Home is witness to history

The echoes of cannon fire, gun shots and soldiers struggling in a bitter, bloody conflict were once heard around Four Mile in Dunklin County, Mo.

It was here the Union engaged retreating Confederate troops commanded by Gen. John Sappington Marmaduke. While the majority of Marmaduke's forces were entrenched at Four Mile, others began constructing a log bridge to cross the St. Francis River to Chalk Bluff in northeastern Clay County, Ark.

The only remnants of the Civil War-era Four Mile settlement are a cemetery and a home, owned by Donald and Marietta Hughes. Gone are the other buildings, which were once part of the settlement. When Four Mile was first settled in the mid-1800's, it contained two dry goods stores, a blacksmith and a post office.

"We've been here 31 years," Marietta Hughes said.

She enjoys showing her home to school children and youth groups, provided an appointment is made in advance.

"We have not changed the structure on the inside at all other than installing a bathroom," she said.

The couple bought their home from Owen McCutchen, grandson of its one-time owner Dr. Given Owen. Acreage accompanying the purchase was given to the Calvary Baptist Church in Campbell, where the Hughes are members.

The house was built in 1860 by Leander J. Taylor, one of Four Mile's first storekeepers, who became a Confederate Army captain the next year. Instead of logs being used, it was constructed of hand-hewn boards held together with pegs, and beams are fitted together with grooves.

Taylor and his wife, Mary, sold the house to Dr. Owen in 1866, who was a native of Kentucky and a "twice removed" cousin of Daniel Boone, according to The History of Campbell, Mo.

A doctor's hospitality

The doctor was known for his hospitality, and it was said he would often stand up in church and extend an invitation for the congregation to attend dinner -- "Now all of you come and go to the house and get dinner."

This would often mean four or five wagons of people would come to the house. Two door shutters would be taken down to serve as dining table extensions, and guests were be seated on the long front porch.

Owen would later donate two acres for the cemetery, located on the roadway to the house, and Taylor, who died on April 5, 1870, was the first person to be buried there.

The town of Four Mile reportedly began with five families and was first known as Possum Trot. The name later became Four Mile, owing to the fact the settlement was four miles from the ferry at Chalk Bluff.

Since Four Mile was located on the old military road, Marmaduke's forces traveled through the area as they retreated from Cape Girardeau. The Hughes' home was used as a make-shift hospital for the wounded.

At one point the house was also a stop on a stagecoach route. The spur marks are still visible along lower wall in the living room, where men would lean near the front door as they waited for their ride.

Historical accounts also indicate the home was used as a hotel or boarding house for travelers along the military road.

Anne Winchester is news director for the Piggott (Ark.) Times and staff writer for Delta Life.