Echoes From The Attic and Poems, Blanche Timmerman, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Don Johnson, Feb. 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. ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ STEEPLE ACCENTS VICTORIAN HOME ON PINE STREET Standing apart and distinguished with Victorian architectural trends is a wooden framework house at 206 North Pine occupied today by Dr. and Mrs. Harold Leu. The Hammond landmark is built with a unique steepled section. Residents of long standing in Hammond associate the house and it memories with Miss Blanche Timmerman, a native of Illinois, who "sewed a fine seam." She was acouturiere for a select group of fashion-minded Hammond women who called her "Timmy.'' Timmy fashioned clothes only for those whom she chose. The Vogue fashionbook was her Biblical guide. She needed no purchased pattern as she could look at the picture and draw her own blueprint or pattern. She was said to have been very stern and no one questioned her authority on sewing trends. Miss Timmerman took extreme pride in her finished styling products. On one occasion she is said to have interrupted Mrs. Arthur Loranger while an entertainment was in progress at Oak Knoll Country Club. To the chagrin of Mrs. Loranger, she was invited to meet her designer in the dressing room and was told, "You have your dress on backward." The modish style featured rows and rows of tiny buttons which enclosed the tightlyfitted bodice. After the mistake was remedied on the Timmerman original model, Mrs. Loranger went merrily on her way and resumed the party fun. This pioneer seamstress designed clothes for three generations of the Cate lineage among which were wedding gowns for Mrs. James M. Fourmy, her daughter, Mrs. H. J. Barnes and a garment for Mrs. Barnes' daughter who then was quite small. Some of this quaint mid-westernerís patronesses recall how Timmy pressed the fine seams with sad irons before an open fireplace. Another peculiarity remembered vividly was her practice of donning work clothes on Sunday and tending her garden. On this Sabbath day she shunned all visitors and conversationalists. When Miss Timmerman lived in Hammond during the early years, her parents also resided here, but later returned to the north. Their bodies later were brought to Hammond for interment. Her brother, Grant Timmerman, who lived on the east side of Hammond, fought in the Spanish American War. He was born in 1863 and buried here in 1940. Miss Blanche Timmerman was born in Illinois in 1867 and died in 1940. She is buried at Greenlawn Cemetery. She astounded her friends by making all of her own arrangements before her death. She gave away articles she wanted friends to have. She insisted that Mrs. Barnes come over with wheelbarrow and get a Victorian love seat at an appointed time. This was prior to her entrance into the hospital and fatal illness. (From ECHOES FROM THE ATTIC, VI, 1971, by Edna Campbell) (Pic of house) (Dr. Leu was a long-time faculty member in the Department of History and Government at Southeastern Louisiana University; now deceased. Mrs. Leu was a public school nurse for many years and occupies the home today. BEC 2/6/01)