Finks-Harvey Plantation: built in Missouri during the 1870s

Photo byC.F. Blackwell via NRHP Nomination Form.

On December 11, 1978, the Finks-Harvey Plantation was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This site is also known as Woodland Park and Roseland. This is a historic home located on County Road T about four miles west of Roanoke, Missouri in Howard County.

This two-story brick home was constructed between 1873 and 1876. It features Italianate style architecture. This house is linked to some prominent owners in the settlement of Howard County such as Major Joseph Hughes Finks. He was a native of Virginia and a descendent of a Revolutionary War veteran. Finks was also a veteran of the Confederacy.

Finks was born in the summer of 1838 to Captain James Finks and his wife, Caroline Hughes Finks. When he was 13, his family moved to Howard County. It's said that he went back to Virginia to obtain his college education and when he came back to Missouri, he continued his family's tradition of farming.

In 1861, Finks enlisted under Governor Jackson's Missouri Volunteers for the Confederacy. In 1862, after he was commissioned to lieutenant-colonel, he entered the Confederate Army. When the Confederate forces surrendered to the Union in 1865, Finks was in Shreveport, Louisiana with General M.M. Parsons.

There is a sign in front of the house that reads, "Finks-Harvey Plantation - 1873."Photo byGoogle Maps via screenshot.

Finks went back to farming and in 1870, he was elected to Clerk of the Circuit Court and Recorder of Howard County. In 1873, he married Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" Harvey (1853-1950). She was a daugther to a successful farmer and she inherited land in Howard County after the marriage. It was shortly after that when the Finks started building their home.

In 1874, Finks was re-elected as Clerk of the Circuit Court, and elected to the Missouri legislature in 1878. Finks farmed their property until 1884. At that time, Finks sold the land to Robert G. Tribble (1840-1912). Finks was elected Marshall of the Missouri Supreme Court in 1885 and he kept that role until he died on April 24, 1915.

Tribble was a native of Kentucky. He kept the 200-acre farm until 1903 when it was sold to Thomas Berrey Hudson (1851-1936) who was from Chariton County, Missouri. Hudson's parents were from Kentucky.

After Hudson's first wife died, he married Annie Taylor (1863-1956) from Shelby County, Missouri. Hudson went after a pursuit of merchandising in Roanoke for several years before he began farming. This was when he acquired the Finks House. He renamed it Woodland Park. Besides having a successful grain farm, Hudson also established a cattle-raising operation.

The new owners of the property in 1946 were W.E. Batterton and his wife. They modernized the house by installing plumbing, gas heating, and electrical wiring. Because Mrs. Batteron liked to use a shade of pink with her decorating, she named the home Roseland.

By 1966, ownership was transferred to Orville Gebhardt. In 1968, 3.86 acres of his property along with the Finks-Harvey Plantation was transferred to Bert W. Hudson and his wife, Doris. It's unknown if there's any relation between Bert Hudson and Thomas Berrey Hudson.

Hudson was a retired U.S. Air Force Major who had served for 20 years in the military. He and his wife had six children and had lived in other states in being part of the military life. Not too long after they purchased the property, Major Hudson had a tour of duty in Vietnam and was later awarded the Vietnamese Medal of Honor. Hudson was employed as a psychologist in Salisbury, Missouri.

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