Straight From The Hart
By Joan Rowden Hart
Oakland Mansion Part 2
Last week’s story about Jacob Blickensderfer building the Oakland
Moravian Church and mansion brought more comments than I’ve had on any
other column I have written.
This week I want to give you a look inside the mansion as Jacob
designed and built it. Although I pastored the church Jacob built for
12 years, I have never been privileged to see inside the house so I
can’t attest as to changes or renovations that have been made over the
years by different owners.
All of the information I am writing this week comes from a book
entitled “Old Trails & Iron Rails” written by Jacob’s
great-granddaughter, Norah Lee Brown. Her information was taken from
his diaries and letters.
The house was built with three stories with an astronomical dome on
top. The dome observatory was enclosed by a wooden railing and had
cannonball posts at each of the four corners. It was accessed by a
short flight of stairs from the 3rd floor. The telescope weighed
approximately 150 lbs and was mounted on a pedestal with small civil
war cannonballs serving as rollers. Norah Lee Brown writes: “A great
many shuttered windows led into the thickness of its walls.”
There were 18 rooms, with high ceilings and marble fireplaces. The
house had a wide staircase with heavy walnut newel posts. There was
a large well-lit library with one wall of built-in bookcases and a bay
window.
Jacob built a special bedroom/sitting room for his wife, Louisa,
which he called the Red Room. It was carpeted in red and furnished
with a rosewood dresser, a huge four-poster bed and a marble topped
washstand and of course a massive fireplace. The woodwork and doors
were made of California redwood.
Above the kitchen Jacob built his workroom, furnished with a long oak
table, several cupboards and a pigeon-holed desk.
Servants’ quarters were located at the rear of the building and
another wide staircase led to the third floor with more bedrooms.
There was a building connected to the main house at the rear which had
two rooms, a scullery and a fuel room, divided by a six foot earthen
oven.
There was also a belfry above the kitchen with a huge bell.
The house had several unique features for its time, including a
carpeted indoor privy for Louisa’s chamber set with its painted pink
roses.
Jacob installed a hot air furnace in the basement, an amenity unheard
of in the Ozarks at the time, and about which his neighbors were
extremely skeptical.
When Louisa’s furniture was shipped from Ohio to Oakland by train, it
took eight teams and wagons to bring the furniture, doors and carpets
from Lebanon. Her piano was delivered in a separate wagon.
Louisa Blickensderfer had complete say over the furnishings of the
house. She visited in Oakland twice during the building process. The
second time was briefly in the spring of 1888. She returned to Omaha
then with plans to stay in a hotel there until August 31 and then make
a permanent move into the Oakland mansion.
On her way to the depot in August, she became very sick in the
carriage and Jacob returned her to the hotel in Omaha. The children
were called in. She never recovered, and died in Omaha that weekend.
In the Oakland mansion, her family and friends gathered to mourn in
her “Red Room” which was full of flowers surrounding her coffin. She
would never know the joy of sitting and sleeping in the room which
had been designed by and for her.
On September 3, 1888, a second grave was dug in the Oakland Moravian
Cemetery and Louisa was buried beside her son Andrew who had been
killed in a hunting accident just a few years before. Her
great-granddaughter writes: “In those days after Louisa’s death,
Jacob wandered aimlessly through the empty echoing rooms of his dream
house. Now there was no one to share it with him.”
Several of his children stayed with him from time to time the
following year and two Christmases were observed there after Louisa’s
death.
At the beginning of the year 1890, Jacob was alone once more in the
big house. Norah Brown writes in the closing chapter of her book:
“Once again Jacob sought refuge in the library. Two years have lapsed
since Louisa’s death. Railroading was an integral part of the
American way of life and the building of this enormous house was a
folly. With the ringing of bell for Sunday school, a sudden thought
occurred to him. The little church would be his only lasting memory.”
By Joan Rowden Hart
Oakland Mansion Part 2
Last week’s story about Jacob Blickensderfer building the Oakland
Moravian Church and mansion brought more comments than I’ve had on any
other column I have written.
This week I want to give you a look inside the mansion as Jacob
designed and built it. Although I pastored the church Jacob built for
12 years, I have never been privileged to see inside the house so I
can’t attest as to changes or renovations that have been made over the
years by different owners.
All of the information I am writing this week comes from a book
entitled “Old Trails & Iron Rails” written by Jacob’s
great-granddaughter, Norah Lee Brown. Her information was taken from
his diaries and letters.
The house was built with three stories with an astronomical dome on
top. The dome observatory was enclosed by a wooden railing and had
cannonball posts at each of the four corners. It was accessed by a
short flight of stairs from the 3rd floor. The telescope weighed
approximately 150 lbs and was mounted on a pedestal with small civil
war cannonballs serving as rollers. Norah Lee Brown writes: “A great
many shuttered windows led into the thickness of its walls.”
There were 18 rooms, with high ceilings and marble fireplaces. The
house had a wide staircase with heavy walnut newel posts. There was
a large well-lit library with one wall of built-in bookcases and a bay
window.
Jacob built a special bedroom/sitting room for his wife, Louisa,
which he called the Red Room. It was carpeted in red and furnished
with a rosewood dresser, a huge four-poster bed and a marble topped
washstand and of course a massive fireplace. The woodwork and doors
were made of California redwood.
Above the kitchen Jacob built his workroom, furnished with a long oak
table, several cupboards and a pigeon-holed desk.
Servants’ quarters were located at the rear of the building and
another wide staircase led to the third floor with more bedrooms.
There was a building connected to the main house at the rear which had
two rooms, a scullery and a fuel room, divided by a six foot earthen
oven.
There was also a belfry above the kitchen with a huge bell.
The house had several unique features for its time, including a
carpeted indoor privy for Louisa’s chamber set with its painted pink
roses.
Jacob installed a hot air furnace in the basement, an amenity unheard
of in the Ozarks at the time, and about which his neighbors were
extremely skeptical.
When Louisa’s furniture was shipped from Ohio to Oakland by train, it
took eight teams and wagons to bring the furniture, doors and carpets
from Lebanon. Her piano was delivered in a separate wagon.
Louisa Blickensderfer had complete say over the furnishings of the
house. She visited in Oakland twice during the building process. The
second time was briefly in the spring of 1888. She returned to Omaha
then with plans to stay in a hotel there until August 31 and then make
a permanent move into the Oakland mansion.
On her way to the depot in August, she became very sick in the
carriage and Jacob returned her to the hotel in Omaha. The children
were called in. She never recovered, and died in Omaha that weekend.
In the Oakland mansion, her family and friends gathered to mourn in
her “Red Room” which was full of flowers surrounding her coffin. She
would never know the joy of sitting and sleeping in the room which
had been designed by and for her.
On September 3, 1888, a second grave was dug in the Oakland Moravian
Cemetery and Louisa was buried beside her son Andrew who had been
killed in a hunting accident just a few years before. Her
great-granddaughter writes: “In those days after Louisa’s death,
Jacob wandered aimlessly through the empty echoing rooms of his dream
house. Now there was no one to share it with him.”
Several of his children stayed with him from time to time the
following year and two Christmases were observed there after Louisa’s
death.
At the beginning of the year 1890, Jacob was alone once more in the
big house. Norah Brown writes in the closing chapter of her book:
“Once again Jacob sought refuge in the library. Two years have lapsed
since Louisa’s death. Railroading was an integral part of the
American way of life and the building of this enormous house was a
folly. With the ringing of bell for Sunday school, a sudden thought
occurred to him. The little church would be his only lasting memory.”
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