Alder Springs Cemetery

Jesse Kendrick Cemetery

Equality Township

Section 10, Township 40 North, Range 14 West

Miller County, MO.

Kendrick, Jesse

1 Sept. 1785 – 7 Aug. 1843

born in Culpeper County, VA and died in Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo

h/o Mary Jane (Parker) 1785 – 1846 – buried in German Reformed Presbyterian Cemetery, Jefferson County, Kentucky

If you have any questions or comments you can reach me at deestarr47@gmail.com

I recently spoke with the owner of this property, in the Shut-In-Branch, Leroy Vaughan, who remembers Jesse Kendrick’s tombstone being in the shut-in-branch, just north of the now Tuscumbia City Park.

The city decided to expand the park and make a ball field. When they did they did away with Jesse’s headstone. Leroy Vaughan told me of a man on a backhoe and digging and he reminded him that there was a grave where he was digging. This man loaded up his equipment and never returned. However, that did not stop the expansion process of the city park.

It is too bad that the City Administrators did not just move Jesse’s headstone and erect it somewhere else, but they did not.

The following is taken from the find-a-grave site:

Jesse Kendrick was one of the earliest settlers in Miller County. On 16 April 1839 he received a Certificate of Entry from the U.S. Government for 40 acres in the Southeast quarter of the Northwest quarter of Sec. 10, Twp. 40, Range 14, which today is located in the west part of the town of Tuscumbia. Jesse entered this parcel of land in 1837. Shut In Branch ran east and south through his 40 acres emptying into the Osage River just a little northeast of Tuscumbia's city park.

Evidently Jesse Kendrick came to Miller County alone with only his old slave, Reuben, as his companion. In Miller County's 1840 census, Jesse was enumerated living in Equality Township with no one listed in his household. Reuben, being a slave, would not have been counted as a joint resident in Jesse's home. The neighbors of Jesse in 1840 were Aaron Roberts, Josiah Birdsong, Hiram M. Williams, John Francis, and Noah Hudson. These families did not live very close to one another in those years. Often, miles separated the nearest neighbors.

Per Goodspeed's 1889 History, Jesse Kendrick settled near and built the first house at the Tuscumbia site. His home, probably built of logs, was near Shut-In Branch. While living in the area, he served as a Justice and settled several disputes among his neighbors. Called Squire Kendrick, he held his Justice court at his home and was known to level fines against several who could not settle their differences any other way! He performed 4 marriages in 1838 in his role as a Justice of the Peace. Jesse also opened a grocery store, dram shop, and saloon at the site of Tuscumbia. His business ventures were second only to the Harrison brothers who had built a trading post at the site of Old Tuscumbia in the early 1830s.
On October 7, 1839, Jesse wrote out his last will & testament which was witnessed by John Brockman and W. H. McDonald. In 1843 Jesse bequeathed his 9 children the following; Sarah Kendrick Reaves $50---Nancy Kendrick Downy $50---Rebecca Kendrick Bevens $50-- -Allen Kendrick $50---Harriett Kendrick Ticer $100---Carroll Kendrick $25---Jincy Matilda Kendrick $100---Caroline Kendrick $100---and Maime D. Kendrick, all the remaining part of his estate. At his death, Jesse's old slave, Reuben, was given his freedom along with his gun and all the property he owned. It would be interesting to know if Reuben had any personal or real property to claim when he received his freedom in 1843. When Jesse died in 1843 (probably about the age of 60 years), Reuben, buried him on the banks of Shut-In Creek. He marked the grave and tended it the rest of his life. The old gravestone stood for many years, but eventually floods along the Osage River caused the waters to back up into the Shut-In and the gravesite vanished from sight. No one today knows for sure where Jesse's grave is located.

John L. West was appointed Administrator of Jesse's estate and on August 2, 1847, he sold 40 acres to John and Nancy Brumley for $85.50. The land had been viewed and appraised in April 1847 by A. J. Burnett, Joel Thacker, & William Wilson and they had placed a value of $140 on the property. The Brumley's purchased the land for almost half what it had been appraised. I do not believe Jesse Kendrick has descendants living in Miller County today. There was a descendant in Springfield, MO a few years ago. Of his nine children, it is likely none ever lived in Miller County but had ventured elsewhere over the years of the mid 19th century.

Family links:
Spouse:
  Mary Jane Parker Kendrick (1785 - 1846)

Children:
  Sarah Kendrick Reaves (1803 - 1880)*
  Nancy Downen (1806 - 1890)*
  Allen Kendrick (1811 - 1859)*
  Harriet Kendrick Ticer (1813 - 1899)*
  Carroll Kendrick (1815 - 1891)*
  Jane Kendrick Pendergraft (1818 - 1884)*
  Caroline Kendrick Gardner (1822 - 1912)*