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For Clay County's Slave Data and genealogy items, see below titles "My Interests in life" and "Missouri's Little Dixie."
Gary's Page
My dog Sasha and I at the KATY Trail, State Park, on a historic bridge (a designated historic landmark) over the beautiful Lamine River near Clifton City, MO. The KATY, an old railroad bed, is a hiking/biking trail that runs from St. Louis to Clinton, Missouri, some 250 miles. The trail, or the old Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad line, is next to the road at the entrance of our home, Harbor Farm, running through what was the town Prairie Lick.
All About Me
My name is Gary Gene Fuenfhausen, and I live in Prairie Lick, Cooper County, Missouri. Prairie Lick is near Boonville, which is located about 25 miles west of Columbia.
Professionally, I have worked 5+ years in Historic Preservation. Over the last decade, I have held various positions in Museum/Preservation Management. Some of these jobs include Director- Historic Kansas City Foundation, Curator, Andrew County Historical Society and Museum, and Assistant Museum Curator, (Historic) Shoal Creek, City of Kansas City, Missouri.
Currently, I am a Grad Student completing my MA in History/Historic Preservation. I have completed my class work and am writing my thesis about Missouri's Little Dixie. Little Dixie is a region that is roughly 17 counties, out of Missouri's 114 counties, located along or near the Missouri River. In 1860, over 52% Missouri's slave population was located in Little Dixie as was the majority of the State's slave owners and plantations.
Before all of this, I worked in the corporate world, blah, blah, blah, and also had my own business for a few years. It was an Antique store, mostly furniture.
In 1996, I wrote a book that is now in its 2nd printing.
This is my book.
If you are interested in the book, or in purchasing a copy, click your pointer here!.
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My Interests In Life
Me picking cotton I grow here in Central Missouri. This is the 1999 crop.
This is the 2000 crop which I began picking it in November.
OTHER PLANTS I LIKE GROWING HERE AT HARBOR FARM
On the top left is a photo of an 11-inch Magnolia bloom from my Southern Magnolia (June 2000). This tree is only 2 years old, and this year it has had 7 beautiful blooms. I can not wait for the 2001 display. On the top right is a one-year-old Crape Myrtle (July 2000). I have several Crape Myrtle bushes here at Harbor Farm, and they are much older. Crape will grow in a bush form here in Central Missouri and can reach a height of 6-10 feet. The picture at the bottom is a Rose of Sharon in tree form (July 2000). Rose of Sharon is also known as Hardy Hibiscus and it grows very well here in Missouri.
On the left is a view of a rose tree and tea roses, I have over 40 bushes here at Harbor Farm. You should see them when they are in full bloom. The view on the right is a period Victorian circular garden and pedestal urn garden. Pictured also are several Hardy Hibiscus bushes, I have over 20.
On the left is a photo of another Crape Myrtle bush. On the right is our new shed.
As you can see from above, I like growing things! Some of my "favorites" here at Harbor Farm include the evergreen (Southern) magnolia, evergreen azaleas, crape myrtle, roses, and other flowering shrubs and trees.
Oh Yes, my cotton!
I also like studying architecture, especially Missouri Southern and French Colonial. The forms and styles I research are often associated with the Upper and Deep South, but at one time were common in Antebellum and French Colonial Missouri.
For an example of Missouri's Little Dixie architecture, click your pointer below.
Visit Little Dixie here.
I love researching my favorite topic, "Missouri's Little Dixie."
I also love doing research on Missouri's Southern cultural heritage, also known as Folk History, the Civil War in this State, and Missouri's slavery. I have compiled a great deal of information on Confederate topics. Some of my research includes things such as a list of Confederate Monuments found across Missouri. You would be very surprised at the large number of monuments. I have a complete history of the founding of the Missouri Confederate Home in Higginsville, Missouri, as well as a listing (by county) of the estimated number of men who served for the Confederacy from Missouri's Little Dixie. I also own copies of several oral "slave" histories, and have several copies of various Little Dixie County Slave schedules. I have also documented many of the slave quarters, housing, and other plantation outbuildings, found in Missouri. Most of them are in Missouri's Little Dixie.
Slavery in Clay County, Missouri.
I like collecting antiques, hence an antique shop in my past, and my collections include Missouri Civil War items (mostly Confederate related), antebellum documents on central Missouri history, and furniture. I collect furniture in the Empire, Pillar and Scroll, Rococo Revival, and Gothic Revival styles. I also collect different types of accessories, glass, brass, bisque, books, and the like, from the same period.
My Favorite Movies include "Gone With The Wind" and "Show Boat, " both the old and new version.
My Favorite Music: Ragtime, Classic, Old Blues, Old Country, Old Jazz, Fiddle music, Bluegrass, (modern) Dance music, and much more.
My favorite foods are Barbecue, Mexican, home style cooking, and Missouri pecan pie. I would love owning a pecan orchard, like the ones they have across the river in Chariton and Howard County. The little pecan shops and road stands that sell Missouri pecans in the fall are a fun "day-trip", if you like that kind of stuff. Oh yes, they also have a pecan festival in the fall in Chariton County with the parade queen and all!
I also work on my house with my partner here in Prairie Lick, Missouri. The house was built c. 1907 in the Queen Anne (Free Classic) architectural style, and it is 2 1/2-stories and brick. It sits on the original builder's family farm, Felton Farm, also known as Harbor Farm, established in 1860.
Our House, Harbor Farm
You can contact me by e-mail here!
