Historic Prior Jackson Homeplace.Photo byC. Tindall via NRHP Nomination Form.

The Prior Jackson Homeplace is south of Fayette, Missouri at 160 State Route DD in Howard County. It was listed on the National Register for Historic Places on March 10, 1980. It's also known as Cedar Lawn and Fern Valley.

Historic Prior Jackson Homeplace was constructed around 1856. It's a two-story red brick home with a two-story rear wing including an enclosed gallery porch.

When the house was nominated for the National Register, it was owned by William N. Clark, Jr. and his wife, Lois Clark.

The Prior Jackson Homeplace is in the vicinity of Fayette. The architectural style of the home is Classic Revival. The house has a one-story front porch. When the Clarks purchased the home in 1965, bathrooms were added to the first and second floors. The house was rewired for electricity. Utilities were modernized.

The house was close to the center of a 70-acre tract of the original John Jackson estate which was willed to his son, Prior, in 1848. Outbuildings include a horse barn, garage, poultry house, and smokehouse.

Backstory

The house is what remains of the John Jackson family who were early pioneers of Fayette before Missouri became a state and the City of Fayette was established in 1823.

Captain John Jackson

Capt. Jackson was a native of Tennessee. He was born in May 1776. During the War of 1812, he served under General Andrew Jackson.

Capt. Jackson came to Howard County in 1819 and acquired farmland. He helped surveyor, Alfred W. Morrison, in laying out Fayette in 1823. Fayette would become the new county seat of Howard County. His wife was Susan Slayton Jackson.

Capt. Jackson's land was willed to his son, Prior M. Jackson. He died on September 17, 1849, at age 73.

Prior M. Jackson

Prior was born in 1805 in Tennessee. He came to Howard County with his father. He and his father were involved with farming.

Prior went back to Tennessee to marry Martha Elizabeth Slayton in February 1842. Prior was also interested in public service. In 1862, he was elected county assessor. In 1865, he was elected sheriff and later served as an assistant U.S. Marshal in Missouri.

His wife, Martha, helped with the reorganization of the Presbyterian Church in Fayette in I860. The Homeplace was constructed between 1852 and 1859.

In 1908, 9.65 acres the most eastern portion of the farm were purchased by Joseph Gantner. He built a brick plant known as Fayette Brick and Tile Company.

After Prior died in September 1875, at age 65. His property went to his wife, children, and heirs. In December 1890, the heirs sold the Homeplace to Joseph C. Maupin and George W. Stapleton. After Stapleton died in 1895, Maupin purchased his share in early 1896. Martha Jackson died in 1916, at age 88.

The property remained with Maupin until he died in 1932. From then, it passed on to his children and heirs. In the summer of 1964, the living Maupin heirs sold the property to the Clarks who were the owners in 1980.

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