Pamlico and Arrow.

Q. Who was "Chahta Ima?" Near what village was his little chapel built? What was his French name?

Pere Rouquette, who former­ly lived near Bayou Lacombe.

Q. Who wrote the poem which ends as follows:
"I will thank the great Jehovah for the work that he has done,
When he made the Bogue Falaya by the town of Covington."

Charles Colton, of New Orleans.

Q. In what year was the Parish created and who was the governor then? What train station is named after him?

Dec. 22, 1810. The Gov­ernor was William C. C. Clai­borne; he was Governor of the ter­ritory of Orleans and all the coun­try east of Ponchatoula. Clai­borne Station. See Vol. 2, P. 542, Digest of Moreau Listel

Q. After whom was Lakes Pont­chartrain and Maurepas named, and by whom?

Named after Louis de Pontchartraine, Minister of the Marines to Louis the Fourteenth and his Secretary Jerome Count de Maurepas. See Grace King's & Ficklen's History.

Q. Give the name of the author of "Halimah, A Legend of the Tangipahoa."
"The voice of old Chinchnba echoing still, With fatal warning of the mystic hill."

Octu Nash Ogden, of Amite, La.

Q. What positions did Jessie R. Jones and Lyman Briggs occupy during the year 1835? Likewise D. B. Morgan, Henry Curtis, Thomas S. Mortee, and Samuel Smith.

Jessie R. Jones was Judge the 8th Judicial District. Lyman Briggs was Parish and Probate Judge. D. B. Morgan, Civil En­gineer. Thomas Mortee, Clark of the Court. Samuel Smith was Sheriff.

Q. What was the first name of the New Camelia, and where did she run in 1846?

The original name of the steamer was Camelia. It was changed to New Camelia in 1878. She was in the Lake Pontchartrain trade.

Q. After whom and when was St. Tammany Parish named?

St. Tammany Parish was named after a Delaware Chief, Tammenund, or Tammany, who lived in 18th century, and was tra­ditionally famous for his wisdom in council, and his friendliness towards the whites. He was faceti­ously canonized as the patron saint of the republic, and his name was  adopted by the Tammany Society, founded in New York in 1789, which subsequently became Tam­many Hall, a political club controlling one wing of the Demo­cratic party.

Unanswered Questions

The Farmer was unable to answer the following questions. The editor hoped that some of his readers could do so:

1. What was the name of the first steam boat and in what year did she commence running from New Orleans to Covington?

2. Can any one give the site of the home in Mandeville where lit­tle Eva in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" died, as described by Mrs. Har­riet Beecher Stowe? (Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1852)

3. Give the name of the United States Regiment that occupied Madisonville in 1864, and who were the officers?

 

(Thanks to Randy Hayno for above newspaper clipping)

 

4. When did General Morgan die? He commanded the U. S. forces below Algiers, La., on the 8th of January, 1815, and subsequently removed to Madisonville?

5. Give the date that the first U. S. shipyard was established at Madisonville?

6. Give the names of those who constituted the lottery company in Covington over sixty years ago.

7. What books give an account of the history of St. Tammany Parish and the names of the first settlers?

8. After the capture of the En­glish armed sloop "West Florida" by the Americans under Capt. Pick­les, Sept. 10, 1779, who were the settlers between Bayou Lacombe and the river Tangipahoa," that desired to be known as citizens of the United States ?
 
Here is the newspaper clipping of the Questions and Answers article. Click on the image below to make it larger. 

Mardi Gras Blog Articles

Here are several links to articles about Mardi Gras on the Tammany Family blog over the past three years:

Covington Mardi Gras History

Herb Jahncke, Mardi Gras Float Designer

Mardi Gras Parade Preparations

Olympia Mardi Gras History

Covington Mardi Gras 1982

More Covington Mardi Gras Pictures - 1982

Madisonville Mardi Gras - 1982

Mardi Gras Pageantry in 1911

Mardi Gras Years Ago

First Mardi Gras Queen in Covington

The Man Who Brought Mardi Gras to Covington

Madisonville Mardi Gras - 1973

Mardi Gras Cup Map

Kindergarten Class - 1960

Civic Club Carnival

More Mardi Gras 1982

The Chinchuba Oaks and Mardi Gras Day

Lyon High 1929 Commencement

Here are several portions and advertisements from the 1929 Lyon High Commencement Program with lots of names. Also includes the Grammar School student graduates. Click on the images to make them larger. 

 

Click on the images to make them larger. 

Brock Elementary's Group Portrait

Brock Elementary School in Slidell was damaged extensively in Hurricane Katrina, but it was repaired and restored, and one day in 2007 I was sent out to take a portrait photograph of the finely-renovated building and all of its students. 

