AT HOME IN A MUSEUM; TOUR THE HISTORIC LONGVIEW HOUSE IN CELEBRATION OF CAPE GIRARDEAU'S 200TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Marjorie Thompson's house resembles a museum as much as a residence. But historic Longview has always been home.

Antiques, some dating back at least five generations, surround her daily. Her family memories echo the history of Cape Girardeau.

Thompson is the great-granddaughter of Col. George C. Thilenius, a leading Cape Girardeau businessman in the later part of the 19th century.

As a child, she spent little time admiring the historic artifacts that filled her ancestral house; it was just home.

"I didn't know much about what was here. It was just home," she said, recalling her childhood. "It wasn't until I got married and started asking a lot of questions that I learned what was here."

In February 1867, Thilenius purchased, for $1,000, a hilltop site on the western edge of the city to build a new home for his growing family. The site, with its view of the city, was named Longview. It has been owned by descendants of Thilenius ever since.

The family home, in the 1600 block of Whitener, will be opened for public tours for the first time as part of the Historic Christmas Tour sponsored by Cape Girardeau's Bicentennial Commission.

The tour is planned Dec. 4-5, Dec. 11-12 and Dec. 18-19, from 1-4 p.m. each day.

In addition to Longview, three other historic locations are on the tour: Cape River Heritage Museum, 538 Independence; the Glenn House, 325 S. Spanish; and Old Saint Vincent Church, Main and William streets.

Tickets for the tour cost $6 for adults and $2.50 for children and may be used anytime during the six days of the tour. They are available at the tour sites.

Thompson said: "Mamma always said they (the family ancestors) were string savers, and they even saved string. German people are sort of that way very conservative. That's probably why they didn't buy fancy furniture. At the time, I'm sure they were fairly wealthy, but they just didn't believe in being extravagant. And they just saved everything."

Five generations of toys are on display in the home. One highlight is a doll house dating to 1870.

"While great-grandfather was having the house built, great-grandmother and my grandmother went to Germany. They brought back the doll house and furniture," Thompson said.

Also on display are paper dolls from the early 1800s, old ice skates that belonged to some relative, and a doll, 130 years old, from Germany that belonged to her great-grandmother. The doll opens and closes her eyes and cries.

Antique clothing on display all comes from the family. "Grandmother and grandfather had the first night wedding in Cape Girardeau," Thompson said.

"I also have over 100 old hats," she said. The hats belonged to different family members.

"I'm having two blouses framed. They were worn by my great aunt when she taught school in Germany," Thompson said. "They are so neat. I hated to see them laying in a drawer."

Family jewelry, some pieces 400 years old, are displayed. "They used to be in drawers," Thompson said. "But I hated that."

In the upstairs hallway is a collection of calendars from around the turn of the century. "I found these in the house and cleaned them up," Thompson said. The calendars are advertisements for local businesses.

Much of the antique furniture in the house was purchased from local retailers over the years.

George C. Thilenius was born Aug. 10, 1829 in Hanover, Germany. He came to the United States in 1848 and moved to Cape Girardeau in 1856.

He was elected a delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1865; elected mayor of Cape Girardeau in 1867 and re-elected for three consecutive terms; and held the rank of colonel in the Missouri Militia during the Civil War.

He was proprietor of the Cape City Flouring Mills, the product of which took the first premium at the World's Exposition in Vienna in 1873.

"We even kept some bleached and unbleached flour in jars," Thompson said.

He also was a fruit grower and manufactured soda water, made wine and jarred honey.

In 1898 he was elected the district representative to the Missouri General Assembly. He died July 7, 1910.

In 1985, the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Built in the manner of many southern homes, Longview has wide center hallways, tall windows, large doorways, verandas on both the front and back of the house, large square rooms, five fireplaces and a winding walnut staircase. It is filled with family treasurers.

"I marvel at my ancestors and how much they saved," said Thompson. "But I can't just look at it myself all the time.

"I have held three fund-raisers for the River Heritage Museum and mother had the house open years ago for rose garden tours, but those were mostly invitation only events," Thompson said.

"This is the first time I've opened the house for a tour. I thought about it and decided it would be fun to really decorate the whole house for Christmas and have it on the tour.

"For this special occasion, I got my golfing buddies to help decorate and to be hostesses," Thompson said.

Family memorabilia fills the house, but Thompson insists it's still just home. "We live here," she said. Her daughter and son-in-law, Lisa and Scott Stanfield, and their two daughters, ages 3 and 5, live at Longview.

And even a room now used by Thompson's granddaughters to play in is filled with antiques, along side the toys.

"It is kind of like a museum," Thompson admitted. "But it's really just home to us."

HISTORIC CHRISTMAS TOUR:

December 4 and 5 * 1 to 4 p.m.

December 11 and 12 * 1 to 4 p.m.

December 18 and 19 * 1 to 4 p.m.

Tickets available at any tour location.