Photo byBrent Hugh, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The historic name of the above house is Cedar Grove but it's commonly known as the Amick-Kingsbury House. The house is located in the vicinity of Franklin, Missouri in Howard County.

In 1825, the original one-story section was built. In 1856, the two-story main portion of the house was constructed, but the two sections aren't attached. There's a small two-inch space between them. On July 19, 1982, this house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Amick-Kingsbury House is important because of the age of the first structure and Cedar Grove served as the home of Dr. Horace Kingsbury. It's also one of the oldest surviving homes in Howard County.

Nicholas Amick and Dr. Horace Kingsbury

There's not a lot of information about Nicholas Amick. While the Amicks living in Howard County during 1850 were born in North Carolina, it's speculative that Nicholas was too.

Nicholas acquired 160 acres, a tract of land where he constructed his house in 1825. He also died there in 1852. Dr. Kingsbury purchased it that same year.

Nicholas Amick appears in the 1840 U.S. Federal Census record as being between the ages of 50-60 and living in Franklin, Missouri. The 1850 Census record indicates he was the owner of five slaves. There is no Find-a-Grave record for him.

Horace Kingsbury was born in Randolph County, North Carolina in 1813. In 1817, he and his father reached Missouri. He had three marriages: 1832, 1847, and 1866.

In 1846, Kingsbury attended the Eclectic School of Medicine and pursued different ventures. He owned slaves who would cut trees in Boonville for a woodyard. Kingsbury would sell the cords of wood. During the 1850s, he raised mules which were sold to Louisiana plantations.

Dr. Kingsbury was always involved in real estate leaving a lot of land at the time of his death. He owned 22 slaves during the Civil War. It appears that Dr. Kingsbury was more ambitious with his operations. He was 69 when he died in 1882. Between his three wives, the Find-a-Grave record indicates he had 11 children. It appears he had more success with his farming operation than Amick.

Dr. Kingsbury's grandson, Lilburn, was still alive at the time the house was nominated for the National Register. He was 96. He wrote articles for the Missouri Historical Society Bulletin that chronicled his grandfather's life during the 1800s. Lilburn died on July 1, 1983, at age 98.

After Horace Kingsbury died, Cedar Grove became his third wife Ann's property. She continued to live there until she died in 1889. After that, her daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth (1832-1905) and Frank Blankenbaker (1872-1938), received the property. In 1905, Cedar Grove went to sister and brother, Ada and Guy Blakenbaker, and to Nell Blankenbaker in 1928.

In 1935, after Nell died, the home went to her brother, Horace Blankenbaker. In 1941, Horace died without a will. His son, Robert, was the last in the family line to live in the house before he moved to Boonville.

For several years until 1962, the house was rental property. It was then sold to Charles Leonard and Milton Hein and their wifes.

In 1964, Cedar Grove and 10 acres became the property of George Derendinger and his wife who were the owners at the time the house was nominated for the National Register.

George C. Derendinger died on July 31, 2018, at age 91. He was preceded in death by his wife, Elaine May Rassmussen Derendinger, on May 14, 2012, at age 83.

As an important sidenote, the Santa Fe Trail ran in front of the house. It is privately owned. It's amazing the earliest construction of the first section of this house is 1825. The current ownership is unknown.

Thanks for reading.