By Anne Butler
The forty-fourth annual Audubon Pilgrimage March 20, 21 and 22, 2015, celebrates a southern spring in St. Francisville, the glorious garden spot of Louisiana’s English Plantation Country. For over four decades the sponsoring West Feliciana Historical Society has thrown open the doors of significant historic structures to commemorate artist-naturalist John James Audubon’s stay as he painted a number of his famous bird studies and tutored the daughter of Oakley Plantation’s Pirrie family, beautiful young Eliza. This year’s featured homes include three country plantations and one historic townhouse, plus two significant state historic sites.
Open this year for the first time is Retreat Plantation, built around 1823 on property of Sarah Bingman and named Soldier’s Retreat by her second husband, Clarence Mulford, a U.S. Army captain at nearby Fort Adams. A 1½-story Anglo-Creole home with handsome architectural details set on a bluff overlooking Little Bayou Sara, it has been restored by present owners C.B. and Mary C. de Laureal Owen, continuing seven generations of Percy family occupancy since 1859.At the opposite end of the parish is Dogwood, in the Thompson Creek delta on lands initially granted by Spain to Jean Cloccinet as part of a failed resettlement of Acadian exiles. The house was begun in 1803 by George Freeland, an early settler from the Carolinas. His initial hewn-log shed-roof house, two rooms flanking a hallway and topped by a sleeping loft, has been enlarged over the years and is home to the family of Rob and Missy Couhig.
An exuberant Carpenter Gothic Victorian home approached from US Highway 61 via an impressive oak avenue, The Oaks was built in 1888 by Judge Thomas Butler, Confederate veteran, planter and police juror. From his family’s isolated plantation he moved to be nearer St. Francisville’s amenities, embellishing his new house with stained glass, fanciful gingerbread trim, dormers and turrets. When the last of his nine children died, The Oaks became home to the E. I. Daniel III family.Perched on a hilly lot overlooking St. Francisville’s main thoroughfare, Ferdinand Street, the Levert-Bockel House was constructed in 1918 for Mamie Bockel Levert using materials salvaged from flooded Bayou Sara properties inherited from her father, a prosperous Prussian immigrant sadler. In one of the comfortable bungalow’s rooms, her husband Dr. Eloi Levert practiced medicine. It is now the home of the Tom Tully family.
Other popular features of the 2015 Audubon Pilgrimage include Audubon (Oakley) and Rosedown State Historic Sites, three 19th-century churches in town and beautiful St. Mary’s in the country, as well as the Rural Homestead with lively demonstrations of the rustic skills of daily pioneer life. An Audubon Play will be performed several times daily on Saturday and Sunday in recently restored Temple Sinai. Daytime features are open 9:30 to 5, Sunday 11 to 4 for tour homes; Friday evening activities are scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m.The Historic District around Royal Street is filled during the day with the happy sounds of costumed children singing and dancing the Maypole; in the evening as candles flicker and fireflies flit among the ancient moss-draped live oaks, there is no place more inviting for a leisurely stroll. Friday evening features old-time Hymn Singing at the United Methodist Church, Audubon Play in Temple Sinai, Graveyard Tours at Grace Episcopal cemetery (last tour begins at 8:15 p.m.), and a wine and cheese reception at Bishop Jackson Hall (7 to 9 p.m.) featuring Vintage Dancers and the pilgrimage’s exquisitely detailed 1820’s evening costumes, nationally recognized for their authenticity. Light Up The Night, the enjoyable Saturday evening soiree, features dancing to live music by United We Jam, sensational dinner catered by Heirloom Cuisine and drinks beginning at 7 p.m.
For tickets and tour information, contact West Feliciana Historical Society, Box 338, St. Francisville, LA 70775; phone 225-635-6330 or 225-635-4224; online www.audubonpilgrimage.info, email sf@audubonpilgrimage.info. A package including daytime tours and all evening entertainment Friday and Saturday is available. Tickets can be purchased at the Historical Society Museum on Ferdinand Street. Located on US Highway 61 on the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge, LA, and
Natchez, MS, the St. Francisville area is a year-round tourist destination. A number of splendidly restored plantation homes are open for tours: the Cottage Plantation, Myrtles Plantation, Greenwood Plantation, plus Catalpa Plantation by reservation; Afton Villa Gardens and Imahara’s Botanical Garden are open in season. Particularly important to tourism in the area are its two significant state historic sites, Rosedown Plantation and Oakley Plantation in the Audubon state site, which offer periodic living-history demonstrations to allow visitors to experience 19th-century plantation life and customs (state budget constraints have unfortunately shuttered Oakley Sunday and Monday).
