The Alexander Majors House Handbook for Guided Tours A Guide for Staff & Volunteers

Revised Nov. 2015 by Savannah Lore

Revised/updated August 2017 by Sarah Bader-King

Revised August 2018 by Lena White

Our Mission

The mission of The Wornall/Majors House Museums is to engage our community by bringing history to life through hands-on, innovative programs and experiences. The Majors House has been restored to be representative of a typical mid-nineteenth century upper class home on the Missouri-Kansas border.

The Wornall/Majors House Museums hope that visitors will learn about: a) Alexander Majors and his family; b) The appearance and usage of of the Majors House and how it reflects daily life in the mid- nineteenth century; c) The partnership of Majors, William Russell, and William Waddell and how their business ventures contributed to western expansion and exploration; d) Issues related to Kansas statehood, Border Wars, and slavery on the Missouri-Kansas border. To achieve these goals, remember that people are interested in people. Guides can bring the house and its rooms alive by helping visitors answer these four questions: a) What is this room? b) Who would have been here? c) What did they do in this room? d) How did they use the things in the room? Each interpreter may add anecdotes and details about the house and the family as they see fit. Interpreters should take advantage of interpretive signage and interactive elements to craft a story about the Majors family and similar upper-class frontier families. Keep in mind the main objective is that all visitors leave with the same basic understanding: how Majors’ ventures influenced westward expansion, how would people have lived in the Majors House and utilized its rooms, and how their experiences may have differed based on their race, sex, or social class.

TOUR RULES & GUIDELINES These rules apply to both guided and self-guided tours.

1. NO TOUCHING: Visitors may not touch objects in the house unless they are specifically marked with the “please touch” icon inviting them to interact with the object.

2. FOOD & DRINK: Visitors may not bring food or drink into the house museum.

3. SMOKING: Smoking is not allowed anywhere on the Majors property, with the exception of the graveled parking lot. (All cigarette butts must be disposed of properly.)

4. ACCESSIBILITY: Folding chairs are available in the front entry of the Majors House, and may be moved to other parts of the house for those that need a seat. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a photographic guide to the upstairs rooms of the home is available in the Front Hallway for those unable to navigate the stairs. Service animals are allowed; no other animals are permitted in the museum.

5. RESTROOMS: A public restroom is available for visitors in the barn. The bathroom in the Majors House is for staff and volunteer use only.

6. SUPERVISION POLICY: All children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Alexander Majors & His Family Majors’ early life, his parents, spouses, and children

• Majors was born on October 4, 1814 near Franklin, Kentucky. • His parents were Benjamin Majors & Laurania Kelly Majors – they were farmers in Kentucky, as were Majors’ grandparents. Majors’ maternal grandfather was a Revolutionary War veteran. o The family moved to Missouri when Majors was five years old – Missouri was a territory, not yet a state, at that time. o Shortly after their move to Missouri, Majors’ mother slipped from the family wagon and received injuries she could not recover from. She died a little over a year later. • Majors was the oldest of three children. Family ancestry is shaky regarding some aspects of his life, but it appears that his siblings were named Elizabeth and Elijah. • Majors married Katherine Stalcup in 1834. They had nine children – Rebecca, James (died in infancy), Elizabeth, Missouri, Flora, Benjamin, Jamie (died in early childhood), Janie, and Greene. Katherine died of unknown causes in 1856, the same year the Majors House was built. • He married Susan Wetzel in 1857, one year later. At 21, she was one year younger than Majors’ oldest daughter Rebecca – and 22 years younger than Alexander himself. o Susan eventually gave birth to four more of Majors’ children – an unnamed infant who died young or was possibly stillborn, Katherine, Alexander Jr., and Elinor. • After Majors moved to City, Nebraska in 1858, his daughter Rebecca and son-in-law Samuel Poteet raised their nine children in this house until 1884. • Majors’ son Benjamin lived in this house from 1934 until his death four years later, at the invitation of Louisa Johnston, his grand-niece. He was Majors’ last living child. Information about Majors’ other children can be found at the end of this guide.

Alexander Majors and his relationship with Susan

Majors and Susan did not seem to share a particularly close relationship, and mostly lived apart during the latter part of their marriage. As early as 1873, Susan was living in Lexington, MO, her hometown. They may have had a fundamental difference in what they expected from their marriage. Majors appeared to want to travel throughout the , reliving his glory days as one of America’s most famous frontier freighters. Susan, on the other hand, seemed to want to live at home with her oldest daughter Katherine in the comfortable life she was accustomed to.

In 1893-94, she and Katherine lived under assumed names in the Jackson County, MO poorhouse. Their plight attracted nationwide attention when they applied again in 1895 to be admitted to the poorhouse. “POVERTY IN FINE RAIMENT” exclaimed one newspaper reporting on the story. The women said that Majors was no longer supporting them, claiming he was “too old for such duties.” He was 81.