I enjoy taking pictures that are challenging, and this one was going to be one of those. First we had more than 100 students and teachers involved, secondly there were powerlines all over the place, and thirdly it was going to require a high angle photo, so a scissors lift was brought in to take me up 15 or 20 feet off the ground.

The students and the teachers were all great, I took a dozen or so pictures, all the kids cooperated by saying "Cheese" at just the right time, and I had fun with the scissors lift, which, when it started going up, you could hear all the kids going "wow." Most of them had never seen a scissors lift before. 

Here's a video of the scissors lift photo session.Click on the "play" triangle to see the video.

Here's the final photo of the building, with powerlines removed via Photoshop. Click on the image below to see a larger version.

WWL--TV Spotlights Tchefuncte Lighthouse

Here's a link to a WWL-TV video report on the Tchefuncte River lighthouse at the southern end of Madisonville.

Click here to see the video.

100 Years Ago This February 21

What was going on 100 years ago this week? CLICK HERE for a link to the St. Tammany Farmer Issue of  February 21, 1920. The link is provided by the Library of Congress and its Chronicling America service.

Click on the sample images below to see larger versions.

 

A.D. Schwartz

 

Anais Boudousquie

 

Madelyn Pauline Planche - Albert Burns

 

Landon and Smith

 

Reuben S. Harlan returns to Covington

 

Captain G. M. Lester

Dixie Queen Photos

The Dixie Queen malt stand was next to Talley's...

 

Click on the image to make it larger. 

Lacombe Residents Share Wagon Train Ride

In 1976, the American Bicentennial year, several residents from Lacombe took part in a special "wagon train" that went from Baton Rouge to Slidell. It created a lot of great memories, and they made a lot of friends along the way.

Here is an article telling their story.

Several Lacombe residents experience wagon train trip

BY EMILE NAVARRE

"The reactions of people toward the wagon train was unbelievable," commented Mrs. "Freddie" Boudan as she returned home after traveling with the Bicentennial Wagon Train from Baton Rouge to Slidell last week.

Mrs. Boudan, along with the rest of her family and several other Lacombe citizens, left Lacombe to go to Baton Rouge to participate in the Louisiana segment of the wagon train on Its way to Philadelphia.

The group met at LSU and proceeded to New Orleans stopping along the way in several towns. On their venture to New Orleans, Mrs. Boudan said, "One of the biggest receptions we got was at Port Vincent by Justin Wilson. Hundreds of people came out to see the wagon train, just as many people participated in the ride."

Upon arriving in New Orleans the train spent the night at Lakeside Shopping Center where the crowd seemed less than other places, but none-the-less, the people who did come out to see the wagons were totally enchanted with the splendor of them.

From New Orleans the train rolled along to east New Orleans and then onward to Slidell. "Crossing the five-mile bridge into Slidell was the weirdest feeling," added Mrs. Boudan. "The lake was very choppy and it was pretty windy arid you were right out there in the open."

The biggest reception that received the wagon train sinceBaton Rouge was in Slidell. Mrs. Boudan said that they had received word that approximately forty or so riders were to meet them at the end of the bridge. However, upon reaching the end there were several hundred riders waiting to greet the train and join them to the state line.

The wagon train then spent the night in Slidell where entertainment was provided for everyone. The entertainment included the singing of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" by the Bicentennial choral group from Lacombe. Under the direction of Mary Lee Daniels and accompanied by Leah Landry and John McGee, the group gave an outstanding performance.

Members of the Choral group were Gordan Campbell,  Rex and  Bakey Hoover, Vic Landry. Ruth Anthon, Chris and Thelma Nielsen, Sandra Lewis, Sharon McGee, Jo Ann Williams, Eva Mae Deckwa, Susan Deckwa, April Williams, Vera Oliphant, Jim Rust, Ronald Williams, Lewis Leatherbery and Gaile Russo.

Tuesday morning the train left Slidell on its way to Mississippi to continue on its trip to Philadelphia in time for the July 4th celebration of the nation's birthday.

Along with Mrs. Boudan her family, Douglas, Teri, Craig,  and Brett participated in the route from Baton Rouge to the state line. Also riding in the train from Baton Rouge were Sheila Scala, and Nancy and Sharon Lorio. Some other riders from Lacombe that met the train at Slidell were Pat, Lisia, and Kenneth Stevens, Terri, Evet, Paul and George Tyler and Lorian Schaefer.

Asked to sum up the adventure Mrs. Boudan said, " It was fantastic and once in a lifetime. I totally enjoyed it as I'm sure everyone else did."'

 Click on the image below to read the text. 