The nearby Tunica Hills region offers unmatched recreational activities in its unspoiled wilderness areas—hiking, biking, birding, photography, hunting. There are unique art galleries plus specialty and antiques shops, many in restored historic structures, and some nice restaurants throughout the St. Francisville area serving everything from ethnic cuisine to seafood and classic Louisiana favorites. For overnight stays, the area offers some of the state’s most popular Bed & Breakfasts, including historic plantations, lakeside clubhouses and beautiful townhouses right in the middle of St. Francisville’s extensive National Register-listed historic district, and there are also modern motel accommodations for large bus groups.
For visitor information, call St. Francisville Main Street at 225-635-3873 or West Feliciana Tourist Commission at 225-6330 or 225-635-4224; online visit www.stfrancisvillefestivals.com, www.stfrancisville.net or www.stfrancisville.us (the events calendar gives dates and information on special activities).
Long the center of commerce for the surrounding plantation country, wide-eyed 19th-century children pressed cold noses against frosted storefront windows and dreamed of china dolls or wooden rocking horses. The dry-goods emporiums in the early days carried everything from farm implements and buggies to ladies’ fashions and gents’ furnishings, and today the little boutique shops in many of these same historic buildings lining the commercial district continue to offer a surprising selection of fine wares. 
From 10 to 4 Saturday and Sunday there will be music, crafts and food vendors in oak-shaded Parker Park, and from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. the Talented Art Walk features displays of student artwork at local shops, with purchase proceeds supporting the arts programs in local schools. There will also be entertainment in various locations throughout the downtown historic district, featuring choirs, dancers, musicians, and other performers, as well as children’s activities. At 2 p.m. Saturday a book signing at the West Feliciana Historical Society museum-headquarters will introduce for the very first time a long-awaited book of some 250 vintage images of the St. Francisville area.
In addition, Saturday evening from 5:30 to 8:30, visitors are welcomed for candlelight tours, period music, dancing and hot wassail at Oakley Plantation, Audubon State Historic Site on LA Hwy. 965, where artist-naturalist John James Audubon tutored the daughter of plantation owners and painted many of his famous bird studies in the early 1820s. During the day from 10 to 4, the historic site is decked out in seasonal finery as it observes its annual Christmas holiday festival, this year adding a 150th-anniversary re-enactment of the nearby Battle of Alexander’s Creek in 1864 for “A Civil War Christmas” on December 6 and 7. West Feliciana’s other state historic site, Rosedown Plantation, celebrates the season with appropriate 19th-century decorations as well, and the exterior galleries and antique-filled interior rooms are resplendent with garlands of fresh greenery from the surrounding woodlands, colorful berries and fresh fruit, as was the custom.
Saturday’s highlight has traditionally been the colorful 2 p.m. Christmas parade sponsored by the Women’s Service League, but this year’s parade has had to be moved to Sunday afternoon due to election run-offs (some polling places would have been blocked). Participants include everyone from local dignitaries to Angola’s enormous Percheron work horses, their sleigh bells jingling and their burnished coats gleaming. Dozens of gaily decorated parade floats vie for coveted prizes, accompanied by cheerleaders, bands, bagpipes, vintage cars, marching ROTC units and dancers. The parade, with this year’s theme of “Be There With Bells On,” lines up on Royal St. and traverses Ferdinand and Commerce Streets, so don’t plan on driving through downtown St. Francisville mid-afternoon. 
