You know that I love finding the historic places in Kentucky that are not well-known to bring attention to their history. Well, the Warwick Compound was one I hadn’t even heard of before. When the Harrodsburg Historical Society posted that a tour would take place there, I had to look it up. If I had to look it up, then I knew very few others would know about it, which meant I had to take the tour to feature it here and bring it to my followers. So, this past Saturday, my husband and I headed for Salvisa, KY, to learn about Warwick Compound and its famous Kentucky owner, Clay Lancaster. Before I can get to Clay, we have to start with Colonel John Donelson and the Jones Family. Who, you might ask? Let’s take a look!
The Jones Family Leaves Virginia
Jacob and Elizabeth Jones, along with their children, left Virginia for present-day Tennessee in December 1779. The Joneses were just one of many families who traveled with Colonel John Donelson (1718-1785) from Virginia near Fort Patrick Henry along the Holston and Tennessee Rivers into present-day Paducah, Kentucky, and then on to present-day Nashville, Tennessee.
Colonel Donelson (left) and Colonel Robertson (right) / Public Domain Images
You see, Donelson and his partner, Colonel James Robertson (1742-1814), had been selected by Richard Henderson, founder of the Transylvania Land Company, to lead settlers into the Cumberland River region of present-day middle Tennessee.1 The Cumberland River region was just a small part of the “Great Grant” portion of the 1775 Treaty of Sycamore Shoals that had been signed between the Transylvania Land Company and the Cherokee Indians.2 Henderson had a settlement along the Kentucky River with Daniel Boone and Boonesborough. He now wanted settlements along the Cumberland River, and Donelson and Robertson were just the men to do it.3
Richard Henderson (left) – Public Domain Image / Treaty of Sycamore Shoals Land Map (right) – Clarksville Online
With numerous Indian tribes unhappy about the Treaty (or no knowledge of it at all), raids against the settlers were at its peak. Donelson and Robertson wanted “safety in numbers” for the hundreds of settlers (400+) they were taking with them. “Surely with the flotilla of boats that Colonel Donelson had amassed the Indian problem would be lessened.”4 The traveling party was broken into two groups. Colonel Robertson’s group traveled by land. He left in early Fall 1779 with a group of men traveling through the Cumberland Gap and along the Kentucky Trace, taking a large amount of livestock. Their goal was to arrive at the bluffs along the Cumberland River in present-day Tennessee and establish a fort by the Spring of 1780, when the rest of the group would arrive.
As stated above, the Joneses and Colonel Donelson’s group left in December 1779, just three days before Christmas. They would travel by water. The group included women, children, enslaved individuals, and about thirty men to handle and defend the boats. They traveled with a “flotilla of thirty or so canoes, flat boats, and dugouts on an expedition traversing the Holston, Tennessee, Ohio, and Cumberland Rivers.”5 Their boats were filled with not only families but also household goods, farming implements, tools, building materials, and seeds for planting. In my opinion, the timing of this departure seemed poorly planned, as it was just three miles into the trip when Donelson’s group ran into an icy river. I mean, wouldn’t you have thought of that beforehand? Anyway, the group had to camp out at the mouth of Reedy Creek along the Holston River for the next two months. Can you even imagine? Crazy, right? Well, it wasn’t until early March of 1780, when the thaw began and the water levels rose, that the group continued their travels.
Several skirmishes and raids by the Chickamauga Cherokee took place along the way, but finally, Donelson’s group arrived and docked in present-day Paducah at the mouth of the Ohio River, and on April 24, the group reached French Lick (also known as Fort Nashborough, which became present-day Nashville, TN) and the blockhouse that Robertson’s group built in preparation for their arrival. Donelson’s group had lost 33 people due to illnesses and Indian raids throughout their travels.
“Within a week of Donelson’s arrival, Henderson prepared the Cumberland Compact, of which Donelson was the fifth signer.”
Anne-Leslie Owens
Fort Union
Before reaching French Lick, a smaller group of settlers, called the Red River Party, broke off on April 12th, 1780, and continued up the Red River to what is present-day Clarksville, Tennessee. This particular group of pioneers had been recruited by Henderson to build an additional settlement along the bluffs of the Red River. The settlement would be known as Fort Union. (The settlement wouldn’t last long, though. It was abandoned by June of that year because of harsh conditions.)
