Two accounts of the history of Kendrick place follow:
The Kendrick Place based on Marvin Van Gilder's account and Christie Ann (Hill) Russell's research.
Marvin Van Gilder’s historic account of the building of the Kendrick house at Kendrick Place is given in, History of Jasper County, Missouri.
Sinnet and Elizabeth Rankin arrived in Jasper County from Ohio in 1842. Accompanying them were their sons William and Jacob, later to be joined by Sinnet’s brother, also named Jacob Rankin. On December 26, 1846, they obtained a section of land from the U.S. government on Spring River. "Taking advantage of the natural deposits of limestone, they installed primitive kilns near the river and began the production of mortar for building purposes. These probably were the first commercial lime kilns in Jasper County. At the same time, the Rankin family also launched a rudimentary quarrying operation by removing large blocks of sandstone and limestone from the bluffs along the river and pulling them up the hillside on the site later to be known as Kendricktown for use as fireplace bases."
Owning several slaves, the Rankin family put them to work beginning in 1849 "on the construction of a building which had all the characteristics of a mansion in the eyes of envious neighbors still confined to one-room log houses. Thomas W. Dawson, a neighbor and also a slave owner, was employed as building contractor. Dawson was said to be a wealthy man as the result of successes a few years earlier in the California gold rush, which began in 1849. He may have used the slaves of his household as well as those of the Rankins in the subsequent construction work which spanned most of five years. The slaves used straw and clay from the property itself as the basic ingredients of the bricks which were the principal building material. Large split logs from the timber along the Spring River bottoms provided framing and support."
Sinnet Rankin transferred title to the property to his sons in 1854, who on April 10, 1856, sold the house and 635 acres of land to Thomas Dawson who had married their sister. Dawson subsequently rented the still new two-story brick mansion to William Kendrick who was living in Neosho, Newton County. Dawson and Kendrick were acquainted in Newton County as evidenced in the following document. William [T.] Kendrick made and appointed Joshua Draper Palmer Kendrick to be his "true lawful attorney in fact and in my name to do and perform for me any and all things he may think necessary and proper to be done." (power of attorney) witnessed by Thomas W. Dawson, Probate Judge Newton County. William T. Kendrick was in ill health and was leaving to travel to warmer climate. He died January 19, 1849 in Hempstead County, Arkansas at the home of McRea.
The 1860 Slave Census of Newton County Missouri lists a 37 year old black female and six black children aged 12, 10, 7, 6, 4, and ½ owned by William Kendrick. No other record has been found to indicate any other slaves were owned by the Kendrick family.
On December 27, 1860, Thomas Dawson sold the Jasper County property above Spring River to William Kendrick. The Kendrick family occupied the house for more than 125 years. "In the beginning it was a district conversation piece widely recognized as one of the finest residential buildings between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Settlers found it particularly intriguing because it boasted a full complement of glass windows. The Kendrick mansion and the similar brick building erected by pioneer Matthew B. Ritchey to the south at the village of Newtonia in Newton County became the principal stopping points for travelers passing through the region.
William Kendrick’s next oldest son, Joshua Draper Palmer Kendrick, is reported to have been among a number of Jasper Countians who followed the deposed Missouri state government of Gov. Claiborne Fox Jackson to Texas. His military records show that he served in the Confederate Army the fall of 1864 until June 1865 in Company C Johnson’s Battalion. He was later a member of the United Confederate Veteran’s Camp #522, Webb City, Jasper Co. "...The remaining members of the Kendrick family carefully maintained a neutral stance throughout the war, probably as a means of self-preservation, and kept their doors open to both fighters and followers of both North and South. Because of that wise action, the house survived the wartime depredations which resulted in destruction of most of the residences of the area. J.D.P. Kendrick returned to Jasper County and to the Kendrick mansion after his military service and was among those who provided leadership in the reorganization and rebuilding of the county."
THE STORY OF HISTORIC KENDRICK HOUSE
Written in 1980 by Lucille and Jack Janney
for the Jasper County Historical Society
(the last family members to reside at Kendrick House)
(Editors Note: since this was written Victorian Carthage, Inc. has made some restorations to Kendrick House)
A stately old brick two story, Georgian style home, mentioned in Mr. [William B.] Kendrick’s will as the mansion house, is located in Kendricktown, at the intersection of highway 71 and V by-pass, north of the outskirts of Carthage, Missouri.
