Preserving the Past for the Future

The exterior of the historic Hunter-Dawson home in New Madrid, Missouri.

Kassi Jackson ~ kjackson@semissourian.com

Centenarian reflects on Hunter-Dawson State Historic Site in New Madrid, Missouri

Ruth Hunter Wilson, the oldest living descendant of the Hunter-Dawson historic home located in New Madrid, Missouri.

Submitted photo.

We are all connected to our past. Some of it good, some of it not so good, but it’s there, nonetheless. Each family has its own history, traditions and legacies. If we are fortunate, those who have come before us pass down pieces of the past to last for many generations, each person’s experiences building onto the next. With that, we have great opportunity to learn from our past, to live in our present and prepare for our future.

A interior room of the Hunter-Dawson historic home located in New Madrid, Missouri.

Kassi Jackson ~ kjackson@semissourian.com

For the family of Ruth Hunter Wilson, the oldest living descendant of the Hunter-Dawson home in New Madrid, Missouri, the past, present and future all seem to combine in this one special lady.

A interior room of the Hunter-Dawson historic home located in New Madrid, Missouri.

Kassi Jackson ~ kjackson@semissourian.com

Wilson was born in Hough, Missouri, in 1918. She was one of 10 children, born to Robert Wilmer Hunter and Susie Woodward. Her great-grandfather, William Washington Hunter, along with his wife, Amanda, started construction on the Hunter-Dawson home in 1858. A well-known and successful businessman, Hunter had over 15,000 acres of real estate property throughout Missouri, Arkansas and Texas. He chose to build in New Madrid due to the location’s proximity to the Mississippi River. Unfortunately, he died before construction of the house was complete, but his wife and seven children moved in to the 15-room estate in 1860.

This beautiful, two-story home was built with exquisite precision and craftsmanship, using lumber cut from large yellow cyprus trees near the property. Much of the work was done by people who labored as slaves for Hunter.

A interior room of the Hunter-Dawson historic home located in New Madrid, Missouri.

Kassi Jackson ~ kjackson@semissourian.com

“It was a working plantation,” says Becky Harding, great-niece to Ruth Hunter Wilson. “So, it’s bittersweet.” Harding goes on to explain no one in their family likes to think about slave ownership, nor do they agree with it; they acknowledge the work done on the home and the farm “would not have been possible” without the labor of the people who lived as slaves on the land. After the Civil War ended, the people who had labored as slaves were emancipated, though Harding says many chose to stay on the property and were well-loved by the family.

A interior room of the Hunter-Dawson historic home located in New Madrid, Missouri.

Kassi Jackson ~ kjackson@semissourian.com

For the next 100 years, the Hunter-Dawson home was passed through generations of family members, many of whom chose to take up residence within the home. During that time, weddings, reunions and even funerals were held there. Sometimes, it was just a place to gather and have a meal. While Ruth never lived in the Hunter-Dawson home, there is documentation to show her father, affectionately known as Big Papa, lived there from age 11 to his teenage years. For many of the great-grandchildren, including Ruth, it was ordinary; just a regular home.

“We went on Sundays and had dinner on a great big, long table, piled high with food,” Ruth says, smiling. “There were always two to three [people working] in the kitchen.”

A interior room of the Hunter-Dawson historic home located in New Madrid, Missouri.

Kassi Jackson ~ kjackson@semissourian.com

Today, Ruth lives in Cape Girardeau, where she recently celebrated her 100th birthday. Though memories of her family and her time in the Hunter-Dawson home remain, it really is the next generation that will carry on the legacy of this family.

And while many Hunters have dispersed outside New Madrid County, several still visit the home of their ancestors; a home purchased by the City of New Madrid in 1966 and eventually sold to the State of Missouri, where plans were put in place to restore the historical site and open the doors to the public. The original collection of Mitchell and Rammelsberg furniture, large oil paintings of William and Amanda Hunter, as well as other pre-Civil War antiques and memorabilia remain in the home for all to enjoy.

But for the family, the true treasure comes in the form of the stories of the people who lived there. Cousins John Aycock and Kenton Hunter, both great-great-grandsons of William Washington Hunter, collaborated to create a detailed account of “The Hunters of New Madrid,” tracing their history all the way back to Scotland, from 1080-1165. They bound and published their family book in 2010, in which they encourage anyone who reads it to “keep records and write your stories down so that future generations will benefit from the chronicles of your lives.”

So tell those stories. Take those pictures. And choose to leave a piece of history for the future. Your grandchildren may think it’s just ordinary, but your great-great-grandchildren will want to know all about it.

Tours of the Hunter-Dawson Historic Site are available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with reduced hours on Sunday. To find out more or make a group reservation, call (573) 748-5340.