 

From the News Banner newspaper, March, 1976

Madisonville Businesses 1919

On January 11, 1919, The St. Tammany Farmer newspaper ran a special advertising section showcasing the people and businesses of the area. 

Several of the Madisonville area businesses were spotlighted in the Tammany Family blog of January 14, 1919. Here are some additional feature items on other businesses and residents of the Madisonville area. 

 

Click on the images to make them larger and more readable.

Bittersweet Dreams and Broken Hearts

 Once again we turn to the fascinating articles of Polly Morris of Lacombe, a prolific writer of human interest feature stories for the News-Banner newspaper in the mid-1970's. 

This article tells the story of several men who had big dreams for St. Tammany, and right on the verge of success, fell upon hard times. Break out a box of Kleenix for these are heart-rending stories spotlighting some historical figures we know and some unknown dreamers of which we may be unaware.

Here is the text of the article from 1976, some forty-four years ago.

Bittersweet Dreams and Broken Hearts

By Polly Morris

Somewhere in St Tammany there should be a small cemetery for shattered dreams and broken hearts, a quiet place where blighted hopes could be laid to rest.

Pages of history praise the men who lived or died courageously for a Cause, and there are monuments and memorials in their honor. But even more valiant are the men who lived day after long day when all hope was dead. The bravest of men must be those who kept smiling beyond a broken dream. Or who died just before their dream became reality.

These men could be called star-crossed, for there was something in their destiny that denied them the full measure of success. In St. Tammany there were seven men who had the bitter-sweet satisfaction of seeing their dream come true for a brief time before Fate
cruelly intervened. Perhaps their story could be best told by beginning at the end.

The Black Robe

In Hotel Dieu in New Orleans, an old man lay dying. His dim old eyes did not see the sterile walls of his hospital room They were seeing a meandering bayou that flowed through a heavily wooded land fragrant with pines and magnolia and jasmine. He saw a tiny chapel with a crape myrtle growing beside the entrance. Indians were coming quietly from the forest, and he held up a cross as a welcoming gesture.

 

Father Rouquette

Father Rouquette had lived with a broken dream for years. He had left the magnificent St. Louis Cathedral and a promising priesthood for the wild wooded area of St. Tammany. His dream was to bring the Faith to the Choctaw Indians who still worshiped gods of a pagan religion.

It was for them that he lived like an Indian. It was for them that he built his tiny chapels in the wilderness. They learned to love him as he loved them, and he hoped to bring the other savage tribes into his little flock.

When the Civil War came to Louisiana, Father Rouquette's dream began to die. His beloved Indians left their villages in fear, and a little church was burned to the ground. Many of them died from exposure, starvation, and sickness, and when the war ended a few straggled back to Father Rouquette's remaining chapels. His dream was only a pitiful remnant, but he stayed on in St Tammany for many years tending his tiny flock of converts.

When his health and memory finally failed, he was hospitalized in New Orleans. On his deathbed he still retained a very small dream. He wished to be buried on the banks of Bayou LaCombe, among his Indian friends. At the last, they were unable to help him and followed silently as his wasted old body was put into a cold tomb in a city cemetery. Not even in death did the Black Robe realize his last dream.

The Lily Man

In Abita Springs a man named Peter A. Chopin stood shivering in an open field. He was too heartsick to cry. All around him lay the wilted remains of what had been a half-acre field of 250,000 healthy plants.  Not a single one had survived the freeze of 1915. Had they lived they would have produced the most beautiful Easter lily in the world... a hybrid variety like no one had ever seen before. Chopin grimly turned away.  It had taken him ten long years of cross pollination to produce this beautiful flower. It had taken only one night of bitter cold weather to destroy his dream lily. He was too weary and wretched to start all over again.

The No-Ghost Town

Theodore J. Fischer looked at the Pearl River-Bogue Chitto bottoms where his town was marked off in streets. The church here... the school there... a fine hotel across the tracks. He envisioned a blacksmith shop, a general store, and a sign saying Fischerburg on the new depot. He saw it all clearly, but there were no tracks leading to the depot.

There never would be Fischer's little dream, for it had never been built. The railroad that was supposed to have gone to Fischerburg simply did not ever go that far, so the town had died before it was born.

Taken By Storm
 
The Yankee school teacher's jaw sagged in astonishment. He was looking at an organ and a writing table sitting out in the open They looked strange indeed, for they were definitely out of place there. Only a few minutes ago they had been suitably housed in a cypress building.

The school teacher was stunned by the strange circumstances that had hounded him since he left from Up North with an organ, a writing table, and a noble purpose. He had been sent to Mississippi to teach the newly-freed unfortunates to read and write, and he was fired with ambition for his worthy mission.

