Echoes From The Attic and Poems, The Camellias, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Don Johnson, Jan. 2001
Typed by Belford Carver
Written by by Edna F. Campbell
Copyrighted by Edna F. Campbell
With special thanks to her family for permission to use her works.

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THE CAMELLIAS REEKING WITH HISTORY AND SENTIMENT

"The Camellias" ante-bellum home of Mr. and Mrs. J. Wallace Kingsbury on Ogden 
Lane in Amite was one of the homes visited on the Tour of Homes, sponsored by the 
American Cancer Crusade Committee in Amite, Sunday.  The hours are from 3 to 6 pm.  
Mrs. Kingsbury and hostesses assisting in receiving with her were in Centennial 
costume.  Included in the group were Mmes. Carrol Buck, L. L. Morgan, Tom Kent, 
Horace R. Reid, E. L. Brumfield, Frank Patenotte, Sr., Marion Stewart, and Kitsie 
Lyon.

Reeking with sentiment and history, "The Camellias," home of Mr. and Mrs. J. 
Wallace Kingsbury, at the corner of North Duncan Avenue and Ogden Lane, was one 
of the homes included on the Tour of Homes in Amite, Sunday, sponsored by the 
American Cancer Society.

The house built long before the War Between the States has retained its charm 
throughout the years, and the spacious gardens are cultivated in camellias over a 
hundred years old, and have reached the height of native trees.  The name stemmed 
from the aged camellias.

The Kingsbury home was built by Ridgley of New Orleans, and was remodeled and 
enlarged by J. M. Bach in 1860.  The Ogden Lane name is promoted by later owners 
Judge and Mrs. Octavious Nash Ogden, grandfathers of Alfred W. Spiller of Hammond.  
Other names interwoven in family history includes Hennen and Carter.  At one time 
it was owned by Thomas Carter, father of the late Mayor C. C. Carter of Hammond, 
and Will Carter.

They renovated the entire building but did nothing to change the architectural 
lines.  Retained are the high ceiling walls, the expansive rooms, floor length 
French windows and blinds.  Bannister railings and massive columns are added 
notes of yesteryear.

The home was unoccupied for a number of years before the Kingsburys bought it and 
restored it and the gardens to their former beauty and furnished the rooms with 
antiques.  Among the cherished heirlooms are a mahogany Mallard  bedstead, an 
original Sheraton dining table, and an English Grandfather clock.  Hand hooked
rugs designed by Mrs. Kingsbury's late mother, Mrs. Suebelle Howell, complement 
the antique furnishings.

(From ECHOES FROM THE ATTIC, IV, 1969, by Edna Campbell)

(Pic "The Camellias")