It is believed that the Jones Family traveled with the Red River Party. We know that James and Thomas Jones, and their families, moved nine miles up Red River and settled on the bluff near Fort Union. Jacob and Elizabeth Jones were likely part of that family group.
Many of the men who were sick and/or wounded upon arrival stayed at Fort Union for medical care and time to recuperate. Jacob Jones was definitely one of those men. He must have been really ill because he had his will drafted while at Fort Union on May 17, 1780.6
Moses Jones (1773 – 1842)
One of Jacob and Elizabeth’s children was Moses Jones. Moses was born in Virginia on January 18, 1773. He was a mere 6 years old when the family loaded up on a boat and headed down the river, and while birthday celebrations were not common in 1780, Moses spent his 7th birthday camped out at the mouth of Reedy Creek. That’s not exactly how I would have wanted to spend my 7th birthday.
Just a few months later, on the bluff of the Red River in present-day Tennessee, a Chickasaw Indian raid forever changed little Moses Jones’s life. While his father was at Fort Union recovering from injuries or an illness, fifty Chickasaw Indians attacked the Jones Family at their camp. Twenty-one settlers were killed, and Moses Jones was taken captive.7
“Moses Jones was kept by the Chickasaws 9 years
Draper Manuscripts via NRHP
but …escaped via the Kentucky River at Warwick.”
How Moses Jones managed to escape and how he ended up in Kentucky, we’ll never know. But escape he did in 1789, and at the age of 16, he settled in Warwick, KY, a small “community [that] had been established on the east bank of the Kentucky River” in 1787.8
In 1790, just a year after his escape, Moses was appointed “as a hand to attend David Williams’ survey.”9 It was a road detail that was appointed by the courts to keep roads open and passable. In 1794, he was listed in Kentucky again, but had no land or livestock to claim. In 1795, Moses only claimed two horses. It was not until his father, Jacob, passed away in Lincoln County, KY, in March 1796, that Moses acquired land. Likely using his inheritance, Moses purchased .75 of an acre from Jacob Myers for ten pounds. The land was adjoining the community of Warwick. (This is the only sign that Moses was reunited with his family at some point between his escape and his father’s death.)
Land, a Wife, and a Family
“Three years later, he acquired 105 acres of land in the region of Mercer County called Warwick (now known as Oregon) where his escape had been made, and in 1801 he married Mary Henderson.”
National Register of Historic Places
At 27 years old, Moses married Mary Henderson (age 21) on January 8, 1801. The couple would go on to have at least seven children: Sarah (who married in 1819), Elizabeth (1802-1862), William (1805-1818), Stephen (1808-?), Willis (1810-1864), Lutillet (1815-1859), and Hite Tinnel (1818-1852).
Moses continued to buy land until 1814. When all was said and done, he had amassed around 400 acres of land.
And Finally a Home
Between 1809 and 1811, Moses and Mary Jones had this beautiful 5-bay, three-brick-thick, one-and-a-half-story, Federal-style home built for their quickly growing family. While it is believed that Moses had some craftsmanship skills that would have allowed him to build this home on his own, the professional details within the home have led researchers to believe that he likely had help. Matthew Lowery was an artisan who worked in Mercer County during this time frame and may have helped with the exceptional and unusual details of this home.
“The overall effect of the numerous original interior fittings is somewhat provincial, but their character an astute blend of robustness and delicacy provides a visual delight. The massing of the residence is reminiscent of those eastern Virginia houses built during the third quarter of the 18th century, and the Flemish bond on all four sides, the width of the chimneys, and the small dimensions of the windows are uncharacteristic of other Kentucky houses of the same period. Although the hall-and-parlor plan was a fairly standard one among houses of the same vintage, the Jones House has an unexpected sophistication provided by the two enclosed staircases that form an arched passage between two rooms.”
National Register of Historic Places
The interior and exterior of the Moses Jones House / All Photos Property of Kentucky Historic Travels
An exterior summer kitchen would have been on the property, along with other outbuildings including but not limited to: barns, a smoke house, a spring house, a distillery, and slave quarters. We know that Moses built his home near a creek to supply water for a distillery that he ran. He had apricot and peach orchards on the property that were used in the distilling of his brandy. He also ran a ferry that crossed the Kentucky River for at least four years.
