His Bellechase Plantation was razed in March 1960 to make way for government buildings. His French Quarter townhome is now a strip club called Temptations.
Genealogist Shines Light on Simmers Past
When it comes to the Simmers side of the family, it’s no easy task separating fact from fiction. Spirited recollections made around holiday dinner tables, memories shared over coffee or scotch were taken as gospel. Little paperwork was left behind to substantiate oral tradition. Then along comes intrepid family genealogist Judy Herbert , who, based on her postings in message boards […]
Annie Maria Boyce Thompson Lived a Hard Life
Only five of Annie Maria Boyce’s ten children lived to adulthood, and ill health forced her to spend summers in California. Like many Western pioneers, Annie Maria Boyce Thompson lived a hard life, though she was steadfast in her faith and greatly inspired her children. Born August 15, 1846, in Boone County, Missouri, Annie traveled with her mother and father, […]
Marie Gingras Pickering: The Missing French Connection
In the early 1880s, Frederick Manthano Pickering set out to make his fortune. He traveled more than 3000 miles by covered wagon from his hometown of Portland, Maine, all the way across the country to San Francisco. Two years later, he sent for his childhood sweetheart, Marie Gingras. Marie’s route was more circuitous, but equally daring. Taking her Hope Chest, which remains […]
Boyce Thompson, Sr., Dies Unexpectedly
Loved by all for his kindness and warm wit, Boyce Thompson, Sr. died unexpectedly on December 17th 2009 at 76 years of age. He was preceded in death by his wife of 52 years, Patricia Simmers Thompson. He is survived by brothers Bill and Tony Thompson and by four children–Boyce and wife Carol, Hugh and wife […]
“Pop” Thompson Zig-Zagged Across the Atlantic in Merchant Marine Vessels During WWII
My grandfather, William Boner Thompson, will always be remembered for avidly consuming World War II history books. On visits to his homes in Bronxville or Pasadena, we would invariably find him sitting forward on the living room sofa, engulfed in a Lucky Strike cloud, immersed in a tome. It turns out that most of these […]
Patricia Simmers Thompson Remembered for Blue-Plate Classics
Patricia Simmers Thompson will be forever remembered for her inspired, succulent interpretations of blue-plate classics that, to this day, remain beyond imitation. Though she left many of these priceless recipes behind, her children make largely feeble attempts to imitate her culinary artistry. Some, such as her recipe for wonderfully pungent spaghetti sauce, may be lost forever,now that bottle after soulless bottle […]
Meany Remembered as Brilliant Party Prankster
You know the kind of stories that reduce you to a senseless mass of convulsive laughter, where you involuntarily blurt out laughs like coughs, where your eyes stream with tears and you can’t speak? And just when you stop, you make eye contact with another person who also got the joke and start all over again? Those were the kind […]