The home was built by the Rankin family, started in 1849 and completed in 1854. The brick for the home was made by slave labor. Each brick is concave on one side, so it could hold more mortar. Some bricks are dark in color while others are light. There is a heavy porcelain glaze marking on some brick, caused by lying too close to the outside of the kiln. Outside measurements of the home are 20 feet in width, 58 feet in length and approximately 30 feet in height. The brick walls are laid in the common bond style, this means every seventh row is laid opposite from the first six rows. The walls are three bricks thick. The mortar is a burned lime.
The wood and large timbers are said to have come from the farm. The foundation is made of rough Carthage stone to a thickness of 20 inches, faced with 4 inch thick slabs of smoothed sandstone, that came from around Jasper. Serving as supports through the center of the home are two huge trees, fastened with a shiplap joint. Each tree is about 2 feet in diameter and less than 30 feet long. They are oak with most bark still clinging on them, resting on piers of rough Carthage stone.
The wood trim and shutters are [were] of walnut, in very good condition. The guttering is a yankie or sometimes referred to as dutch guttering.
It has a gable roof, supported by a full 3" x 4" walnut rafters, one a 24 inch center. It has been re-roofed many times over the period of years. The floor joist in the unfinished attic is a full 3"x 6" walnut about 24 feet in length, also on a 24 inch center. They used some pegs but mostly different size wrought iron nails, which were very scarce, as they had to be handmade.
The place originally had a two story veranda on the front. From this one night in October 1863 the Kendrick family from the second deck of the porch watched Carthage as it went up in flames. Later, the porch was burned by the soldiers. The veranda has never been replaced as each generation feels as thought its absence is a symbol of the Civil War.
The original sandstone steps are at the front doors today.
It was often the custom in the days before the war for a brick house to be built and have frame addition running to the rear, for uses as a dining room, kitchen and slave quarters. The Kendrick house was built on this style. About 1908, the old frame portion was torn away and a more modern addition substituted. Again in 1954 this portion was torn away and still another wood addition erected.
There is a large cistern 12 feet deep and 8 feet in diameter made of the same type brick the house is constructed of, sealed with a thick coat of plastering. It holds water today. There is also the old well hand dug to a depth of 40 feet and cribbed with rough Carthage stone. It was later drilled to a depth of 110 feet and is still in use. The well beneath the present windmill tower appears to be in a prominent location, near the front end view of the home. The reason for the location was that the early construction placed it in a backyard position.
On the west side of the well was a building used to house cured meats and other dried food products. A cellar beneath this was to store potatoes, canned food and other items to prevent freezing. This building was moved to another part of the yard and used for a workshop. It was hit by lightning and burned to the ground in 1927. The cellar was filled with tons of dirt and rock. Before modern windmills were used to pump water, slaves and members of the family used a rope and pulley with an old wooden keg to draw their water for home use. The livestock were watered from the river. Barbed wire fencing was not available until late 1870's. In 1959 an old portion of the brick sidewalk was discovered about 35 feet north of the brick structure. It led from the well to the kitchen door of the slave quarters and was of the same type brick that was used to build the house and cistern. Over the years several sources of energy were used to draw the water from the well such as: hand power with a rope and pulley, windmill installed about 1900, and later stationary gasoline engines to run a pump jack, even model T Fords fitted with a wooden pulley on the rear wheel which was blocked up off the ground were used. Then about 1929 Empire Electricity came into being and is used today with a modern automatic pressure system.
There are windows on the north and south of the home. The nine windows upstairs each measure 36" x 60". The window sills and headers are of sandstone. On the south is a door that leads out on the veranda. Downstairs there are four windows, only on the south, each measuring 36" x 72". They are believed to have the original frames and are put together with wooden pegs. On the front overlooking the Spring River Valley and Carthage are two large solid front doors, measuring o er 6 feet wide and 7 feet high. They are large enough to drive a modern car through. Above these doors is a 6 foot transom with eight small panes.
It always amazes me to think that when the house was built it sat in a wooded tract of land consisting of 635 acres with only a lane to the east of the house. This lane led from Carthage to Greenfield, Missouri. There were no bridges, therefore two streams had to be forded to reach Carthage. Today, there are concrete highways on the west and south, such a beautiful setting for a home started in 1849.