At the time of his death, on May 18, 1842, Moses owned four enslaved people: Sandy – age 18, Elias – age 14, Newton – age 12, and Hannah – age 39. Upon his death, his estate was inventoried (including those he enslaved) and was valued at $4,361.50.10
Moses was buried on his property just a few hundred yards away from his home. He was laid to rest next to his wife, Mary, who had died the year before. As years passed, additional family members were buried alongside Moses and Mary, including their daughter Elizabeth Jones Crossfield, and their sons Lutillet, Tinnell, Willis, and William (who was buried in the cemetery in 1818). Other extended family members were also buried there.
Quite unusually, the home remained in the family until 1973.
Warwick’s 2nd Chapter
You probably noticed that the property is now called the Warwick Compound, and you probably noticed that the original brick home has a small addition. The addition and the “Compound” name came in 1978 with Warwick’s second chapter – an owner who wasn’t a member of the Jones Family.
In 1978, a man by the name of Clay Lancaster purchased the property upon returning to Kentucky after living in New York, Brooklyn Heights, and Nantucket, Massachusetts.11
Clay Lancaster was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on March 30, 1917. He graduated from the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor of Arts (1938) and a Master of Arts (1939) and quickly jumped into architecture.
He became an Art Director for Guignol Theatre at the University of Kentucky before he transferred to Columbia University in New York, where he became a librarian. Five years later, he was lecturing at various colleges and writing books. Throughout his career, he wrote at least twenty books heavily focused on historic preservation.
“Clay Lancaster was a pioneer in the field of historic preservation. As a scholar of architectural history, he was devoted to the documentation of American buildings, especially in his home state of Kentucky.”
The New York Preservation Archive Project
When he finally returned to Kentucky and purchased the Moses Jones house, he set to work preserving the home and had it added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Wanting to live in the home, but not significantly impact its original character, Lancaster built a small addition that would include a kitchen, restroom, his bedroom, and library.
The Clay Lancaster addition to the Moses Jones House / All Photos Property of Kentucky Historic Travels
From Home to Compound
Lancaster then turned his single home property into a compound when he added three new structures to the property. The first was a 2.5-story Octagonal Tower he had added to the hillside. It was meant to be used by overnight guests and included a kitchen, a restroom, three bedrooms, an oval sitting room, a “study” space, and a unique staircase.
Clay Lancaster’s Octagonal Tower / All Photos Property of Kentucky Historic Travels
The second building he added was a Tea Pavilion. This space was built to be used for entertaining guests at Tea Time.
“During his years at Warwick, Clay Lancaster designed a small banqueting house with eighteenth-century architectural features. The tea house and the tower were undertaken by Williamsburg-trained builder and craftsman Calvin Shewmaker.”
Warwick Foundation
Clay Lancaster’s Tea Pavilion / Photos Property of Kentucky Historic Travels
His final building was the Picture Gallery, “a modern building which houses a collection of his paintings and serves as a gathering space for groups.”12
Our Visit & Reflection
The Warwick Compound is truly a hidden Kentucky treasure. This property does not sit out on the main highway for all to see. You have to take a Kentucky back-back road to get there, and even then, you will pass it right by if you don’t know it’s there. The compound is hidden in a low-lying area surrounded by trees. The gravel drive is a bit tricky to navigate. (Don’t drive your low-to-the-ground vehicle!) Once we drove back up the slight hill, Moses Jones’s home came into view. It’s quite a picturesque spot, but I can’t imagine building in this area in 1809. Talk about secluded! WOW!
We were directed to where to park and met several members of the historical society and other visitors. About 30 people came out for the special tour. We were broken into three smaller groups and then rotated through the buildings, getting special history from society members.
You know I was there for the Moses Jones home! It was amazing! We were first told about the porch, which stands independent from the home, and then the initials on the porch rails – thought to be the initials of Moses and Mary’s children. We were then invited to enter the home. I immediately recognized the same hall-and-parlor layout as the Masterson House in Carrollton, KY. The details on the mantel were on a whole other level, however. The intricate details were jaw-dropping. I certainly don’t know how such a thing was done in 1809! I do wish the wood had not been painted… but it is what it is, I suppose.