They seemed to be in slightly better circumstances in 1900, living in a rented home in Kansas City, MO. In 1913, Susan unveiled the monument in St. Joseph, MO.

Tensions in Missouri Tensions characterized the early history of Missouri, particularly on the Missouri-Kansas border.

Conflict with Mormon settlers • Mormon settlers flooded into Missouri in the early 1830s, following their prophet Joseph Smith. Many Missourians considered their increasing numbers to be a political threat. • In 1833, an anti-Mormon mob destroyed and ransacked the Independence-based Mormon newspaper the Evening and Morning Star. Two Mormon men were also tarred and feathered. Benjamin Majors (Majors’ father) participated in this violent event, and sixteen-year-old Majors witnessed it. Soon after the incident, most Mormons fled to Clay County, MO. • By 1839, the Missouri governor ordered the expulsion of all Mormons from the state – between 12,000- 25,000 individuals. • Most Mormon settlers emigrated to Utah Territory and settled near modern-day , Utah. • Tensions continued, and eventually led to armed conflict in Utah in 1857, which was called the Utah War (also known as the Mormon War and the Mormon Rebellion). Majors would go on to provide supplies to the United States Army for this campaign. • Even though Majors’ father seemed quite prejudiced against Mormons, Majors speaks quite highly of them in his memoirs, and was said to be good friends of Brigham Young’s.

Kansas statehood and Missouri/Kansas border conflict • Upon passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, the borders of Kansas were set and the area was open for settlement. The Act stipulated that settlers in Kansas Territory would vote on whether to allow slavery within its borders. • Within a few days of passage of the Act, pro-slavery Missourians (known as Border Ruffians) flooded into the territory, intending to make Kansas a slave state. In response, anti-slavery settlers (known as Free-Staters) also began pouring into the territory. • From 1855 to 1858, Kansas Territory was besieged with violence, in a series of raids, skirmishes, and open battles. This period was known as “Bleeding Kansas” or “The Border Wars.” • Violently feuding pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions attempted to push through their version of a state constitution. • Ultimately, Kansas entered the Union as the 34th state on January 29, 1861 as a free state. This ended the violence to legalize slavery in Kansas. However, violence continued in the border region throughout the years leading up to and during the Civil War. Russell, Majors & Waddell and “Border Ruffianism” • Majors’ freighting firm, Russell, Majors & Waddell, was widely known as a pro-slavery business and advocated for Kansas to enter the Union as a slave state. The men had a professional and personal interest in making slavery legal in Kansas, as they were all Missouri slaveholders and used slave labor in their businesses. • Warehouses belonging to Russell, Majors & Waddell were used as a depot for rifles and other stolen goods that had been seized from Free State emigrants in 1856. At the height of the border conflict, Russell fired many of the firm’s Free State employees in favor of “hiring” enslaved workers, reportedly saying he had “no use for Free State men.” • Of the three men, Russell seemed most invested in the pro-slavery cause. He was a member of the “Law and Order” party, which believed slavery was ordained by God and provided financial, political, and moral support for the pro-slavery cause in Kansas. • The men also speculated in Kansas lands, having their employees stake claims in Kansas Territory and then sign the deeds of land to their company. At one point, they owned over 5,000 acres of Kansas land.

Native American Resettlement • When Missouri became a state in 1821, the western border was a straight line from Iowa to Arkansas. Land in what is now northwest Missouri was deeded to the Iowa, Fox, and Sac tribes. This land was purchased from them in the 1836 Platte Purchase, and the remaining native people were pushed out of the area and into what was meant to be permanent “Indian Territory.” • The tribes were paid $7,500 and the promise of “agricultural implements and livestock” and they

resettled in modern-day Kansas and Nebraska. The Platte Purchase region • The tide of white settlement farther west did not stop (highlighted in red) with the Platte Purchase, and native people found themselves continuously pushed into smaller and smaller areas of land. Majors’ Views on Slavery The realities of slavery in Union states like Missouri are often poorly understood; use these facts to help visitors reconstruct the lives of enslaved people during the Border Wars.

• There were at least thirteen enslaved people on the Majors property in 1860 (some of them owned by Majors’ son-in-law Samuel Poteet). Majors had moved to Nebraska City in 1858, taking six slaves with him, meaning there may have been as many as seventeen enslaved people at the Majors House at the end of the 1850s. • Majors did not seem to grow up in a household with slaves. However, his father Benjamin had purchased four slaves by 1840, which he most likely saw as an increase in his social status. • Majors’ partners were also participants in the practice of slavery. William Waddell owned 11 slaves and William Russell owned 7 in 1850. They also “hired” skilled enslaved men in their freighting business. (See above, Russell, Majors & Waddell and “Border Ruffianism”.) • In 1860, all six of the enslaved people Majors took with him to Nebraska escaped with the help of the Underground Railroad. These individuals included four women, one of whom was disabled, and two boys. An article in the Nebraska City News about their escape mocks these individuals, showing that racism and pro-slavery attitudes were prevalent even in the free states. Although Majors offered a reward of $1,000 for their return, they were not captured.

