Watkins Mill and Home (Watkins Woolen Mill State Park)

Waltus L. Watkins established Bethany Farm in 1839 and in the years that followed, his property holdings grew and the Watkins family operated a highly profitable and nearly self-sufficient, 3,600-acre woolen mill factory and plantation. The historic Watkins Woolen Mill and the large home have been well-preserved and demonstrate the attempt to create an agrarian society that included schools along with productive farmland and necessities such as Blacksmith shops. Prior to the Civil War, enslaved families provided the labor that built the plantation and led to vast sums of wealth among a handful of families in Clay County, but their history has only recently been a focus of interpretation and even though the foundations of former slave dwellings have been located as indicated by the National Register of Historic Places nomination form which was completed in 1976, there have been few efforts to include their experiences and perspectives in programs and publications by the State of Missouri who operates the site. The site is operated by Missouri State Parks and as of March 2022, there is still no mention of slavery among the numerous pages dedicated to the site's history and interpretive programs offered for school groups.

Bethany Farm experienced rapid growth when the woolen industry reached Missouri in the 1850s, inspiring Watkins to construct the now-historic Watkins Woolen Mill in 1860, shortly before the start of the Civil War. Before establishing his farm, Watkins lived in Kentucky and worked in textile mills, which helped him grow the woolen business. The farm's three-story mill provided power that allowed the family and their farmhands to spin wool into yarn for weaving into cloth, blankets, and shawls. 

Like most farms of the region during that era, the Watkins farm engaged in diversified farming managed by the family and children and benefited financially from slave labor. In addition to producing wool, Watkins raised various animals ranging from mules and horses to sheep and cattle. The Watkins family also maintained a large garden, sold honey from bees they raised, and sold meat from the nearly 100 hogs they butchered and smoked each year. Waltus and his wife, Mary Ann, had five boys and four girls. The boys worked with Waltus on the farm and aided with mill operations. Meanwhile, Mary Ann and her four daughters managed the dairy, tended to the poultry flocks, and dried fruit for sale. 

Alongside the family, workers and enslaved people were instrumental in the farm's growth. Watkins existed among numerous Clay County residents who arrived from Kentucky and Virginia. They established an exceptionally pro-slave community from the 1820s through the 1850s; the more than 2,700 Clay County slaves accounted for more than one-quarter of its population. In fact, of the 100 Missouri counties in 1850, Clay County ranked fifth in slave ownership. Moreover, Watkins' sister noted that Clay Countians ran a preacher out of town during the 1840s because he denounced slavery. Details about the fate of the enslaved workers after the Civil War are unclear. 

Waltus initially built a log cabin on the property when he arrived in 1838 before replacing it in 1851 with the elegant farm home that spanned 1,240 acres. The house served as the hub of a farm that by 1870 expanded into a 3,660-acre commercial agricultural enterprise. Watkins also constructed an octagonal schoolhouse for his children of his workers' families. Indeed, alongside the slaves and their slave homes, the vast majority of workers hired by Watkins lived in cottages built for them. The plantation also supported a kiln, a gristmill, sawmills, a Blacksmith shop, a dairy, a fruit dryhouse, an icehouse, barns, a scale house, and a wool shed, all part of Watkin's goal of creating a self-sufficient community. 

After Watkins died in 1885, his sons continued to operate the farm. However, as the twentieth century approached, the Midwestern woolen industry declined rapidly, eventually leading to the Mill's failure. As the Watkins Mill's success waned, so did the surrounding community. Still, the children maintained the farm's success by concentrating on various crops based on their market value. Finally, in 1945, as World War II ended, The Watkins family sold the property, ultimately ending more than a century on the land. In 1958, the Watkins Mill Association acquired the Mill and opened it to the public. Today, the Missouri State Parks manages the Mill, house, and adjacent recreation area. 

Hawley, Savannah, et al. "Slavery, Memory, and Justice Project investigates Clay County history." The Hilltop Monitor(William Jewel College), May 7, 2021. https://hilltopmonitor.jewell.edu/slavery-memory-and-justice-project-investigates-clay-county-history/.

"Historic Site History at Watkins Wollen Mill State Historic Site: About Watkins Wollen Mill and Bethany Farm." Missouri State Parks. mostateparks.com. Accessed April 5, 2022. https://mostateparks.com/page/55163/historic-site-history.

Lissandrello, Stephen. "Nomination Form: Watkins Mill." National Register of Historic Places. nps.gov. 1976. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset?assetID=89e79a50-eb93-4c9b-93f9-f79b677517c9.

Meyers, Tony. "Watkins Mill: Clay County Historical Society Historic Landmark." Historical Marker Database. hmdb.org. June 16, 2016. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=46134.

Potts, Louis W and Ann M. Sligar. The Watkins Mill: Factory on the Farm. Kirksville, MO: Truman State University Press, 2004.

Stiles, T.J.. Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War. New York: Vintage Books, 2002.