Opening Up The Abita River

 In 1910, a group of Abita Springs residents thought it would be a good idea to open up the Abita River to boat navigation from its merging with the Bogue Falaya River all the way to Abita Springs. 

 

 

Click on the image to make it larger.

It seemed like it would be a great help to businesses, residents, and visitors who wouldn't have to get off a boat in Covington, then ride three miles over to Abita Springs. Local citizens figured there was no harm in asking.

Text from the above article:

St. Tammany Farmer- Saturday, February 19, 1910

SURVEY OF ABITA RIVER ORDERED

Probably at no time than the present could the people of Abita receive more jubilantly the announcement that Hon. Robt. C. Wickliffe  has secured an order of survey of the Abita River.

Conditions are such at present that an opening up of this river affords the only relief from a situation that ultimately must work great injury to the town. Merchants are now hauling freight from the river landing in Covington, a distance of three miles; yet, while the freight charges are reasonable, and the introduction of a new boat, shortly, to make daily trips from Covington, Mandeville and New Orleans will greatly reduce the inconvenience, there is a feeling that the prestige of the town is injured by its being placed in such a position.

Therefore, the indication that the Abita River will be opened up and made navigable, so that passageway will be gained to the lake by way of the Tchefuncta River promises that Abita will have a waterway affording commercial advantages greater than anticipated even by those who have been strongly impressed by her promise of future growth and prosperity.

Idea Pursued For Years

Five or six years ago the subject of opening up the Abita River was duly discussed. The practicability of such a project was admitted, but the initiative for putting the proper influences at work to accomplish it seemed to be lacking. A few months ago, when Col. Lansing Beach was in Covington looking into needed work on the Tchefuncta and Bogue Falaya rivers, a delegation from Abita, composed of Capt. P. H. Thompson, Judge A. 0. Pons and H. P. Thomson, as a result of Judge Pon's agitation of the question, waited on Colonel Beach with a view to ascertaining what could be done in the matter.

The result of this conference was communication with Mr. Wickliffe, who had the data sent to him which established the need and the profitableness of such a channel and secured an order of survey.

There is no doubt, if this passageway opened up, that the carrying trade of the river will become a large and profitable one. There are mills enough in the vicinity, with cheap rates, to ship four or five million feet of lumber a year, besides piling, other timber products, wood, tar and charcoal. With the growth of the town there will be a largely increased shipment of merchandise, household goods, etc., besides the business that would come from the surrounding farms.

Citizens Appreciate Efforts

Hence the citizens of Abita particularly appreciate the efforts of Mr. Wickliffe in their behalf. He has also secured an appropriation of $10,000 for the Tchefuncta, Bogue Falaya, Amite and Tickfaw rivers and tributaries and Bayou Manchac. While this is not a large sum, in the face of the President's insistence upon economy, it speaks well for the watchfulness over our interests that this sum was provided.

The Tchefuncta River is much in need of a free and open channel. and it is probable that the increased traffic of this river will demand a much larger appropriation next time.  It is also probable that Mr. Wickliffe will be in a position to secure it for us.

Mr. Wickliffe has been an active worker in the interest of his district. His speech in favor of an appropriation of $300,000 instead of $215,000 for protection from the boll weevil was a masterly effort and met with loud applause. Senator Foster has taken up the matter in the Senate and it appears that the increase will be made.

Mr. Wickliffe has also introduced a bill to make Baton Rouge a subport of entry in the New Orleans district. This would allow vessels to clear at Baton Rouge without stopping at New Orleans, and would greatly facilitate the business of enterprises in Baton Rouge.

-end of article-

But after several months, the study was done, and the answer was not too favorable. 

Text from the above article:

PROJECT DISAPPROVED

Army Engineers Oppose the Abita Springs Proposition

Washington, Jan. 13.—The Abita Springs proposition to have the Abita river made navigable to Bogue Falaya has been disapproved by the army engineers. They say the project would cost too much.