History of the Majors House

1856 The Alexander Majors House is built.

1858 Majors moves to Nebraska City, leaving the home in the care of his daughter and son-in-law Rebecca & Samuel Poteet. Poteet, Majors’ head wagonmaster and assistant, continues some local operations out of the house.

1884 House occupied by the Poteet’s oldest son, William.

1904 House purchased by the Ruhl family. c. 1910 The Ruhls modify and expand the house, adding a kitchen, “bump-out” expansion of the dining room and upstairs bedroom, and add two second-floor bedrooms.

1924 House is converted into a schoolhouse and community center.

1927-30 Following a failed demolition attempt, the house stands abandoned and begins to deteriorate. Windows are broken and doors are kicked in.

1930 Louisa Johnston, Majors’ great-granddaughter, purchases the Majors House and lives in it as it is being renovated.

1970 House is designated as a National Historic Landmark

1979 Johnston dies and the house is bequested to the Alexander Majors Historical Foundation, a trust managed by Johnston’s friends Victoria and Terry Chapman.

2011 Following the death of Terry Chapman, management of the house merges with the John Wornall House Museum, forming the new non-profit organization Wornall/Majors House Museums.

ROOM BY ROOM Each room of the Majors House can be used to explain elements of Majors’ life story & inform visitors about life in the mid-nineteenth century. OUTDOOR SPACES Optional: Weather permitting, use outdoor areas to set the stage for your tour and provide location context. This information can also be delivered inside.

• The Majors House was built in 1856, at what was perhaps the height of Majors’ wealth and influence. The house was most likely built using slave labor. • The Majors Barn (located behind the house) is not a historic structure and was built in 1984. It is built on the footprint of a barn believed to be original to the property. • The official state line between Missouri and Kansas is the sidewalk in front of the house. Majors deliberately built his house in this location, only feet away from the border of the official United States – symbolically looking west. o Oral tradition (family lore) states that Majors grazed his oxen and cattle in Kansas Territory so that he did not have to pay taxes on them, as goods were not taxed prior to Kansas becoming a state in 1861. • There would have originally been multiple outbuildings on Majors’ 300 acre property, including an outhouse, smokehouse, barn, stables, and (likely) a blacksmith shop and wagon repair shop. • The American flag flying in front of the house has 31 stars, the number on the flag in 1856.

FRONT ENTRY Panels: Alexander Majors: Frontier Freighter; A Region in Transition Themes: Tensions in Missouri, Majors’ early life

• Alexander Majors is primarily known for two acheivements: the freighting firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell and the Pony Express. He co-owned both businesses, which significantly impacted western expansion and exploration, opening up the flow of goods and information to more remote parts of the United States. • See “Tensions in Missouri” for information about the historical conflicts that shaped Missouri and Kansas. The front entry is a great place to introduce rich historical context that shaped Majors’ life and will inform your tour. • The painting on the wall is of a younger Alexander Majors; it was created in the 1980s, based on a tintype of Majors from when he was 42 years old – the same year this house was built.

PARLOR Panel: Early Business Ventures Themes: Historic uses of a parlor, how Majors became a freighter

• Majors was originally a farmer, like his parents and grandparents before him. However, he was concerned about providing the upper-class lifestyle he desired for his daughters using only a modest income from farming. o By 1845, Katherine had given birth to six children – one who died in infancy, four girls, and one boy. Majors wanted to educate his daughters and did not want them working on the family farm. o In 1848, Majors purchased six wagons and teams and made the journey to Santa Fe, NM. His 92-day journey was the fastest on record with oxen teams; this early success jump started his career in freighting. • The parlor was the formal room for receiving guests and entertaining visitors. o The Majors family was extremely wealthy, and entertaining guests of a similar social class would have been an important role that Majors’ wives, Katherine and Susan, would have carried out. ▪ Katherine died the same year the Majors House was built, and so probably did very little entertaining here. o When visiting friends and family, guests would first leave their calling card, which would be presented to the lady of the house so she could choose which guests to receive. Guests would have also left their card if they called on the home while the family was out. ▪ Touchable: Encourage visitors to leave their own calling card by filling out one of our forms, which we use as a visitor log. Email addresses are optional. o As Majors’ daughters entered their late teenage years, they would have also taken on some of the duties of receiving visitors. This would include gentlemen who would be potential suitors. o The photograph on the wall is of the Poteet family. Majors’ oldest daughter Rebecca married Samuel Poteet, Majors’ head wagon master and assistant, and they had nine children. They inherited the home when Majors moved to Nebraska City in 1858. • A family Bible is located in this room under the Poteet photograph. This Bible belonged to Majors’ daughter Missouri and her husband Richard Simpson. Simpson was also a wagon master employed by Majors. • The portrait above the mantel is of Majors when he was approximately 80 years old. (This is also a modern painting, done in the 20th century.) • The piano is a square grand piano that has been completely restored. This style of piano was one of the most popular styles of pianos during the nineteenth century.