And the fun continues on Sunday night for those who might have a blue-blue-blue Christmas without Elvis. “An Ultimate Christmas with Greatest Elvis Tributes” features Elvis impersonators Cody Ray Slaughter, Jay Dupuis, the EAS Band and special guest Jeff Lewis at Hemingbough beginning at 6 p.m.; for tickets go to Grandmother’s Buttons or online 
From the rich Victoriana of The Shanty Too, for thirty years the anchor of the downtown business community complete with old-time candy shoppe, to the jewelry beautifully crafted from vintage buttons at nationally known Grandmother's Buttons, and the incredibly extensive selections of carefully chosen gift and decorative items at Hillcrest Gardens and Sage Hill Gifts, downtown St. Francisville is filled with fine shopping opportunities. Artists Herschel Harrington and Joe Savell (Backwoods Gallery) have studios displaying their own works, while St. Francis Art & Antiques Gallery and Bohemianville Antiques feature vintage collectibles and furnishings. Femme Fatale specializes in fine fashions; Trends Salon & Boutique and Ma Milles Gifts also have stylish clothing, game-day gear and jewelry. Temple Design has signature gift items with a local flair, and Benchmark Interiors has delightful selections to complement any decor. 
On the outskirts of town, intrepid shoppers won't want to miss the exquisite custom-designed creations at Patrick’s Fine Jewelry in its exciting new location on US 61, the fleur-de-lis decorative pieces in the expanded Elliott’s Pharmacy in Spring Creek Shopping Center, as well as Border Imports with huge selections of Mexican pottery, eyecatching ironwork and concrete statuary on US 61 north. Most of the plantations around St. Francisville have gift shops, and a visit to those would permit enjoyment of spectacular seasonal decorations as well. Restaurants, B&Bs, even fitness centers in the area offer gift certificates to extend the giving throughout the year, providing Christmas in the Country visitors an extended opportunity to relish the charms of this little Top Twenty Day-Trip Destination.
The nearby Tunica Hills region offers unmatched recreational activities in its unspoiled wilderness areas—hiking, biking, birding, photography, hunting. There are unique art galleries plus specialty and antiques shops, many in restored historic structures, and some nice restaurants throughout the St. Francisville area serving everything from ethnic cuisine to seafood and classic Louisiana favorites. For overnight stays, the area offers some of the state’s most popular Bed & Breakfasts, including historic plantations, lakeside clubhouses and beautiful townhouses right in the middle of St. Francisville’s extensive National Register-listed historic district, and there are also modern motel accommodations for large bus groups.
As communities across the country mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, the observance in the quaint little rivertown of St. Francisville, LA, will not celebrate a victory in battle or commemorate a heart-wrenching defeat. Rather, St. Francisville’s observation of events 150 years past preserves a moment of civility in the midst of a bloody war, and the bonds of brotherhood that proved stronger even than the divisiveness of a bitter civil conflict pitting brother against brother. St. Francisville’s observance June 7, 8 and 9th is called The Day The War Stopped, and that is exactly what happened, at least for a little while.
He was a Mason; Commander Hart was also a Mason. Living near the river he found several helpful brothers named White who were also Masons, and in St. Francisville was the second oldest Masonic Lodge in the state, its senior warden a Confederate cavalry officer who happened to be at home on furlough. It would be his duty, this Confederate officer felt, to afford a decent burial to a fellow Mason and fellow military officer, regardless of politics. And so the war stopped, if only for a few mournful moments. 
At 10 on Saturday morning, June 8, a lively parade processes through St. Francisville’s downtown Historic District, after which lunch is served from 11:30 to 12:30. 
On Saturday evening from 6 to 8:30 p.m., at Oakley Plantation (Audubon State Historic Site), brilliantly costumed vintage dancers will perform stylish dances popular during the Civil War period in the museum theater, encouraging participants to join in and learn the steps. Oakley House, which is never lovelier than by candlelight, opens for special evening tours from 6 to 8 p.m., with all three floors filled with costumed living historians demonstrating what life was like during the trying Civil War years for civilians and soldiers on both sides of the conflict. A picket will greet guests at the entrance in full military uniform. In the dining room the discussion will be about wartime shortages of foodstuffs as ladies converse over their ersatz coffee made from okra, and other ladies will be attending to their mending in the hallway as they make sure the solders’ uniforms have all the buttons sewed on. Convalescent soldiers are cared for in the office, and the little drummer boy waits anxiously in the bedroom to go off to war. In another bedroom, as his anxious wife looks on, a gentleman dons his uniform and packs his gear into a haversack. Confederate headquarters in the library will be the scene of discussions of the nearby bloody Siege of Port Hudson, while in Audubon’s room foraging soldiers confiscate civilian goods for the military, candles, for example, and much-needed food. 
