TIPTON, Mo. - A time capsule of pioneers, merchants and soldiers, the Maclay Home in Tipton is history itself.
"The moment you step inside the Maclay Home, you'll feel that you've stepped back into history. Everything remains except the families that lived there," the Tipton Chamber of Commerce website said.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, the 2½-story, red brick house was built in an L-shape plan and is visually distinguished by massive end chimneys.
"(It is) contemporary with the founding of (Tipton and) is a tangible historical reminder of the period of vigorous frontier growth associated with the coming of railroads to Central Missouri," the national register nomination said.
Tipton was platted by William Tipton Seely, a War of 1812 veteran awarded the land for his service. He arrived in Moniteau County and set up a general store about three miles northeast of Tipton on the Butterfield Overland Stage Line route, naming it Round Hill. After arranging for the Pacific Railroad line to cross through his property, the town of Tipton was surveyed March 1, 1858. By the time the railroad bed was completed that August, more than 250 people lived there.
The mansion was first used briefly as a female seminary until the beginning of the Civil War, when it became a private residence. Seely passed the mansion lot deed to Wallace Williams.
The April 7, 1860, Weekly California News reported W.W. Williams had nearly completed a neat brick building "designed as a young lady's seminary, under the control of Mrs. (Mariah) Williams, a most estimable lady, and a successful teacher, who deserves the most liberal encouragement from the people of our county."
When the NHRP nomination was prepared, no documentation could support the name Rosehill Seminary, though it is "firmly fixed in the memories of the Maclay family and local citizens." The nomination suggested it may have been an affectionate nickname to distinguish it from another Tipton seminary at the same time.
The seminary likely closed by March 1861. Williams was captain of the Moniteau County Rangers, a regiment of local volunteers formed in support of the southern cause. That same month, Wallace and Mariah Williams forfeited their deed, which was transferred back to William Tipton Seely.
"The period of the Civil War as a whole and the associated events involving the Maclay Mansion are the subject of many romantic legends," the nomination said.
Union Gen. John C. Fremont is thought to have made his headquarters at the house, while encamped at Tipton in October 1861. Fremont's troops were bivouacked east of the seminary, today an area part of the fairgrounds.
Another local legend says bushwhackers attempted to burn the seminary during the war. Confederate
soldiers led by Gen. Joseph Shelby did burn the depot and railroad cars in an Oct. 12, 1862, attack on Tipton.
Tipton founder Seely died in December 1863 with many unsold lots, which were then offered at public sale and William and Sarah Trigg bought the seminary home. They sold it in September 1865 to John Gleim and his nephew, James Maclay.
They had arrived with Gleim's brother Frailey before the Civil War to open a dry goods store.
After purchasing the seminary, they sent for Gleim's sister and Maclay's widowed mother, Anna Maria Maclay. More family continued to arrive until eventually there were three bachelor brothers, five widowed sisters and their children all living in the seminary turned home.
The family's mercantile business was successful and, by 1880, Maclay and Company had built a new store and eventually let its name to the entire commercial block.
The Gleim name disappeared as the generation of bachelor brothers passed away, leaving only the Maclay name. Second generation Cyrus Maclay with his wife Laura, moved back to the home as head of the household in 1869.
The home remained in family hands for more than 100 years. The 17-room home was a permanent residence until about 1920. Thereafter, it was used as a summer home by the Maclay descendants and was the setting for family reunions and several weddings, according to the chamber.
In 1983, the mansion was given to the Friends of the Maclay Home, Inc. A marker was installed in 1985 by the Tipton Jaycees and the Friends of the Maclay Home, Inc.
Little has changed from its original design, "an excellent example of antebellum brick architecture in Missouri," the nomination said.
"Filled with original furnishings and innumerable possessions accumulated by the Maclay family, the house is an extraordinary time capsule of life during the second half of the 19th century."
About the Maclay Mansion
Address: 209 W. Howard St., Tipton, Mo.
Hours: Public tours 2-4 p.m. on the second and fourth Sundays of the month from May through October
Contact: 660-433-2068
Period of significance: 1858-74
Caretaker/owner: Friends of the Maclay Home, Inc.
Style: Classical Revival
Built: about 1860
Size: eight city lots
Listed on the Register: 1979