OFFICE Panels: Russell, Majors & Waddell; Opportunities & Challenges Themes: Majors’ business practices, the logistics of a wagon train

• Notice that this room has two exterior doors. Majors handled the logistics of his freighting business from this house, and would have used this space to sign freighting contracts and hire employees. The separate entrances meant the clients and employees never entered the main part of the house, which would have exempted them from formal visiting practices. Highs and Lows • In 1855, Majors’ freighting business had grown so large that he went into business The government often requested that with William Russell and William Waddell. freighting journeys be completed They set up their headquarters in quickly, which often put a strain on Leavenworth, KS, although Majors often ran Russell, Majors & Waddell, both logistics out of this farmstead mansion once logistically and financially. A late start in it was built. 1857 caused the men to lose two years • The men were mostly freighting for the worth of profits when harsh weather, United States Army, which was clashing high altitude, and attacks from with Mormon settlers in Utah. This conflict Mormon fighters caused the accounted for most of the men’s business destruction of much of their property, during the years of 1857-58, perhaps the including the death of many oxen and high point for financial success for Russell, cattle. When Russell presented a bill to Majors & Waddell. They also freighted to the government for the goods lost, the other forts and outposts along the Santa Fe, War Department had no money to pay Oregon, and California trails, giving the men the men, having already overdrawn a virtual monopoly on government their appropriations for the year. freighting west of the Mississippi River. But one year later, Russell, Majors & • Majors’ Presbyterian religion heavily Waddell took on their largest influenced how he ran his business. government contract to date, requiring o In addition to having his employees enormous resources: 3,500 wagons, take a code of conduct oath, he gave 40,000 oxen, and 4,000 men. each of his employees a Bible and a revolver. ▪ Majors’ employees swore to abstain from alcohol, cursing, fighting, and mistreating animals; their employment could be terminated at will if they violated this oath. o There are also stories of him traveling alongside his employees, preaching to them and singing hymns with them on Sundays.

• Freighting logistics were incredibly complex, but Majors seemed to have a mind for it. The extent of Majors’ formal education is unknown, but some references to him in contemporary sources refer to him as “self-taught.” o Each wagon train consisted of up to 25 wagons, driven by 12 oxen each. o Wagons needed to be incredibly strong for the long trip, and were made of oak, hickory, and Osage orange wood. A broken wagon could set a whole wagon train back weeks – or longer. Note the large wagon wheel hub (which connected the wheel to the wagon), made of Osage orange. ▪ Touchable: A large piece of Osage orange can be touched/passed around. o Wagons were accompanied by a wagon master, his assistant, teamsters, cattle men, and several men “on reserve” for emergencies. These men walked alongside the wagons and made an average of $1 per day. o Wagon masters were much like ship’s captains, and were responsible for the men on the journey, and the goods being shipped. There is a wagon train log book in the glass case next to the Bibles. • Majors and his partners also speculated on land in Kansas Territory. They provided money to their employees to stake claims in Kansas lands, which they then signed over to Russell, Majors & Waddell. At one point, the company owned over 5,000 acres of Kansas land.

HALLWAY Panel: A Home with History Themes: Majors’ move to Nebraska City, brief history of the house

• In 1858, the Army required another starting point for freighting be created along the . Majors chose Nebraska City, NE, and moved there in 1858 with his second wife Susan, his 7 unmarried children, and six slaves. • Majors’ oldest daughter Rebecca, her husband Samuel Poteet, and their children remained in the house. Poteet continued to run some local operations of Russell, Majors & Waddell from the home. • The Poteets’ son William sold their home to the Ruhl family in the early twentieth century (1904). The house was enlarged, including the addition of a kitchen, two upstairs bedrooms, and additional space (the “bump out”) added to the dining room and an upstairs bedroom.

DINING ROOM Panels: Russell’s Costly Ventures; Divided Loyalties Themes: Later business ventures of Russell, Majors & Waddell

