ARTIFACTS OF THE 1800s ON DISPLAY

The sitting room is where visitors can find, among other things, an Edison Victrola that plays cartridges as well as a "fainting couch," so called because women during the period who wore their corsets too tight would often faint and be placed on such couches. The couch also folds out into a bed.

This fireplace, found in the kitchen, Bernard Schaper believes originally belonged to some sort of structure in 1848, prior to the house that belonged to the Olivers and the Fergusons.

These two dresses, which visitors can see when walking upstairs at the Oliver House, are from the Victorian Era, though they did not belong to Marie Oliver herself. In the background is a portrait Robert Oliver had done of himself in St. Louis.

This forte piano, which is in the parlor room, was bought by George Frederick Bollinger for his daughter, Sarah, to play. The piano dates back to 1815 and is the second oldest piece in the house.

Dozens of stories can be found at the Oliver House, and once a month people can visit and listen to stories being told by one of the tour guides who volunteer to preserve the house and the stories that are held therein.

When you first walk into the late-Victorian, Federal-style house, you get your first taste of the history that surrounds you. A place to put your calling card sits atop a coat rack from the 1800s, just like it possibly was when Sen. Robert Oliver would host meetings with important political persons.

Turn left into the parlor and you will find what Bernard Schaper says is the most nicely furnished room in the house. Schaper should know. He helped restore it nearly two decades ago when the Jackson Heritage Association took over the title, and he enjoys the history of the house. "I just like to tell people about the history," he says with a smile.

He helped acquire the furnishings in the house such as the forte piano in the parlor, the piano he used to call the "fort piano" until some visitors told him it was pronounced "for-tay."

However you pronounce the word, Schaper says the piano is one of the most historically significant pieces in the house. It dates back to 1815 and once belonged to George Frederick Bollinger, the man who built Bollinger Mill. Schaper says after Bollinger moved to the area and built his mill, he ordered the piano for his daughter, Sarah, who would play for people waiting for their grains to be ground.

Schaper also says he has heard stories that Shawnee Indians would stop to listen to the "little girl play on the box."

You would also find pictures of Oliver's wife, Marie Watkins Oliver, in the parlor. "She liked to dress up," Schaper says as he shows a picture of her dressed in a Spanish-style outfit. But Marie Oliver didn't make a name for herself with her extravagant outfits, though. She, along with another woman, designed the first, and so far only, official Missouri flag.

It was Robert Oliver who attracted all the attention, though. Schaper says that Oliver was a young lawyer when he bought the house in 1881 from the Fergusons. Oliver, whom Schaper describes as an intimidating looking person who stood 6 feet 2 inches tall, soon entered into politics and was elected the prosecuting attorney of Cape Girardeau County. He held several political meetings in the parlor room, and the house was then known as the "Oliver House," and sometimes was even called the "White House," says Schaper.

Oliver was later elected to the Missouri State Senate and to the Board of Curators at the University of Missouri. He played a key role in building the Little River Drainage District that drained the swamps of Southeast Missouri as well as establishing the Normal School, which later became Southeast Missouri State University.

The Oliver family moved to Cape Girardeau in 1896 and left the house, which had been deteriorating until the Heritage Association started restoring it, which is another story in itself.

"It was a miracle how it all came together," Schaper says. He says the Association had very little money to work with, but most of the furniture was donated and actually fit both physically in the house and also in the idea that everything in the house be from the Victorian Era. "We had to refuse very few pieces."

There are many more stories held within the walls of the Oliver House, stories Schaper says he thinks people should hear. "I think that young people should learn about the past and how people lived back then," he said. "I also think it provides some nostalgia for people who had parents and grandparents who lived back then."

For those who want to experience the stories and the history, such as the history of the musket that was used in the War of 1812, tours are held on the first Sunday of every month, though special tours are also given. For more information, contact the Jackson Heritage Association at 243-0533 or one of its members at 243-5084, 243-3676 or 243-3171.