On Sunday, June 9, Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site from 1 to 3 presents a program on Civil War medical techniques and their all-too-often conclusion, period burial customs. All of these activities are free and open to the public. Among sponsors are St. Francisville Overnight! (Bed & Breakfasts of the area), the Feliciana Lodge No. 31 F and AM, Grace Episcopal Church, and St. Francisville Main Street. 
Louisiana’s state preservation areas have been carefully selected to preserve and interpret significant natural areas showcasing a wide variety of landscapes and environments. The nearly 700-acre Tunica Hills State Preservation Area is a splendid example, a spectacular site along the Mississippi River including a towering bluff and the steep wooded ravines for which this unique area is noted.
These rugged hills provide the perfect backdrop for a huge variety of outdoor activities, including some of the most challenging hiking in the state. In wintertime, scenic forest vistas open up which are not visible to hikers in the lush crowded overgrowth of summer, and even Sunday drivers can appreciate the hilly roads, some so ancient they began life as prehistoric game trails stamped indelibly into the soil of lands claimed by native Indians long before the first Europeans arrived. Birdwatchers find the area still provides unspoiled habitat for the same rich abundance of birdlife that so inspired artist-naturalist John James Audubon in the 1820's that he painted many of his famous bird studies right there. 
Planning for this unique preservation area began in earnest in 2002 with the approval of $700,000 in funding for planning and design. In 2012, the Governor’s Office won approval from the State Bond Commission for a non-cash line of credit of nearly $3 million for Phase I construction, which will include site access and entrance road, tram trail including several timber bridges and fueling station, purchase of two trams, bridges and water well, utilities and site preparation, five miles of hiking trails, fencing and 3100 feet of boardwalks. Subsequent phases, estimated to cost more than $10 million, will include construction of the Interpretive Center and observation deck overlooking the Mississippi River, plus an entrance station and manager’s residence. 
Plans call for using abandoned logging roads and natural ridges as entrance roads and trails as much as possible. Vehicular traffic will be limited, and alternative fuel vehicles will transport visitors to the highest part of the site for orientation. The five-mile trail system will provide an on-the-ground experience with varied levels of difficulty. Utilizing old logging roads, stream beds and natural cleared areas, the trails will be marked, with vertical transitions for safety. Only minor clearing will be required, and there will be trash receptacles, interpretive exhibits and rest areas along the trail system. Besides enhancing the experience, these amenities and the designated trail system will serve to control access and lessen the overall impact on the natural area.
Besides the outstanding recreational opportunities offered in the surrounding Tunica Hills, St. Francisville is a year-round tourist destination featuring a number of splendidly restored plantation homes open for tours daily: The Cottage Plantation, Butler Greenwood Plantation, The Myrtles Plantation, Greenwood Plantation, plus Catalpa Plantation by reservation. Afton Villa Gardens and Imahara’s Botanical Gardens are open seasonally. Particularly important to tourism in the area are its two significant state historic sites, Rosedown Plantation and Oakley Plantation in the Audubon state site, offering periodic fascinating living-history demonstrations so visitors can experience 19th-century plantation life and customs. 
A gathering of the St. Francisville community in December 2012 replicated a similar gathering more than a century earlier, both celebrating the opening of beautiful Temple Sinai perched on a hill overlooking the Mississippi River. The earlier gathering, in 1903, marked the long-awaited opening of permanent place of worship for the area’s Jewish residents, while the recent gathering celebrated the restoration and re-opening of this significant structure and a return to life as a welcomed cultural venue for the region.
In 1820 there were only 2700 Jews in the United States, but through the mid-1800s waves of immigrants arrived to escape anti-Semitism, particularly from Bavaria and the German states along the Rhine, and Alsace-Lorraine in pre-industrial France. Forbidden to own land in the Old Country, these immigrants found their expertise in merchandising and finance filled a crucial gap in an agrarian society like the Cotton Kingdom, as they followed the westward movement of the cotton empire from depleted eastern fields to the rich fertile lands of the Mississippi River corridor. 