• Majors’ partner Russell was always on the lookout for new business ventures, often to the detriment of his and his partners’ business holdings. o When gold was discovered in Colorado in 1858, Russell saw the opportunity to transport both people (via stagecoach) and mail to the Rockies and beyond. o Majors and Waddell refused to be involved in the venture, but Russell moved ahead with a man named John S. Jones, forming the Leavenworth & Pike’s Peak Express Company. o The Leavensworth & Pike’s Peak Express was a popular success but a financial failure. Majors and Waddell were forced to take on the failed company and its debt. o This line played a major role in the infrastructure of the Pony Express; essentially, Russell, Majors, & Waddell repurposed the stops/trails used for the mail service. ▪ The original idea for the Pony Express was put forth by a Senator from California, who was eager to link his newly-admitted state to the rest of the country; William Russell convinced his partners to enact the plan. • Russell traveled to Washington, DC to obtain financing for the debts they incurred while shipping for the government. He was subsequently embroiled in a bond scandal when a clerk for the Department of the Interior illegally secured funding from the Indian Trust Fund. (Note: this was happening concurrently with the Pony Express.) o Russell and the clerk were arrested in 1860. o The outbreak of the Civil War saved the men from prosecution and they were freed on a technicality, but the scandal ruined the reputation of Russell, Majors & Waddell. They went bankrupt shortly after. • This room can be an appropriate place to talk about the men’s interest in slavery in Kansas. Use the panel “Divided Loyalties” to help you tell the story. See “Majors’ Views on Slavery” in this gude for more information. • Note the sugar safe in this room. People often kept expensive pantry items, such as sugar or spices locked up. These items were typically imported, and thus very expensive. o Touchable: Let guests interact with the spice boxes and make connections to spices they use in their own kitchens. Each spice container can be opened to smell a sample; under the lid, visitors can read about the origins and medicinal uses of common spices.

KITCHEN Panel: Slavery on the Majors Farm Themes: Slavery, nineteenth century kitchens

• The Majors House did not originally have an attached kitchen. The kitchen would have most likely been a lean-to attached to the side of the house, or a separate outbuilding. • Majors himself owned at least thirteen slaves. Many of the enslaved women would have worked in the kitchen, doing tasks such as cooking, laundry, candlemaking, and buttermaking. (You can point out items such as the washboard, candle molds, and butter churn as you list these activities.) o As upper-class women, Katherine and Susan Majors would not have spent much time in the kitchen, but they would have been considered the supervisors of the kitchen and the activities that went on there. • The Majors family most likely would have practiced open hearth cooking. Most of the cooking was done on a brick hearth using a variety of cast iron pots. Initially a large fire would be built, then the coals would be raked out onto the hearthstone for cooking. • There are many common kitchen implements in this room – point out implements of interest (or allow guests to explore and question on their own), and encourage them to make connections with modern implements they use. o The crane, crane sockets, and trammel are for adjusting the height of pots; these, and most of the utensils, were made of iron. The crane swivels above the fire so that one could hang a pot over it to boil a stew or soup, or simply to heat water. o The Dutch oven has three short legs on the bottom and a lid with a lip around it so that coals could be placed below and on top for even heating all around. It could be used for several things; most of the baking would be done in this pan. o The “toe toaster” is located on the hearth. A slice of bread would be placed in the slot and turned towards the fire. Once that side was toasted, one could use a toe to swivel it to the other side. o Several flat irons would have been owned by the family for pressing clothes. o Notice the candle molds on the shelves. Although the Majors’ most likely purchased some candles, “everyday” candles were probably made at home. o Food preservation during this time was difficult. Most food was eaten seasonally – if one desired fruits or vegetables in the colder months, they would have to be dried and stored after the harvest. Storage of the time consisted of mason jars (although canning was still in its infancy as a science) or stone crockery. • Note the root cellar in the pantry area. The family would have stored perishable goods in the root cellar, such as fruit and vegetables, taking advantage of the natural refrigeration of below- ground limestone. The cellar might have also been used to store grains over the winter. o There is an iron ring in the cellar of the house. As slavery disintegrated on the Missouri- Kansas border, many slave owners resorted to cruel instruments to keep slaves from running away. That may have been the use of this ring.

HISTORY ROOM Panels: Majors House timeline, The Pony Express Themes: Louisa Johnston’s legacy, the Pony Express

• The Pony Express: o The birth of the Pony Express: ▪ In 1859, mail delivery was very slow and unreliable; many people were clamoring for a fast mail service to the western United States. Russell believed that Russell, Majors & Waddell could cover the route using the existing infrastructure of their Central Overland California & Pike’s Peak Company. Majors and Waddell disagreed, believing that they could not make money on the Pony Express. Russell begged the men to reconsider, saying that a Senator from California promised subsidies for the project. They agreed, and the Pony Express began. o Logistics of the Pony Express: ▪ The Pony Express employed over 200 men and purchased 500 horses. ▪ The average journey was 33 miles, and each man carried 10 pounds or less of mail. ▪ Letters were written on tissue paper and cost $5 in gold per ounce to mail. o The saddle in this room is called a mochila. This is a special saddle attachment used by Pony Express riders. Mail was carried in locked pockets of the mochila. When a rider transferred horses, rather than completely unsaddle his tired horse, he could simply remove the mochila and place it directly on the new, rested horse’s saddle. o Ultimately, the Pony Express only lasted a little over a year. Advances in technology, such as the telegraph and railroad, put the Pony Express out of business. Its failure was the end of the partnership of Russell, Majors & Waddell.