The Abita Springs representatives, in their arguments, said the railroads discriminate against it in favor of Covington, and they wanted to be on an equality with Covington. They thought the improvement would lower rates on fuel to New Orleans.

The engineers sent to examine the proposition said that while it would be a fine thing, they could not see that the government would be justified in spending the money to bring it about, because the benefit would be entirely local.

 

When The Governor Visited St. Tammany Against His Will

 

 This motorcycle motorcade of Louisiana State Police officers escorted Governor Earl K Long to Mandeville, Louisiana, in 1959.

Governor Long In The Spotlight

            Earl Kemp Long served as the 45th Governor of Louisiana and was known for his "Uncle Earl" personality, which consisted of a folksy demeanor and “colorful” oratory.

            According to Wikipedia, “Long was well known for eccentric behavior, leading some to suspect that he had bipolar disorder. In his last term in office, his wife, Blanche Revere Long , and others attempted to remove him on the grounds of mental instability.”

            Governor Long was subjected to a lunacy hearing in the Summer of 1959 held in Covington at the Junior High School (now the School Board Office on Jefferson Ave.)

            “For a time, Long was confined to the Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville, but Long was never formally diagnosed with any mental disorder.”

            While confined in the psychiatric hospital, Long kept his political machine running via telephone. After leaving the hospital, (he fired the hospital superintendent and the state director of hospitals to bring that about), he stayed for a short rest and took meetings at the Southern Hotel in downtown Covington, naming it the temporary “state capitol of Louisiana.” But after the hearing was over, he made the Pine Manor Motel his headquarters south of town on U.S. 190 for several days, the second “temporary” state capitol.

            As a result of all the commotion, Covington, the site of the hearing, became a media circus. News media from all over the country came to cover the hearing, with much of the action centering on the Southern Hotel .

             The late Mary Busby Frindik found this photo in her Andrew Erwin Collection of Photos. She loved the Southern Hotel and stated, “If those walls of that majestic building could only talk, we would hear generations of history that would touch many of us!” The following photo was taken by Art Lemane for The St. Tammany Farmer and published on July 3, 1959, showing Governor Earl K. Long sneaking out the side door of the hotel to avoid the press. 

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

 

The Farmer printed a handy step-by-step guide of the goings on:

 

St. Tammany Farmer - July 3, 1959: Here's The Way It Happened

Covington was mecca last Friday for one of the nation's most sensational events --  a scheduled habeas corpus hearing in district court here to show cause Why Gov. Earl K. Long should not be released from a mental ward at Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville.

The hearing was never held. It was dismissed by Judge Robert D. Jones upon motion by Long's attorney, Joe Arthur Sims.

Since Long was plaintiff in the action, the judge had no alternative other than acquiesce to Sims' motion. And as plaintiff seeking release from Southeast Louisiana Hospital, Long had no need for court procedure after he had been formally discharged from the institution by clever manipulation of human pawns in the dramatic action of the Louisiana State Hospital Board.

Here is the way it worked—simple but sure:

(1) The hospital board met in special session in the police jury room at the temporary courthouse here at 9 a.m.

(2) The board recommended discharge of Jesse. H. Bankston, director of institutions. The letter was signed by Gov. Long, Lt. Gov. Frazar and William Cleveland, president pro-tem of the senate.

(3) The above three men prepared a letter naming Charles Rosenblum as director of institutions succeeding Bankston.

(4) Rosenblum then fired Dr. Charles Belcher, director of Southeast Louisiana Hospital (in Mandeville), with OK of Long, Frazer and Cleveland.

(5) Rosenblum then named Dr. Jesse McClendon new acting-director of Southeast Louisiana Hospital.

(6) Dr. McClendon recommended release of Gov. Long from the hospital.

(7) The governor was now a free man. He had no need for a hearing to affect his release.

(8) Long's attorney asked for a dismissal of the suit.

(9) Judge Jones granted dismissal. 