As these hard-working immigrants prospered, the South became the center of Jewish population in the country, offering religious and political freedom as well as the possibility of social and financial success. Jews in the South? Who knew! From Vicksburg to Port Gibson, from Natchez to Woodville, from Bayou Sara and St. Francisville to New Orleans, there were thriving Jewish communities; Donaldsonville had more Jewish mayors than any other Southern town, and even the Confederacy had outstanding officials like Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin. In the St. Francisville/Bayou Sara area, important names included Max Dampf, born in Germany’s Black Forest, who served on the bank board, was a member of the Board of Supervisors of Election, had a general merchandise store, and was called “a wide-awake progressive businessman and valued member of society;” Joseph Stern from Weisbaden had a livery and horse and mule market; L. Bach and Company sold goods wholesale and retail; shoemaker Moritz Rosenthal arrived in a wagon pulled by oxen and his son dealt in imported drygoods (and it would be his granddaughter Hannah who saw to it that the Hebrew Rest cemetery was kept in immaculate condition all the days of her life); Abe Stern had horses and mules, and Joseph Goldman had a bar room and grocery store; M.C. Levy handled general merchandise, as did Adolph Teutsch who came from Bavaria; Picard and Weil sold plantation supplies; Morris Burgas, who had studied at the University of Berlin and at Oxford, kept books and managed cotton warehouses and a mercantile house for his uncle.
Accepted as contributing members of their adopted communities along the Mississippi River corridor, these immigrants as they succeeded in business supported public works and served in important civic offices. Synagogues and temples were built, cemeteries established and charitable organizations formed as the Jews shared their prosperity in great philanthropies. Typical was Julius Freyhan, who arrived penniless in America at age 21 in 1851 and by the time he died in 1904 was described as one of the wealthiest and most respected men in the state. In Bayou Sara and St. Francisville he built up a business empire of stores and saloons, cotton gins, gristmills, sawmill, and a drygoods mercantile selling everything from buggies to coffins. J. Freyhan and Company, later known as M&E Wolf when his brothers-in-law took over the business, served as the principal source of supply for a dozen Louisiana parishes and southwest Mississippi counties, in a year selling $1 million worth of goods and handling 14,000 bales of cotton. 
The local newspaper, the True Democrat, ran a lengthy tribute to the dedication of Temple Sinai in its March 28, 1903 issue, calling the ceremony “an event involving all members of this small community.” Said the article, “The event par excellence of the week has been the dedicatory services on Sunday last of the house of worship recently built by Hebrew citizens. It was an hour of rejoicing, and Christian friends, fully sympathetic, rejoiced too. The time of waiting was agreeably passed by comments on the beauty of the synagogue.”
A children’s procession, carrying US flags, palm leaves and lighted candles, represented most of the local Jewish families: the Manns, Levys, Dreyfuses, Fischels, Teutsches, Wolfs, Schlesingers and Edigers. The building, called “the most attractive house of worship save one in St. Francisville,” was filled, the newspaper said, “by a large congregation composed of both Jews and Gentiles. The feeling of reciprocity among all town residents when any good work is to be done is shown in this as in all other cases, and is especially due to this congregation, as they are charitable to the needy, and kindly towards all without regard to creed.”
In December 2012 the community gathered once again to celebrate Temple Sinai’s superb restoration by Holly and Smith Architects, with yet another generation of children singing and processing with palm fronds and candles and flags, plus remarks by Freyhan Foundation leaders, prayers led by Rabbi Barry Weinstein, and a concluding reception in the same location as in 1903 (now the parish hall of Grace Episcopal Church). The return to community use of this historic structure is a wonderful example of coordinated efforts on every level, from the US Park Service and Senator Mary Landrieu to state government, from the parish school board and police jury and Town of St. Francisville administration to the Freyhan Foundation’s board and the commitment of dedicated individuals, beginning with the late Billie Magee and now under the determined direction of Nancy Vinci. Freyhan Foundation director Joanna Sternberg very capably guided the year-long restoration, which was funded by donations and a grant from the National Park Service’s Save America’s Treasures program.