• This room also contains Louisa Johnston’s desk & multiple photographs of her. She lived in this house for almost 50 years as she slowly attempted to restore it. o She bought the house in 1930 when it was in extreme disrepair and in threat of being torn down. Louisa made it her life’s work to preserve her great grandfather’s legacy and to draw attention to the house. o If people have questions about how the house became a museum or who lived here, refer them to the timeline on the wall. More detailed information in the “History of the House” section of this manual.

CHILDREN’S ROOM Panel: The Majors Family Themes: Majors’ children, how they would have interacted with this room

• When the Majors House was built in 1856, Majors and his wife Katherine had eight living children, ages 20, 18, 16, 13, 11, 8, 5, and 3. Initially, there were only 3 bedrooms in the house. Majors’ oldest daughter Rebecca was married and seemed to be living in the house at the time, so most likely 7 children would have shared this small room. (Note that an addition to this room was added c. 1910, so this room would have been much smaller than it is today.) • The idea of childhood was just starting to come more in line with what we think of as childhood today, with more emphasis on play and schooling rather than work. o The toys in this room are type of items that wealthier children would have played with. The porcelain dolls and rocking horse (with real horse hair) would have been expensive and special toys. o Toys were expected to be instructive and help them learn about adult roles they would eventually take on – boy’s toys often involved animal care and girl’s toys often involved child rearing. • In addition to the children, enslaved women may have spent a lot of time in this room, as they would have been responsible for domestic tasks. In slaveholding households in the Deep South, it was very common for enslaved women to care for their masters’ children. In border states like Missouri, this dynamic was not as common – but we do not know what the Majors family’s arrangements looked like specifically. o Note the mark on the floor from a hot iron. This could have been made by an enslaved woman or servant who dropped the iron while ironing children’s clothes. Domestic work is today not typically seen as hard or dangerous, but you can see from the deep dent in the floor that it could be very dangerous indeed.

SECOND FLOOR LANDING Themes: Textiles, spinning & weaving

• Store-bought fabric and thread was becoming more inexpensive and easy to obtain, but spinning was still a task that many women had to do, particularly in rural parts of the frontier. • The large wheel is a “walking wheel” – which works by walking back and forth with thread in hand. This was much more intensive than smaller wheels, but more efficient. • Clothing and textiles were primarily made from the following materials (these are all touchable): o Wool (from sheep) o Cotton (from the cotton plant) o Flax (from the flax plant) • This space also contains a smaller spinning wheel and a weasel for winding thread. • The pictures on the wall are (from left to right): Nancy Simpson Fulton (Sister of Richard Simpson), Richard Duke Simpson (Majors’ son-in-law, married to Missouri Amanda Majors), Louisa Simpson Tutt (Majors’ granddaughter, child of Richard Simpson and Missouri Majors), and an unknown woman (most likely related to Richard Simpson).

FAMILY PARLOR Panels: Women’s Work Themes: Domestic labor, women’s roles

• The upstairs parlor would have been a private place for the family to spend time together, as compared to the extremely formal downstairs parlor. • Women’s roles in the nineteenth century were defined by home and family, and women would have spent much time either doing domestic tasks such as sewing and childrearing, or participating in activities learning how to do these things. o Only one of Majors’ daughters worked outside the home – Elinor Majors Carlisle ran her husband’s printing business after his death, and served on the Berkley, CA, Chamber of Commerce and School Board. • Women of all ages and social classes were expected to know how to sew. They learned how to sew through constant practice – there are several samplers on the walls of this room. Samplers were a way for women to practice their needlework. o A girl named Sarah made the quilt on the day bed in 1856. You can tell she was just learning to sew by the uneven lines. • This room also contains a melodeon. Melodeons were small organs that were popular in homes and small churches during the nineteenth century. Upper class women often learned to play an instrument in order to make themselves more “marriageable” – and organs and pianos were a popular choice. • The binder on the center table contains biographies of the Majors children for guests to browse.

NORTH BEDROOM Panel: The ‘Ladies’ of the House Themes: Victorian views on womanhood, the Majors women

• Victorian women were expected to be “ladies” – educated, informed, and social, but also not too smart or outspoken. It was often a difficult balance for women to strike. • Majors’ wife Susan would have been expected to live like a “lady.” She was a year younger than Major’s oldest daughter when she and Alexander were married, which may have put her in an awkward position in the family. o As a new wife, she had seven children to take care of from Majors’ previous marriage. She may have struggled in this new role, as women only learned about motherhood in an indirect way. Girls learned how to be wives and mothers through play. Their toys, like dolls and tea sets, would have taught them how to care for children and a home. • Note the examples of women’s clothing in this room, including the wedding dress in the closet. The dress is from 1909, slightly later than the Majors’ girls would have married. o All of Majors’ daughters that married did so in their late teens or early twenties. Rebecca married youngest, at the age of 16. o Young people began to have more freedom when it came to marriage during the Victorian time period. Marrying for love (rather than arranged or semi-arranged marriages) was becoming more accepted. o It was still important to marry within one’s social class, however. This is one reason college became more common for upper-class young women; it was a good way for privileged women to meet men from the same social class (or higher). • The photograph on the West wall in this room is of Susan Johnston, who lived in this room when her daughter Louisa owned the house. Susan was Majors’ granddaughter; her mother was his daughter Missouri. The bed and marble topped table belonged to Susan.