 

End of Farmer's summary 

 

Ted Talley recalls Norma Core describing the1959 'courtroom' event in the old gym. She was covering Covington news for the Bogalusa Daily News then and she described how she shooed some 'big city" reporter out of his seat (in the limited press "corps" seating) and mildly scolded him. 

 

"Since she represented the local media she trumped him in seating priority! Of course there was NO seating priority in this make shift, quick hearing arrangement," Talley said. "This was NOT the White House briefing room. It was the old gym on Jefferson Ave. But she had a point. Norma took her place up front just as UPI's Helen Thomas used to take her place up front at the White House."

 

Many locals were caught up in the excitement, wanting to have a look at the goings-on at the school gym/courtroom, but they were crowded out by the national press corps. Except for one Mandeville lady. Ted Talley goes on to relate how she got in on the press coverage.

 

"I recall one story about Betty Cordes," Ted shared. "Her husband Paul (who later went on to become Mayor of Mandeville) told her to please NOT go into Covington while this 'commotion at the hearing' was going on.

 

"Well Betty had to go into Covington anyway she said to pick up a dress at Yvonne Haik's (or something like that). Her children Paulette and Paul Jr. were not with her, but she had 'baby' Elizabeth in tow. 

 

"Curiosity got the best of Betty so after her errand on Columbia or Boston St. she went over to the old school where the hearing was being held. She figured she would enter the gym from the back. She just wanted a peek and then would head home to Mandeville."

 

The gym had two back doors that opened onto the playground at the rear of the building, Talley explained. 

 

"Just as Betty opened the door, the governor, his entourage and members of the press came flooding out. They were using the back exit to presumably avoid the crowds at the front on Jefferson. Betty found herself being pressed back by those exiting and came almost face to face with Earl. 

 

"The news camera flash bulbs were popping to catch the governor's quick exit after the brief hearing. Betty had her back to the cameras. So she thought she would be 'safe'...no proof of her presence. Not so.

"The very next morning splashed on the front page of the Picayune was a large photo of Earl K. Long exiting the 'courtroom'...and there in the foreground, smiling so pretty at the camera, was baby Elizabeth Cordes over her mother's shoulder. Betty had been 'caught'. 

 

"The phones were ringing into Mandeville from the Cordes and Skelly relatives in New Orleans: "We saw little Elizabeth and Betty on the front page of the paper this morning. How adorable!" That was not the sentiments however from Paul Sr.," Talley concluded. Heck, the wire services probably picked up the photo and it could have been all over the country that morning. 

 
            By the end of the Governor’s visit to Covington, all the state officials, news media, and half the nation were familiar with the name of the Southern Hotel, the temporary home of Gov. Earl K. Long and “state capitol of Louisiana” for a day.

A Pastor's Counsel

Rev. Baxter Pond, a beloved area pastor at the time, recalled his meeting with Governor Long during those troubled days. It was perhaps one of his most notable counseling sessions. Rev. Pond was called to the Governor's motel room, and "When I  went up to his room, the smoke was three feet high. Earl was sitting up in bed."

Long said in a raspy voice: 'You the preacher. I've seen psychiatrists, I've been through them all.' He bowed his head and I said, "Bless our gover­nor, physically, materially, and all other ways. I was going to say mentally, but left it out. He knew more scriptures than many preachers. We prayed! He told me things I could never tell."

 

They talked on the telephone a few times after that, and Pond was invited to the governor's mansion but never went. "I gave him a small Bible. When I heard that he had died, I wondered if he had the New Testament with him," Rev. Pond said.

For more information, see

When Governor Long Almost Lost His Mind

100 Years Ago This January 22

What was going on 100 years ago this week? CLICK HERE for a link to the St. Tammany Farmer Issue of  January 22, 1921. The link is provided by the Library of Congress and its Chronicling America service.

Click on the sample images below to see larger versions.  

