Joplin's "History House"

"EDITOR'S NOTE.  This is the sixteenth article in a series by Charles Allonby of Neosho, dealing with historic sites in Southwest Missouri.

In the early 1830s, a young wanderer named Solomon Rothanbarger left his Pennsylvania home and began looking for a place to settle down.

Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee held his interest momentarily but late in 1836 or early the next year his wandering brought him to a spot on Turkey Creek, north of Joplin.

This he knew, would be his final choice, but it took a jaunt to California in the 1849 gold rush to confirm it.

That stop on Turkey Creek also determined he would be one of Joplin's pioneer citizens, and the house he built stands as a memorial to him and his wife.  She was born Jane Archer in Calloway County Missouri, and the couple married in February 1845.

That house is, of course, the old Rothanbarger house, now called the 'History House'.  It is located at 1210 North Florida, inside the present city limits of Joplin.

When Rothanbarger homesteaded the tract of 380 acres in 1837, however, the area was a wooded wilderness.

The building is a two-story house of five rooms.  All are approximately 17 feet square, and the walls are from 15 to 17 inches thick.

There are three rooms downstairs, each with a fireplace, and two rooms upstairs.  These were heated by registers cut in the ceiling and were used as bedrooms until severe winter weather required they be unused until spring returned.

The house is built of rough brick, made in the Rothanbarger brick works, a manufacturing effort that produced between 400,000 and 500,000 bricks a year.  This enterprise is known to have been established prior to 1866.

The exact date Rothanbarger completed the house is not known but it is known that the foundation was about half completed in 1861.  The advent of the Civil War forced the Rothanbargers to go to a farm north of Carthage where they awaited the end of hostilities.  Work was resumed soon afterward.

The home was used as a base hospital during the war, and wounded soldiers were given first aid in it and then taken on to Neosho.  In another instance, bushwhackers burned the kitchen in an unsuccessful attempt to destroy the entire building.

Rafters in the house are joined together with wooden pegs, and the nails used are square headed wrought iron.

Lumber used in its construction includes oak, walnut, and pine, most of it brought from Arkansas and the Spring river area by Rothanbarger.

Deep chimney cupboards have hand made paneled doors with brass latches and china knobs.  In the west room downstairs, old quilting rings are still in the ceiling.  The Rothanbarger family consisted of 10 children, three boys and seven girls.  The descendants include Mrs. Clara Chitwood Clark of Carl Junction, the only living granddaughter who is now nearing 82.  A great-granddaughter is Mrs. Josephine Lay, 2826 East Twelfth Street, Joplin, who has a sacred memento of her pioneer ancestor.  It is a gold nugget, souvenir of the Gold Rush days, brought home by her great-grandfather.  Mrs. Lay had it made into a specially designed brooch.

The 'History House' is now owned and occupied by Mrs. May Woods and her daughter, Mrs. Esther Butler, who have repaired it in recent years ..."

Date of article and newspaper published in are unknown.

"ROTHANBARGER HOME --'HISTORY HOUSE'
Owned by Mr. and Mrs. Myral Butler
1210 North Florida Avenue

The tract of land on which Solomon Rothanbarger, a native of Pennsylvania, erected this beautiful old brick residence, originally consisted of 380 acres, and was homesteaded in 1837, according to the abstracts.  After homesteading the land, Rothanbarger spent the next two years in California, returning to his property in 1839.  The next ten years were spent in building the beautiful home of hand pressed brick.  Rothanbarger developed and operated several brick kilns along Turkey Creek which winds through his property.  Hand pressed brick made from clay from a pit on the place was used in the construction not only of this home, but also the home of Founding Father John C. Cox, the Pinkard home north of Duquesne, and numerous other early homes and buildings.

Mortar used in the laying of the brick was of ground limestone and was 'seasoned' for a while before using; as of this date [date of article unknown] it shows little deterioration.  In the laying of the foundation it is said that the north star was used as a compass.  The foundation is constructed of huge blocks of chiseled limestone and was so substantially built that not a sag or crack appears after more than a hundred years.  A detached kitchen of brick once stood at the northwest corner of the kitchen-ell.  (This information is from Solomon Rothanbarger's son John, and John C. Cox, both now deceased.

All rooms are approximately 17 feet square and the walls are 15 and 17 inches thick.  Its ruggedness is clearly evident and its simple architectural lines reflect the beauty of colonial design.  Fireplaces are in all downstairs rooms; a register of wrought iron was used to carry heat upstairs to sleeping rooms.

When lumber could be obtained, floors, originally of tamped earth or clay, were replaced by 2 x 6 inch boards, still in good condition.  Stairways show the skill of an artist with a draw knife.  Two sides of the house, on west and north, have no windows, but many other windows upstairs and down provide plenty of light and ventilation.  At the front door and the east kitchen door are huge threshold stones which show little wear.  Lumber is oak, walnut and pine, and was brought from Arkansas.  Deep chimney cupboards have hand made paneled doors, with brass latches and china knobs.  In the west room downstairs, the original old quilting rings are still in the ceiling.

A wagon trail winding through the land and leading across country passed just west of the house and forded Turkey Creek almost due south.  According to John Rothanbarger, the James boys rode this trail at least once and stopped at the spring in the yard for water.  Slaves escaping from the south to the north also drank from this refreshing spring.  During the Civil War, bushwhackers tried unsuccessfully to burn the house; the kitchen interior was burned, and the rafters, though not weakened, show effects of the fire.

Soldiers wounded in the Civil War were brought to the house and given first aid before being taken to Carthage or Neosho.  Lt. Reece Crabtree was one of those given aid, but died before reaching Neosho.  ("History of Jasper County", edited by F. A. North, published by Mills & Company, 1883.)

Notice the wooden hat pegs fastened into walls of the front hall and two rooms downstairs; also the old coin nailed to the east room mantel with square-headed iron nails.  In this room hangs a beautiful oil painting of the house done by Mrs. Myral (Esther) Butler.

On April 18, 1937, in commemoration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the homesteading of the place, the house was dedicated and a bronze tablet was installed on the exterior wall just at the side of the front entrance, by the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Mrs. Butler's mother, the late Mrs. May Graham Woods, found the house deserted and run down in 1926.  She fell in love with it, purchased and started repairing it; first however she painstakingly researched into the history of the home and was tireless in her efforts for accuracy.  As a result, the house has been repaired but not remodeled, and stands almost exactly as when built over one-hundred years ago.  This magnificently constructed house, which took ten patient years for its completion, is a tribute to the skill and perseverance of those sturdy early settlers.  It will be open to visitors on the first floor only.

On this Homes Tour, the work-study wing will be open, where several of Mrs. Butler's art students will be in charge.  Mrs. Bonnie Forsythe and Mrs. Joyce McKenney will demonstrate china painting, and Mrs. Henry Crowell, ceramics.  Mrs. Butler, an accomplished artist, has held classes in the above media and in lace draped porcelain.  She has exhibited porcelain pieces at recent International China Painting Shows.  Mr. Butler, now retired, works with her full time in the studio.  Formerly he was with Missouri Rogers Corporation, and was agent for both Continental and Standard Oil.  They have one son, Myral, Jr., of Wichita, Kansas, and four grandchildren.  The son and his wife expect to be present for the open house on this tour."