Remembering the Enoch Madison Fenton historic house that no longer stands in Missouri

Photo byNRHP Nomination Form.

Historic Enoch Madison Fenton House, now dismantled, was also known as the Edward Jackson Fenton House and commonly known as the Fenton Homeplace. This was a two-story rectangular home constructed close to Rushville, Missouri in Buchanan County.

On April 12, 1982, the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It's unknown when it was dismantled. It doesn't appear to have been delisted from the National Register yet. The owner of the house at the time it was nominated for the National Register was indicated as Thomas Fenton Thomas.

Enoch Madison "Matt" Fenton was born in Bracken County, Kentucky on April 10, 1822. He died on February 25, 1880, at age 57. His wife, Elizabeth Elliott Fenton, died on February 23, 1938, at age 97.

The Fentons, a locally prominent family, lived in this house that was built in 1850. When Matt Fenton moved to the farm, he raised Saddlebred horses which is a horse breed from the U.S. Their horses won ribbons at local county fairs.

The Fentons had picnics in their yard during the summer which drew people in from surrouding areas. Enoch Fenton's son, Edward Jackson Fenton, was born in the house in 1870. He lived in the house until he died in 1963 at age 92. He farmed and was a breeder of foxhounds.

Matt Fenton died when Edward was age 10 and he would become responsible for the farm. Tom Fenton Thomas is the son of Edward's daugther, Mary Ruth Fenton Thomas.

The house was well over a century old and it was decided that it would be too costly to restore it. Tom Fenton Thomas, a World War II veteran, died at age 89 on November 3, 2007. He and his wife, Jeannette Wigley Thomas were married almost 61 years when she died on March 1, 2004. They lived on the farm for 47 years.

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