SOUTH BEDROOM Panels: Life after Freighting; Seventy Years on the Frontier Themes: Majors’ later years

• Majors traveled quite a bit after the end of Russell, Majors & Waddell, living and working in Utah and California. He worked for the and also mined extensively throughout the Western United States. • Despite the fact that he never regained his former wealth, he remained quite a famous figure, particularly in the West. • Majors had a close friendship with William “” Cody. You will find his portrait above the fireplace in this room. o Majors gave Cody his first job as a messenger, hired to relay information between the various wagons in a wagon train. He hired Cody again as a Pony Express rider. Many of these adventures informed Cody’s Wild West Show. o In the early 1890s, Cody found Majors living alone in a tiny cabin near Denver, writing his memoirs. Cody offered to finance his memoirs. o Majors’ memoirs, Seventy Years on the Frontier, were published in 1893. (They are available for purchase in the gift shop.) o Majors traveled to Nebraska after his memoirs were published and spent some time at Cody’s Scout’s Rest Ranch. • Majors died in , IL in January 1900 from pneumonia. o Legend has it that Majors travelled to Chicago to file a patent for a brand new idea. Unfortunately, the idea died with Majors – no evidence has been found to back up this story. o He is buried in Union Cemetery next to his first wife Katherine and some of their children. • This room contains more traditional mourning clothing – a few more pieces are in the North Bedroom. Greiving widows were expected to wear mourning attire for what was considered a proper amount of time, often as long as two and a half years. o After one year of mourning, however, they could begin to wear colors other than black, as long as they were still muted, somber colors, such as deep purples and blues. o In contrast, men were only expected to mourn for three months. Their attire did not change, other than perhaps a black crepe armband. • Majors’ legacy: Majors is often credited as being one of the commercial founders of Kansas City. His company created a demand for oxen and cattle that helped fuel the establishment of the Kansas City stockyards and livestock exchange. His ventures also allowed for a swift transfer of goods and information across the western United States that greatly contributed to the formation of modern America. END OF TOUR Thank guests for visiting, and escort them back down to the front entrance. Please encourage guests to:

• Become a member • Visit the gift shop & view the Conestoga wagon • Return for a future event (offer a flyer, if available.) • Engage with us on Facebook or Twitter • Review us online – Google, Yelp, Facebook, or TripAdvisor • Tour the Wornall House/buy a Combo pass

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: The Majors Children

Rebecca Majors Poteet 1836-1918 Rebecca married her father’s head wagonmaster and assistant, Samuel Poteet, in 1852. In 1856, Rebecca’s mother Katherine died, and her father married Susan Wetzel within a year. Rebecca was 21 years old and her father’s new wife was 20. Despite this potentially strange situation, the women seemed to have a good relationship, as they traveled together in Europe many years later in 1884, and then visited Susan’s father in Lexington, Missouri.

After Alexander and Susan moved to Nebraska City in 1858, he left the Majors House to Rebecca and Samuel. The couple moved to California sometime in the early 1900s, possibly to be closer to Rebecca’s siblings, many of whom lived in California. Elizabeth Majors Easton 1838-1916 Elizabeth married Brigadier General Langdon Easton, who served as the chief Quartermaster for General William T. Sherman. He was involved in provided logistical support for Sherman’s famed March to the Sea. It is interesting to note that while Elizabeth married a Union soldier, her younger sister Missouri married a Confederate soldier.

Elizabeth was Langdon’s second wife, and the couple had four children together. Langdon died more than 30 years before Elizabeth. After her husband’s death, Elizabeth moved to California to be closer to family. Missouri Amanda Majors Simpson 1840-1878 Missouri married one of her father’s wagon masters, Richard Duke Simpson, when she was 20 years old. Simpson was a Confederate soldier in the Kentucky 11th Cavalry Regiment. After Majors’ freighting business ended, Missouri and Richard moved to Nebraska and farmed with other members of the Simpson family. Missouri had just one child and died young, at the age of 38. She is buried near her father in Union Cemetery.

Missouri’s daughter Susan was the mother of Louisa Johnston, as well as three other children (Robert, Joseph, and Barnett). Louisa would go on to purchase the Majors House when it was abandoned and save it from deterioration. The Majors House is still standing and exists as a museum today because her.

Flora Majors 1843-unknown Not much information exists regarding Flora. In 1860, when she was seventeen years old, she attended Clay Seminary for Young Ladies in Liberty, Missouri. In 1870, she was listed as “living at home” with her father, stepmother, and siblings in St. Louis, Missouri. Her marriage, to a Montana newspaperman, was reported in 1872; no further information about her has been found to date.