 

 

Neuhauser Store Robbed

 

 

Thelma Glass Obituary

 

 

Society News

 

 

Fair Officers 1921

 

 

Light Poles Being Put Up Along Roads

Katie Planche Friedrichs

 Katie Planche Friedrichs of Covington was born on May 19, 1929, as Catherine Planche. Her grandfather left New Orleans for the northshore during the Civil War, and as descendants of a French-born immigrant her family spoke Parisian French.

"As a child I can remember my parents and aunts abruptly switching to English when I entered the room," she once said.

Her father was Maurice P. Planche who, with his business partner E. J. Frederick, opened the St. Tammany Ice and Manufacturing Plant in Covington, making and selling ice and later producing and distributing the first electricity in town. The plant had the largest flowing water well in the state at one time. Her father was also a partner in the first Ford dealership in Covington. 

She was a native and lifetime resident of the Ramsay area and lived for many years on land alongside the Bogue Falaya River which had been settled by her family. As a young girl, she was reported to be the first female to show cattle with 4-H in Louisiana.

She was graduated from Saint Scholastica Academy and Louisiana State University with a Masters degree in Physical Education and Dance, and she later studied at Columbia University in New York. 

 

 

Ms. Katie Planche Friedrichs was a founding
member of Playmakers Theater in Covington.

     Katie Planche married Andrew V. Friedrichs Jr., and they lived in Covington. 

    She was the first dance director at Southeastern Louisiana University, beginning her work there in 1951 and retiring in 1984. Friedrichs built the SLU dance department virtually from scratch and is credited with bringing modern dance to Southeastern.

     According to Martie Fellom, Friedrich's successor at SLU,  Friedrichs brought dance legend Charles Weidman to Southeastern for several artist residencies during her tenure at the college. Weidman is known as one of the big four pioneers of modern dance, along with Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Hanya Holm, Fellom explained. Friedrichs studied dance with Wiedman, Holm, and Graham, three of the big four.

     A group of early dancers who were under the instruction of the university's original director of dance instruction Katie Planche Friedrichs

      Friedrichs credited Southeastern’s first dance instructor, Dorothy Hoyle, with nourishing her love of modern dance.

     “She instilled in me the love of modern dance,” Friedrichs said. “She talked my parents into sending me all over the United States to study – Columbia University in New York, Colorado College, and the University of California at Berkeley. Fortunately, my parents could afford to send me.”

     According to Fellom, "If she had not brought modern dance to Southeastern with a degree program, I probably would not have attended. I was the third or fourth dance major to graduate in the program.”

Speaking to a professional group in 1975
Click on article to make it larger and more readable

     In 1972, Ms. Friedrichs led a session at a conference on "Preparing the Elementary Specialist" held in the Ozarks of Missouri which was sponsored by the Task Force on Children's Dance. In 1980 she contributed to a significant publication on Childrens' Dance that presented research from dance professionals across the nation. It was published by the National Dance Association (Society of Health and Physical Educators).

 

 

1988

 

 

In 1994, Ms. Friedrichs took part in a dramatic presentation of historical figures buried in the Covington No. 1 cemetery. See above photo. She portrayed Angelle V. Planche, a well-known French woman who came to the area in 1862. The event was held to raise awareness and funds for the restoration of the cemetery's fence and general upkeep.  

 

 

Getting ready to take part in historic cemetery presentation, second from left in fur coat.

    Among Katie's many accomplishments was an acting part in the movie "Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long" which was filmed in Louisiana in 1995. In 2001 she was elected president of the St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce Auxiliary.

    On April 2, 2009, the Southeastern Louisiana University dance program presented the university’s first tap dancing concert and dedicated it to "Professor Emeritus of Health, Physical Education and Dance Katie Planche Friedrichs."

     She died at 80 years of age on October 17, 2009, in Ramsay, Louisiana, and is buried in the cemetery at St. Joseph Abbey. 

     In 2012, the Playmaker's presentation of "Bell Book and Candle" was dedicated to her in recognition for her contributions to the organization and her giving the play's director Melanie Hayno her first role in Playmaker's 1978 production of "Gypsy."

