Old bullet holes found in columns on Sikeston house

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The stately home that sits at the corner of Gladys Street and Kingshighway is revealing some of its rowdy past -- a past that could be linked to the community's founder, Joseph Sikes, some are theorizing.

Christopher Harkey is living in the house and doing repairs for owners Kay and Joe Hunter.

Recently, as he removed the wooden tongue-and-grooved columns from the front porch for repairs, he found a surprise: bullet holes. So far Harkey has found evidence of four.

"Someone was standing on the porch and fired a gun into the yard," Harkey said, showing how the hole damaged the column. "And there was return fire because I've found holes on the opposite sides."

The evidence of the gunfire is not recent. Harkey said the holes in the old cypress wood were repaired and painted over many times.

Harkey speculates it could have been the home of John Sikes, who was shot and killed.

He also noted the house, which was built around 1880, would not be far from Sikes' original store, which historians placed where the Sikeston Department of Public Safety is now. Another piece of evidence cited by Harkey is the attic shows fire damage, which would fit with other family history about the home catching fire and a relative rushing in and saving two children.

"Wow, what history it could be if this was the place," Harkey said.

However, local historical accounts could dispute some of Harkey's speculation.

The original Sikes home was reported burned to the ground in "Through the Years: A Pictorial History of Sikeston," published in 2010.

In "A History of Sikeston," Audrey Chaney, a relative of the Sikeses, wrote about the fire, which occurred in 1864. Her mother, who was one of the two children saved from the burning house, recalled watching it burn.

Chaney also wrote of John Sikes' death: "In 1867 a man named William Maulsby came in from the country, got drunk and created a disturbance. Mr. Sikes, knowing him well, took him out to his horse, which was tied to a hitch in what is now Legion Park, handed him his shotgun, and advised him to go home. As Mr. Sikes turned to go back into the store, Mr. Maulsby shot him in the back. The gun was loaded with buckshot. Mr. Sikes lived about three days."

What role the home played in Sikeston's past may be inconclusive, but Harkey is sure of one thing.

"This is a beautiful home," he said as he worked away. "It is worth fixing up, that's for sure."