We then left the parlor section of the home and stepped into the hall, which isn’t a hall like we know today. Instead, it was likely Moses and Mary’s bedroom. That’s when I turned to see a feature I have never seen in ANY of the homes I have visited in Kentucky. (And you know, I’ve seen a few!) The two rooms were separated by three sets of stairs, one set leading to the basement – likely used to house their horses or livestock early on – and two sets of stairs leading upstairs to two unconnected rooms. Very odd, indeed! The stairs were then hidden or enclosed, creating the unique architectural feature.
We were then invited to go up the narrow and steep stairs to one of the very small and very hot rooms where the children would have slept, followed by a chance to go down an equally narrow and steep set to the basement. The original hand-hewn support joists were the outstanding feature for me! While the floor is brick today, it would have been a dirt floor during Moses and Mary’s time.
We then entered the addition added by Lancaster. While still really nice to see, especially the library, to me it wasn’t as impressive as the original 1809 section of the home. My regular readers know I love the old stuff best!
Finally, we stepped back outside to see the rear of the home. That’s when you could see how they utilized the hillside to create a one-and-a-half story from the front and a two-and-a-half story from the back. You could also see that the original section was not built on a limestone foundation, like most homes of the time, and you could also note the Flemish-bond from all sides.
This one is a beauty both inside and out!
From there, we visited the three “follies” Lancaster had built on the property: the Tea Room (built 1991), the Octagonal Tower (completed in 1996)13, and the Picture Gallery. I was most impressed by the Tower, of course. I loved the oval sitting room and the unique staircase – notice the shape in the photos. Other than that, these buildings felt new. By my standards, they are new, although they are now 30 years old. The floors didn’t creak, and the stair treads looked like the ones in my home. I did learn that the interior walls were not drywalled, but instead they were plastered. That helped a little! 😉
We finished up our tour of the Tower, I snapped a few more pictures of the Moses Jones House, and we headed for the car. We had spent a lovely afternoon in the hills of Kentucky, and it was time to get back to present-day responsibilities. My husband and I headed for the car and headed home. It truly was a wonderful tour, one that I was so thrilled that I took!
If you love the early pioneer homes and/or you love Clay Lancaster and his work, you will absolutely want to take a tour of this property the next time the Harrodsburg Historical Society offers one. You can also schedule a tour if you don’t want to wait. Just contact the Society through their website. If you feel so inclined, the Warwick Foundation also takes donations, which can be processed through their website as well.
Go on, y’all! Get out and see Kentucky. You never know what you’ll find hidden in the hills and hollers of Kentucky. There’s history everywhere. You just have to slow down and look!
Until next time…
Happy Travels!
Resources
- https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/john-donelson/ ↩︎
- https://tnmuseum.org/junior-curators/posts/the-treaty-of-sycamore-shoals ↩︎
- Slate, Mike, “Nashville Founding Factors,” Nashville Historical Newsletter, via The Nashville Retrospect, September 2009 ↩︎
- “Moses Jones – From Virginia to Kentucky,” Bluegrass Roots, Vol. 21, No. 4, Kentucky Genealogical Society, Winter 1994 ↩︎
- https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/john-donelson/ ↩︎
- “Moses Jones – From Virginia to Kentucky,” Bluegrass Roots, Vol. 21, No. 4, Kentucky Genealogical Society, Winter 1994 ↩︎
- https://www.harrodsburgherald.com/2018/11/28/find-mercer-countys-hidden-gems-on-the-holiday-homes-tour/ ↩︎
- https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/984 ↩︎
- “Moses Jones – From Virginia to Kentucky,” Bluegrass Roots, Vol. 21, No. 4, Kentucky Genealogical Society, Winter 1994 ↩︎
- “Moses Jones – From Virginia to Kentucky,” Bluegrass Roots, Vol. 21, No. 4, Kentucky Genealogical Society, Winter 1994 ↩︎
- The Warwick Foundation ↩︎
- The Warwick Foundation ↩︎
- https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/KY-01-167-0075 ↩︎