Benjamin Majors 1845-1938 Benjamin attended St. Louis University. Once out of college, he traveled and worked with his father before entering the cattle business. When he was 62 years old, he moved to Oklahoma to work in the “general merchandising business.”

He was invited to move back to the Majors House, his boyhood home, by Louisa Johnston, who was Majors’ great-granddaughter and Benjamin’s grand-niece. He was nicknamed “Uncle Ben” and lived out the remainder of his life in Kansas City. Up until his death, he was described as “remarkably active” and walked several miles every day. He died of toxemia from an infected wound on his hand while living at the Majors House. James (Jamie) Majors 1848-unknown Much is unclear about Jamie’s life. Jamie appears in the 1850 US Federal Census as a 2-year-old, and that is the last and only official record he appears in. It seems he died sometime between 1850-1860. Jane (Janie) Majors 1851-1871 Some records state that Janie was born in 1848 and is the twin of Jamie Majors. However, she is not listed as a member of the Majors family during the 1850 US Census. The first mention of her is not until the 1860 census, where she is listed as 12 years old. A memorial card for Janie was found in the museum’s records that mentions that Janie died on March 24, 1871 at the age of 19 years, 9 months, and 14 days. That places her birth date at June 10, 1851. It is unknown where the memorial card comes from. Either way, it is apparent that Janie lived a short life and succumbed to some sort of illness or injury in her teenage years. Greene Majors 1853-1934 Greene had a successful career in newspaper printing and politics. He printed the Visalia Delta and the Santa Cruz Courier. In 1920, his occupation was recorded as “attorney;” he was a municipal court judge by 1930. He was also a city councilman and mayor of Alameda, California. He married Cora Reese; the couple had two children. Unnamed Infant Daughter 1857-1857 Katherine Majors 1858-1938 Katherine seemed very close to her mother Susan, and lived with one or both of her parents until 1910. Katherine may have suffered from some sort of health condition that kept her from marrying or moving away from her parents, and described herself as “suffering from a nervous trouble that affects my memory and unfits me for employment.”

Katherine and Susan lived in a county poor house under assumed names during the winter of 1893-4. They found the experience “annoying and uncomfortable,” and in particular Katherine was horrified at having to eat at a communal table with those at the poor house who had severe mental or behavioral issues. “Just think of the lot of my poor mother, reared as she was in refined society, to be called upon to endure such humiliation and misery,” recalled Katherine.

She and her mother were caught up in a gossip scandal in 1895, when their plight became public. Multiple newspapers reported that they had appealed to a Kansas City judge to admit them to the county poor house, claiming that Alexander Majors did not have the means to take care of them.

By 1900, their fortunes seemed somewhat better, and the two were living in a rented home in Kansas City, Missouri. Susan died in 1915. From 1910 until her death in 1938, Katherine resided in the State Hospital in St. Joseph, Missouri. Alexander Majors, Jr. 1860-1928 Alexander’s occupation in 1880 was listed as “printer.” It is possible that he was following the footsteps of his older half- brother Greene, or was possibly even working for him – they both resided in California at the time. By 1900, he was a newspaper editor in Rockford, Illinois and also worked in the newspaper business in New Mexico and Texas. His wife Mabel seems to have died young, within 25 years of their marriage. They had one child, and Alexander never remarried. Elinor Majors Carlisle 1863-1932 It appears that none of Alexander Majors’ daughters worked outside the home except for Elinor. She served on the Berkley, California Board of Education and was the only female director (at the time) of the Berkley Chamber of Commerce.

She was also reportedly a socialist and a “militant suffragette.” In 1896 she chaired the Berkley campaign for Women’s State Suffrage. In a speech given before the Suffrage Amendment League, Elinor is quoted as saying, “the smoldering female awakening will break into a wild flame if the new spirit of woman is not accorded some sort of recognition.” Elinor, a “staunch advocate of women’s interests,” also spearheaded a rule change in the Berkley schools that allowed married women to serve as teachers.

Her husband Albert Carlisle owned A. Carlisle & Co., a printing company in San Francisco. Elinor took over management of the company after her husband’s death.

Her home in Berkley was destroyed in a massive city-wide fire in 1923, and she moved to San Francisco to buy a new home, which she filled with treasures from her many trips to Asia. Between 1900 and 1925 she traveled to China three times, and collected Chinese art while she was there. On one of those trips she picked up a red dish that the Carlisle family subsequently used to serve crab. In 2004, the London-based auction house Bonhams and Butterfields was shocked to discover the dish was a rare fourteenth century Ming dynasty porcelain bowl. The bowl sold at auction for over three million dollars, making it the most expensive Ming dish ever auctioned.

Elinor died in 1934, and was the mother to seven children. Her obituary described her as “a woman of vivid and remarkable personality.”