Thompson-Brown-Sandusky House

This historic house was built for William N. Thompson in the early 1850s and was later the residence of Frances M. Sandusky, who was a leading local educator and philanthropist in the first half of the 20th century. The second owner was Andrew M. Brown, who acquired it in 1864. The house, which was once part of a large 120-acre property, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It appears to be a private residence today.

The first settler in the area was likely a man named Clairborne Palmer, who arrived in 1838 from Ray County. It is unclear but his land may have been the property Thompson bought in 1842. Thompson was born in Kentucky in 1798 and moved to Missouri around 1820 and settled in Callaway County. He was married and had seven children, all of whom were born in Missouri. After acquiring the property he built a log cabin that once stood just east of where the present house now stands. The family and their enslaved worker and her two children lived in the cabin. Thompson died in 1860.

Four years later, his wife sold the house and land to Andrew Brown on January 7, 1864, who also acquired an additional 50 adjacent acres that same day. Brown was born in Decatur County, Indiana in 1838. The next year the Brown family moved to Buchanan County where St. Joseph is located. The Brown family owned the property until December 8, 1904 when Frances M. Sandusky bought it. Sandusky was born in 1876 in Troy Mills, Iowa but grew up in Leavenworth, Kansas. She became a teacher at 18 and got a job at a school in Montana. Her talents as an educator were apparent early on as she became principal two years later. In 1902, she married farmer Harmon Sandusky, who had two children from his first marriage.

In 1928, Sandusky became the the secretary of the St. Joseph Travelers Aid Society and one of the first two women elected to the St. Joseph School Board. She later served as vice president and president until 1934. The governor then appointed her to the Missouri State Social Security Commission. She joined the the Buchanan County Welfare Commission in the late 1930s and served on a number of other boards and commissions as well, including on the YMCA Board where she was president from 1945 to 1948. She died in 1969 at the age of 93. Harmon's daughter, Ada, lived at the house until she died in 1966. His other daughter, Gertrude, lived in the home in her later years, passing away in 1971.

Sandehn, Nancy. "Thompson-Brown-Sandusky House." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. February 10, 1983. https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/81/8183/63818381/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MO/83004297.pdf.