Inside it is so original it takes one back many years. On entering from the front doors there is a center hall 12' x 18' with an L shaped stairway. There are three inside doors, one leading to the new addition, another to the dining room and the other to the parlor. The locks on the doors are dated St. Louis 1842 and 1845. We still have the old key ring and the original keys.
The width of the stairwell is 41 inches and there are 16 steps made of pine measuring 12 inch tread with a 7 inch riser. Flanked on the left of the stairwell are two 1" x 12" pine boards. One the right is a cherry railing and spokes. The newel post at the foot of the stairs is also made of cherry. Upstairs the spokes and newel post on the landing are of walnut. Architects visiting the home are amazed at the ease with which one can ascend the stairs. The builder must have had this in mind at the time of their construction.
When old paint was removed from the two pine boards in the stairwell, the name and date, "Noah Wilson, June 8th 1850", appeared. We have no knowledge of who this person could be.
The partitions of the home are made of heavy hand hewed lath plastered with horsehair plastering over one inch thick. The outer walls are plastered directly to the brick. On top of the thick horsehair plastering is a finishing coat of very beautiful slick white finish that has outlasted some of our modern plastering.
The woodwork downstairs is walnut with 1" x 1'" baseboards and 1" x 4" chair railings. Cabinet doors are of wild cherry, two of which have brass hardware. The doorframes and window frames are made of pine. The woodwork upstairs is all walnut except for the pine doors.
The floors downstairs are of oak planks laid in random widths. Upstairs they are of pine and have lap joints. On each side of the fireplaces are built-in closets. The dining room has a fruit cabinet with two drawers at the bottom made of wild cherry. To the south of the fireplace is a very deep china cabinet with walnut shelves and cherry doors with small panes of glass. Some of the glass panes are original. It has two storage doors at the bottom put together with wooden pegs.
There are built-in cabinets on each side of the fireplace in the parlor. The drawers of theses cabinets were used to feed the horses of the officers during the Civil War. The family still have some of these corn cobs. Upstairs is another 12' x 18' center hall and three bedrooms, one a master bedroom 18' x 22' and two smaller ones. There are no closets for at the time the house was built they used wardrobes. There is no running water in the old part of the home.
The two fireplaces are 36" x 48" deep made of Carthage stone and sandstone with wild cherry mantles. Theses fireplaces are downstairs only. The ones upstairs were never completed. On the outside of the house the chimney base is eight feet wide and protrudes from the house only nine inches from the exterior wall. This style was rare in antebellum homes.
The sources of illumination came from the fireplaces, candles and grease and whale oil lamps. Kerosene was still some thirty years in the future. There was some use of camphene which was solid terpene which resembled camphor in appearance.
Kendrick House Owners
Mr. Sennett Rankin and sons Jacob and William, builders of the Kendrick House, owned many acres of land north and west of Carthage. They sold 635 acres with the home in 1865 to Thomas Dawson and wife Mary. According to information gathered from grandchildren, the Rankins purchased about 1,600 acres of land west of Jasper and on one of their farms the negro slaves which helped to build the Kendrick House are buried. Jacob Rankin is mentioned in some of the early Jasper County History books as being active in civic affairs in Jasper. William Rankin became interested in the lead and zinc mines around Oronogo and became very wealthy operating hiw own mill.
Recently we have learned that Mr. Dawson had been prosecuting attorney in Neosho, Newton County, Missouri The gold fever was on in California at about this time and Dawson left for the gold fields. Upon his return from California he took his slaves to Texas and traded them for mules. He then returned to St. Louis and sold the mules for confederate money which later became worthless.
The Kendrick Family
William B. Kendrick and wife Elizabeth [Palmer] moved to the Kendrick House March 4, 1857. The son Joshua was a blacksmith like his father and his son was to be and lived in the same household. The following year Joshua married Elvira B. Britten of Neosho. Tom Austin Kendrick, the Kendrick’s first grandchild was born January 29, 1859 in the Kendrick House. The deed to the home and 540 acres was not recorded until November 1860 so apparently some agreement had been made between the Rankins and the Kendricks around 1857.
Joshua had a flowing red beard and was known to be generous and religious. To many of his customers he was known as "honest Palmer Kendrick." He loved his orchards and vineyards and entered his prize produce in local fairs. He was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.