The chief statewide litter enforcement agency in this Sportsman’s Paradise is the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, which last year issued 914 citations for littering, an act of negligence that costs state taxpayers some $40 million a year and can be hazardous to the health of wildlife and disastrous for the environment---an orange peel, for example, takes six months to biodegrade, a plastic bag ten to twenty years. Convictions for littering carry fines from $175 to $1,000, plus hours of public service in litter abatement programs. The St. Francisville municipal code has ordinances against littering (Section 11-23, Code 1979, #8-3005 states “No person, while a driver or passenger in a vehicle, shall throw or deposit litter upon any street or other public place, or upon private property,” and there are other sections prohibiting truck loads causing litter, littering in parks or bodies of water, on vacant or private properties). Additionally, local law enforcement agencies and the parish District Attorney have joint initiatives to control the litter problem.
Eric’s day begins at 6 a.m. at Town Hall, when he raises the flags and makes coffee for employees before setting out on his appointed rounds. Other than a few pauses to catch his breath and spread a little cheer chatting with shopowners along the way, he walks and picks up litter along every single street and highway in St. Francisville’s town limits---along US 61, along LA 10, and along a number of hilly streets through the little town’s commercial and residential districts--- and neither sleet nor snow nor dark of night stays him from his appointed rounds. At 4:00 quitting time he goes home and walks some more with Dottie, his Jack Russell terrier.
Every little town has one, that dependably generous soul who never says no and thus may be found laboring behind the scenes over a hot stove or flaming grill at every fundraiser, every church dinner, every charitable event. St. Francisville has over the years been fortunate enough to have had a number of these unsung heroes, and one of them is finally getting her due.
The effervescent Sue Powell spent years working in the guidance counselors’ office at the local high school. Longtime counselor Ms. Dianne Williams recalls that Miss Sue knew all the students and parents, and she treated each one with love and respect. “She was the life of the party,” said Ms. Williams, “and she could help a child, work with office materials and talk on the phone all at the same time. She loved to cook and coordinate school social activities. She had more recipes than anyone I knew and she’s one of the best cooks I’ve ever seen. The faculty loved her and she loved them. She brought laughter, compassion and a genuine sense of love to West Feliciana High School. Mrs. Sue was ‘Mama’ to all of us. A thousand words are not enough to describe one of the most humble and friendliest human beings I’ve ever know.” 
Miss Sue knew you didn’t need any fancy recipe to cook mustard greens to perfection, just a slab of salt pork and a long, slow simmer. “Put ‘em on and let ‘em go; you gotta cook ‘em for a long time,” as her daughter Tootie describes her mama’s secret method. There was plenty of competition, including a couple of upstart wannabees like the regional magazine publisher and one local realtor decked out in real greens, plus some stiff judging by the likes of C.C. Lockwood and Smiley Anders, but not only did Miss Sue win the World Champion Mustard Green Cooking Contest, she was also crowned Mustard Green Queen for having raised the most contributions for the local food bank, over $1000. The only male contestant (in the cooking contest, not the queen’s) was gracious enough to retire from the field. And so, resplendent in denim overalls and a sparkling tiara, Sue Powell, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye and looking far younger than her 75 years, reigned supreme over the first official Feliciana Green Festival sponsored by the local Rotary Club. 
At last one of St. Francisville’s unsung heroes finally got her due. While Sue Powell loves to travel and has been all over the world, from Saudi Arabia to Hong Kong, from Hawaii to Belgium, her happiest moments are when she is stirring that pot and cooking something soothing to the soul for her friends and neighbors in St. Francisville, Louisiana. Of course she knows everybody in town; on her last birthday Miss Sue received a grand total of 207 cards! Daughter Tootie says, “Anytime anybody wants anything cooked, she can’t say no.” What a blessing she is to the community, she and all the others like her in every little community, whose culinary contributions mark the milestones of life and make the living and dying more bearable.
The nearby Tunica Hills offer unmatched recreational activities in unspoiled wilderness areas—hiking, biking, birding, photography. There are unique art galleries plus specialty and antiques shops, many in restored historic structures, and some fine little restaurants throughout the St. Francisville area serving everything from Chinese and Mexican cuisine to seafood and classic Louisiana favorites. For overnight stays, the area offers some of the state’s most popular Bed & Breakfasts, including historic plantations, lakeside clubhouses and beautiful townhouses right in the middle of St. Francisville’s extensive National Register-listed historic district, and there are also modern motel accommodations for large bus groups. And those looking for mustard greens and other fresh produce can visit the local Farmers’ Market Thursday and Saturdays.
