Compton Prty of Eleven by Brie Clemens

Brie Clemens was born and raised in Clay County, Missouri. She has worked for Stroud’s Restaurant two years and has always been fascinated by its wonderful history. She is currently studying English and Psychology at William Jewell College with aspirations of becoming a book editor and a published writer. As such, she is absurdly happy to see her work on this website.

Compton Party of Eleven – Families Through Time

Just off Vivian Road there is a charmingly ramshackle white manor home whose floors slope like a fun house. The smell of fried chicken wafts through the air as hungry guests, waiting to be seated, chat with their friends and family while being crammed into a small room with mid-19th century exposed log walls. The building is known as Stroud’s Restaurant, but it boasts a history far more rich than the gravy they serve. Outside, a bronze plaque proclaiming the site a historic landmark stands. Inside, dozens of pictures and documents proudly display the life of a remarkable Clay County family.

The rooms of the manor, built on different levels, do not seem to connect quite right; odd dead spaces exist between the levels, leaving one with an overall impression of a toddler-constructed block tower. The sprawling restaurant was once a two-room log cabin, purchased in 1840 by the Comptons, who named it Oak Ridge Manor (GPO Clay County). Dr. James H. Compton and his wife Mary added a new room each time a child was born…and they had nine. The offices upstairs have fading wallpaper and mismatched antique furniture. A century ago, one of the Compton children may have played there. The area once designed as a patio is now filled with long tables where families sit together to eat as much food as they can consume. They are unaware of how their laughter is like an echo of the past, when family and friends from all over journeyed to Oak Ridge Manor for Christmas to feast on the food stockpiled for just such an occasion. Everyone enjoyed the extended celebrations that continued for as long as the carefully tended Yule log burned (Liberty Sun 17). In the lobby, where people now wait, sometimes for hours, to sit down at a table there may once have been a man nervously waiting for Dr. Compton to check his teeth—having taken advantage of the dentists offer in his ads to see male customers in his own home. However, for female customers, Dr. Compton would save them the trip and make a personal visit (Liberty Sun 19). Customers and employees alike say the small dining room, that was once a bedroom, is haunted by a young girl who tends to pull on necklaces and laughs aloud; not even the literal ghosts of the past are ominous (Ghost Vigil). Today, guests drag in brightly wrapped gifts for the numerous birthdays celebrated weekly. Yet, more than a century ago, James Compton would haul a bag of gifts from the town of Liberty for family and servants alike to share.

Documentation on the family is limited, but the white-oak and walnut walls of the restaurant bear clues and tantalizing images of the past. Pictures of the Compton girls hang in the bar area, causing one to wonder how outnumbered George Thomas (the only boy of the Compton family) and James felt. Hanging above the fireplace is a barely legible document honoring someone’s military service. A pair of fully restored Buffalo guns, found on the grounds, hang above the fireplace. A diploma from the Liberty Female College hangs across from the property deed to the manor signed by President John Quincy Adams, and the documents proclaiming Oak Ridge Manor a historic site. Charming wall paper still hangs on the walls of the upstairs storage room, (once a bedroom). Further information can be heard through word of mouth, providing an oral history this building is proud to claim. There are rumors, for instance, that Jesse James hid on the grounds after his infamous bank heist in Liberty. There is also a small white building visible from the back window of what used to be a porch in the slaves quarters. According to Larry Peterson, the groundskeeper at Strouds, James Compton is the first man in Clay County history to have willed land to a slave, a sign that even in days when such a thing was unheard of, the overwhelming sense of love and loyalty to family was felt in that house (Peterson). Today, White Oak Chapel, the historic church that was part of Clay County’s first free black community, sits on the Restaurant’s grounds. Each piece of history reveals a family who lived and loved and ate and shared memories. The building can’t seem to shake its habits because people who visit the manor today can’t seem to avoid that pervading sense of family.

For further information please visit the Stroud’s website at http://www.stroudsrestaurant.com

Works Cited

Clay County. Census 1840. Clay County Missouri: GPO, Print.

Peterson, Larry. Personal interview. 03 APR 2009. Interview.

"Stroud's Restaurant December 2006." Ghost Vigil. DEC 2006. Ghost Vigil G. FEB 2009
http://ghostvigil.com/modules/tinycontent/index.php?id=25

Liberty Sun 22 DEC 1982: 19. Print.

Liberty Sun 29 DEC 1982: 19. Print.