Echoes From The Attic and Poems, FORD HOME, 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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FORD HOME OVERSHADOWED BY LARGE OAK

A magnificent Live Oak tree spreads its far-reaching branches over the roof of 
the home of Mrs. Maria Mhoon, located on the corner of East Robert Street.

Silently the tree that has been registered with the Louisiana Live Oak Society 
depicts historical background for the structure known as the Leon Ford Home.  It 
was home for the Ford family for over 45 years.

The towering Oak was but a switch when the senior Fords moved into their home 
around 1902.  The house had been built by the A. H. Motts.  Mrs. Motts was 
formerly Sarah Henkel, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. W. E. Henkel.

Mr. and Mrs. Ford were parents of four children, all born and reared in the same 
house.  Edwin, the eldest son, died in 1918, while attending Louisiana State 
University in Baton Rouge; this was during an influenza epidemic Leon Jr., died 
around 1947; he was an attorney and father of Judge Leon Ford III.  Mrs. Ford is 
the former Christine Butler of Ponchatoula.  The two daughters were Mrs. H. E. 
Felder (Carmelite) and Mrs. Nelson Penton (Margaret) who died several years ago.  
The Felders have two sons, Bobby and H. E. Jr.  The Pentons have one son, Captain 
Billy Penton of the United State Air Force.

All of the Ford children spent many happy hours playing beneath the brances of the 
large Oak tree in the frontyard.  All are graduates of Hammond High School.

Mrs. Ford Sr., an avid gardener, planted the azaleas bordering the grounds and the 
purple magnolias in the garden.  She spent much time cultivating plants on the 
grounds while her husband, an engineer on the Panama Limited, was on duty.  It was 
while he was performing his engineering work that he was killed during a train 
wreck.  Mrs. Ford continued to occupy the family residence for several years, 
later moving to the west side of town.  She (Ella H.) died in 1950.

Mrs. Mhoon now has the advantage of the shade from the century-old tree where she 
has lived for about 20 years.

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

(Mrs. Maria L. Mhoon died September 9, 1974 and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, 
Hammond. Judge Ford is retired and residing in Hammond.  The Ginger Ford Habitat 
For Humanity in Hammond is named after his late wife. BEC 1/22/01)