Week 19--December 29, 2019-January 4, 2020

Just before Christmas the Marchants arrived as Historic Sites missionaries. We are glad they are here. They came from the Park City, Utah area.
















This week visited the  Bingham-Waggoner Masion and Estate which sits on 19 acres of land near Independence Square in Independence, MO. This museum home, with more than 90% original furnishings, carpets and paintings, provides insights into the lifestyle of its wealthy 19th century residents. The home was built just west of where the Santa Fe Trail begins. The first owner was George Caleb Bingham who was an artist and politician.  He had very strong feelings about the Civil War. One of his most famous was is of General Order No. 11 which was a Union Army directive issued during the Civil War forcing the evacuation of rural areas of western Missouri regardless of their allegiance.
Many of his paintings were hanging throughout the house.

Tom and our guide going up the walk to the mansion.

One of the paintings from George Caleb Bingham. This painting was titled "The Jolly Flatboat  Men in Port."












In 1879 the Waggoners purchased the Estate. The Waggoner family were nationally known millers of flour.

Their "Queen of the Pantry" was considered the very best in baking and cake flours. Three generations of Waggoners occupied the house for 100 years. In 1979, a group of private citizens, in cooperation with the City of Independence, purchased the home for a museum and park.

Ladies spittoon. 

Bench to the pump organ below that still worked. 

Our guide played the pump organ for our tour.

Tom standing by the grandfather clock that still worked. 

 The lights throughout the house were both gas and electric. This light was over the dining room table.

The light switch was double level. The upper buttons turned the lights on and the lower buttons turned them off.

 The icebox in the house occupied a large space where a considerable amount of meat and/or produce could be kept cool.

 A child's room in the house.

 All of the pictures were hung on picture rails. This feature allowed the owner to move pictures at will without worrying about nails in the walls

All of the rooms were also decorated with a border mural. If is was a man's room then the mural was more masculine.

 This game, called Zimmer's Base Ball Game from 1893, was found in one of the rooms when the mansion was purchased. This game is considered the "holy Grail" of baseball board games. It was like a pinball game. It had the pictures of early baseball players including Cy Young. This is one of only three known to exist.

The carriage house of the mansion.