See also:

A Katie Story

Mill Bank Farms

Obituary

 

Fair Parade Instructions 1975

Forty-five years ago, here were the people and their places in the 1975 St. Tammany Parish Fair Parade.

ST. TAMMANY PARISH FAIR PARADE
Lining Up Instructions

Jefferson Avenue
1. Mandeville Band
2. Lt. Governor & Fair Officials
3. State Representatives & Mayor Ernest Cooper

22nd Avenue
4. Senior Citizen line up on 22nd Avenue
5. Salmen Band
6. Police Jurors
7. Baby Contest Winners
8. Mayor Peter Giz & other Dignitaries
9. Slidell Band


23rd Avenue
10. Business & Professional Women's Club line up on 23rd Avenue
11. Miss St. Tammany
12. St. Paul's Band
13. Beauty Contestants
14. Covington High Band
15. Mayor Paul Cordes
16. Mandeville Saddle Club

Time: Line up at 8:00 a.m. Friday, October 24, 1975. Arrive Fairgrounds and enter grandstand at 10:00 a.m. Opening Ceremony over at 11:00 a.m.                   

Each band group must march on into the Grandstand ready for the National Anthem. Please bring the music. They will be called upon to play a selection as well. Dignitaries should go directly to the platform. Horses and others should proceed on to East 33rd Street and disband.

SOUVENIRS: This year we area again offering official fair souvenirs. A special rate is being offered these in the parade. They will be sold at 10 cents each, but you can buy them for $5.00 per hundred from Mrs. Pat Gutowski, who will be at the point of origin of the parade.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION AND COOPERATION IN LINING UP TO THE NUMBER ASSIGNED TO YOU, AND NOT BLOCKING THE STREETS.

See also:

Parish Fair Doubloons

 Fair Parade Pictures - 1983

Fair Parade Highlights

St. Tammany Parish Fair History

 

 

Dr. James Stafford

Dr. Norman James Stafford, Jr., is a great example of educators who started their careers in St. Tammany Parish, then advanced to work with colleges across the state and even serving on state-level educational organizations.

A native of Franklinton, he was graduated from Franklinton High School and earned his Bachelor's Degree in Education from Southeastern Louisiana University. Later he received a  Master's Degree and a Doctorate of Education from Louisiana State University. He was the son of Norman James Stafford, Sr. and Etna Lindsey Stafford.

Here is a video-taped interview with Dr. Stafford when he appeared on the Channel 13 educational program "Reflections" with host Marian Arrowsmith. The interview covered his many accomplishments in education across the state, and how he started it all in St. Tammany Parish.

Click on the "play triangle" above to view the video. 

He started his career in education by teaching in St. Tammany Parish school and then was appointed Principal of Franklinton High School from 1966 until 1977.

At the state level, he was named Assistant Superintendent of Education for the State of Louisiana in Baton Rouge for eight years before becoming Superintendent of the Monroe City Schools and an Associate Professor at the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

For 16 years, he served with the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education after which he retired to his home town of Franklinton. 

According to his obituary, Stafford was known as "Mr. Education" within the state because of his extensive experience in the field of education. Many people recalled that he "was always admired for his ability to work with so many fellow educators on the ultimate goal of the betterment of the lives of countless young people."

When he retired, he enjoyed hunting, fishing and the outdoors. He died August 1, 2020, at the age of 87. The above information was found on his obituary. 

 

 

Dr. James Stafford

 Robin Fambrough, writing in the Morning Advocate, said that Stafford had served as the parliamentarian for the LHSAA for 47 years, starting in 1967. His last LHSAA convention was in 2013, she said.

"Dr. Stafford has most assuredly made his mark on Louisiana education in several ways,” said Kim Gaspard, a former LHSAA president and the former principal at Bossier City’s Airline High. “As an assistant superintendent of education, he was one of a group of men who led the charge in improving vocational education in our state," she commented.