To his utter amazement, the prospective pupils were not interested in being confined in a schoolroom. Now that they were free, they resented any restrictions on their activities. The disillusioned teacher done an about face. If pursuit of pleasure was the thing, then he
would willingly oblige with a tavern. The towns people were not willing, however, so the teacher-tavern keeper crossed the river into Louisiana.

He felled a large cypress and made it into lumber. Then he single-handed built a tavern and moved in the organ and table. He would put in a stock of hard likker the next day. But before the day was over, the gods frowned down on his sinful establishment and sent a tor­nado that neatly lifted the saloon and took it aloft and away. The organ and table were kindly spared.

How Sweet It Was

In New Orleans an old man stumbled and fell...and died. He was not a clumsy old man, for in his youth he had been cat-quick, nimble, and as lithe as the slender reeds on Bayou Castine. Perhaps he fell because he was not looking down at his feet but was gazing at the shimmering horizon to the North where he saw an Etheral City not unlike his own dream town. 

Bernard de Marigny not only had a dream. He had everything it took to make it come true. The dashing and debonaire Frenchman was perhaps the wealthiest man in the Louisiana of his time. Moreover, he had plenty of influence and plenty of friends.

His fabulous plantation of Fontainebleau was a showplace set beside the sparkling lake, and his sprawling villa was open to all of his friends and associates. It was a fun place for everyone, but de Marigny wanted even more. Spacious as was the villa, it could not accommodate all the guests he wanted, so he decided to build a town.

Not just any town, but a model city populated by happy people. He planned it all down to the last detail. Wide streets, large lots, quaint bridges, and a strip of land along the lake front that would never be occupied by buildings that would obstruct the lovely view.

De Marigny loved all people, even the poorer ones, and he kept the prices on the lots as low as possible to enable them to buy, if they were his friends. Profit was not the objective, and money was no problem for the founder of Mandeville. He was a generous man, to others and to himself.

His generosities and the depression of 1837 ruined his rainbow-hued dreams. Lots were reclaimed, and creditors cried for payment on overdue bills. The huge plantation was sold, and de Marigny kept only a small house for himself in Mandeville. His dream had not died completely, but it was badly deformed.

Yet the old man lived to be 83 years of age, without bitterness. He had enjoyed life and love and luxury, and no man can ask for more. He had held his dream in his hand, and its memory cheered him until the day he died.

Collins Disappointment

In 1817 a lead coffin was brought across Lake Pontchartrain on a mail packet. Inside the casket was the body of a young man who was returning for the last time to his dream town, and to the spot that he had chosen as his final resting place. John Wharton Collins was coming back to Wharton. . . except it was no longer Wharton, but Covington.

Collins had bought a tiny town of four buildings for $2300 and had named it after a worthy ancestor. Like de Marigny, Collins planned his town with care. It was dedicated on July 4, 1815 and many lots were sold to some very important people. But he had only a few months of happiness in Wharton.

The next March the town was incorporated, and the name was changed to Covington. Collins deeply resented the change, which was both political and personal. Collins' health had been failing since the battle of New Orleans, in which he had served as Captain. His great disappointment about Wharton could not have helped any.

He died two days after Christmas, age 29 years. Collins had founded the town, and now he founded the cemetery. The exact location of his grave was forgotten, and he too was not remembered for long. About six months after his death, his widow married his nephew who had been living with the Collins family.

Dream Ranch

Then there was the dream of Joe Hanberry who so loved children that he dedicated his life to them- especially to children who desperately needed someone to care about them. Joe Hanberry had a home for children who came from homes where there had been an unfortunate domestic situation, but he wanted to fulfill an even greater need.

He wanted to get them out of the city where they could enjoy a freer life. He found the perfect spot in St. Tammany. Between Lacombe and Slidell was a Kiwanis Camp that had been used only in the summer months. The Kiwanis Club members listened to Joe's dream of a children's ranch, and assented.

Joe worked hard to help get the rather dilapidated building fit for year-round habitation. At last the K-Bar-B Ranch was ready. Governor Edwin Edwards came from Baton Rouge to dedicate it, and later the children began to be sent to the beauty and bounty of St. Tammany.

Joe would have loved to have seen all of his children gathered at the pavilion, or swimming at the pool. Joe Hanberry said, "Children who have been hurt by life desperately need help and attention. They need someone to listen to them." But Joe had little time left to listen.

Two months and five days after the dedication of K-Bar-B Ranch a small aircraft crashed into a field at Clinton, La. Joe Hanberry died on the brink of a dream.

One of Joe's former children said, "I cried... not for him or for myself, but for the hundreds of children who would never receive what he gave to us." 

There is indeed a sadness about a man who has held a dream, however briefly, and seen it fade away. But there is an even greater sadness for those men who have never had a dream at all.