lounge: spring break at Oakley Plantation
In May 2008 my husband Alan Steiner (not related to our good friend author Bill Steiner) and I took some time off to visit friends in Mississippi and Louisiana. We hit the road with Pascal Bichon, a charming but highly excitable canine of French extraction.
Among the highlights of our trip was a visit to the Audubon State Historic Site in St Francisville LA. The site includes a museum, Oakley House (guided tours offered from 10 am to 4 pm), and grounds open from 9 am to 5 pm daily. Also included on the site are nature trails, some gardens and some outbuildings. The site is closed three days a year (New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). For more information, contact the site at audubon@crt.state.la.us or 225-635-3739 or 1-888-677-2838 toll-free. Admission for adults (over 12 and under 62) is $2. Seniors and children free. Because Pascal was with us, I went into the museum to get the "lay of the land" and pay admission for two humans while Al waited outside with Pascal. At the door to the museum, we got an introduction to the site's mascot, Gus (Domesticated Turkey - Male). Dogs are allowed on the grounds if they are on leash. To access the grounds, they go quickly (and quietly) through the Museum. I was planning to take the 30-minute house tour while Al and Pascal viewed the grounds. The big issue was getting past Gus, who was perfectly satisfied to continue acting the part of No. 1, Plate I. Pascal thought a coup d'etat was the order of the day. He barked, Gus gobbled. Being on home turf (sans leash) has its advantages. Pascal, however, was awarded a consolation prize for superior decibels.
Unfortunately, Eliza was often unwell. After so much loss, it was understandable that Lucretia was protective of Eliza's health. She was a formidable woman, and perhaps in reaction to the tragedy of the deaths of her first husband and children studied herbal remedies. She was often called upon to help those in the household and nearby neighbors with illnesses and medical problems. In May of 1821, Audubon wrote to his wife Lucy from New Orleans that he was giving drawing lessons to a young lady named Eliza Pirrie. Upon discovering Audubon's musical talent, Mrs. Pirrie asked him to come to Oakley (where the Pirries would be spending the hot summer months) to teach Eliza a variety of subjects. Audubon asked for $100 per month, but they agreed upon a salary of $60, plus room and board for both Audubon and his assistant Joseph Mason. Audubon would provide instruction in music, dancing, drawing, hair-weaving and other social niceties; of greatest benefit to him, he would be free a portion of each day to pursue his work and he would be living in an environment that was almost ideal to his interests. Audubon and Mason arrived at Oakley in mid-June and were to spend a little less than four months at Oakley. During this time, Audubon would paint 32 birds, among them the Swallow-tailed Hawk, Bewick's Wren, and the Red-headed Woodpecker. Descendants of Lucretia Pirrie (through Audubon's pupil Eliza) lived in the house on and off through 1942 when the last one moved out. The house was sold to the state of Louisiana in 1947. The state restored the house, and it was first opened to the public in 1954.
I should have taken notes on the tour, but instead I gawked. So this is from memory...if I got it wrong, feel free to send corrections! The house tour commenced in the ROOM WHERE AUDUBON SLEPT. The room included the ACTUAL bed in which he slept. Joseph Mason also slept in that room, probably on the floor or on some sort of cot. It hit me as a bit strange, but there was a full sheet Havell lying on top of the bed -- I recall it being PL 18 Bewick's Wren. I wondered about the significance, but there may not have been any. Later in the tour, I asked about the prints (all others except PL 18 were framed and on the walls), and the guide said they were all donated. Most were in good to excellent color, a couple were very faded. The guide said that they rotated the prints, and that the goal was to preserve them in the same condition in which they were received. The room that had been Audubon's while he was at Oakley was on the ground floor of the house and was the house's original kitchen. This fact had been determined by the existence of a sort of cubby hole near the fireplace that would have been used for baking and keeping food warm. As was the practice, the kitchen had eventually been removed from the house to reduce the fire hazard. Also on the ground floor was the dining room. The large table was set with some of the family's china. Our guide said that this room would have been the most comfortable in the house on a year-round basis, the coolest in the heat of summer, and the easiest to heat in the cold of winter.
Audubon was dismissed by Lucretia Pirrie in October of 1821 under somewhat stormy circumstances having to do with money and Eliza's health and who knows what else. To anyone interested in this extremely productive time in Audubon's life, I would recommend the book by Danny Heitman titled A SUMMER OF BIRDS: John James Audubon at Oakley House (published by Louisiana State University Press, 2008). I read it a few months after our trip, and enjoyed it very much. It includes an appendix about the birds that Audubon painted at Oakley. I wrote most of this page before reading the book, so my main sources were the Internet, what I learned at the Audubon State Historic Site, and Richard Rhodes' biography John James Audubon: The Making of An American (Knopf, 2004). After visiting the house, I caught up with Al and Pascal on the grounds. There is a "self-guided tour" available for the grounds, and they had walked around checking things out. Al and I raced through the Museum (separately). The Museum deserved far more time than I could give it. I did not have time to review most of the artifacts related to the Pirries or plantation life, but I did take a quick photo of Lucretia's Apothecary Book where she kept pharmacological notes. Audubon's feelings notwithstanding, I admire Lucretia's strong will and her great desire to heal others.
In the museum there is a very nice display of Havell prints and a single folio Quadruped. The prints were mostly birds Audubon painted in nearby locations in Louisiana and Mississippi. It was a hit parade of Birds -- again, I wish I had jotted down a few names. I recall seeing both Turkeys, the Carolina Parrot, the Black-billed Cuckoo, I believe also the Swallow-tailed Kite, the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, the Red-headed Woodpecker, the Pileated Woodpecker, and the Summer Red-bird, among many other beautiful images. There was only one Quad in the room -- No. 1, Plate 1 Common American Wild Cat. And on that note, it seemed a good time to go. Pascal hates all cats... We drove to St Francisville. I won't go into much detail about this delightful and interesting town, but if you are in the area, do not miss it. Start off with a visit to the Museum and Tourist Information Center of the WEST FELICIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY (on Ferdinand St near Royal), where you can see exhibits and get a brochure for the walking / driving tour of the Historic District. For more information, call 225-635-4224 or visit their website at www.stfrancisville.us.
My favorite stop on the Walking Tour was the ROMANESQUE BANK BUILDING (stop #9) built in 1905 at the corner of Royal and Prosperity Streets. The ground floor of the building is home to a gift shop. I was hoping to go in and see the window from the inside of the building. Didn't work out that way. The owner, who has a deep interest in antique buttons, and has part of her extensive collection on display in the shop, was away. I chatted with one of the sales people, but she didn't know that much about the building or the story behind the window. She said gleefully that some bird expert had visited, and had told them that Audubon had positioned the flamingo's bill incorrectly. Whether true or not, I felt kind of sorry for Audubon.
A few days after we visited Oakley and St Francisville, we headed home along the Natchez Trace Parkway. We drove its full length and saw Wild Turkeys, Summer Tanagers, Red-headed Woodpeckers, and came face to beak with a brilliantly colored Prothonotary Warbler. For someone who grew up in Washington Heights believing that the world has two kinds of birds (big grey ones called pigeons and little brown ones called sparrows) that was Big Fun.
Last updated 05.21.09 |
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