Judge Elisha Headlee was one of the pioneer settlers of Greene County, where he was well known among the early residents, was prominent in public affairs and a successful general farmer. Judge Elisha Headlee was the seventh of eleven children, and was born in Burke County, North Carolina, in October 1802, where he received a limited education.  He moved to Maury County, Tennessee, with his parents in 1823, and there, in 1825, he married Rachael Steele, who was also a native of North Carolina, born in 1803, and moved from the old Tar state to Tennessee with her parents in 1810.  Mr. Headlee farmed in Tennessee after his marriage until 1836, migrated overland with his family to Greene County, and was among one of the first pioneer settlers here, and eventually one of its most prominent citizens.  He was a justice of the peace for several years, and in 1846 was elected as a member of the County Court for four years.  Then he was appointed by the governor of the state, then served two terms more with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned.  In 1858 he was appointed public administrator and served in that capacity until 1872.  His death occurred on his farm here about 1876.(1)  He and his wife reared a family of nine children.(2)

 

The Headlee Cabin, depicted in the photos, and an 1876 Greene County plat, can be dated back to circa 1846. We know that Elisha Headlee was a member and leader of the Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church, and was a recipient of the deed transfer in April 1849.

 

The last residents of the Headlee cabin were Elisha and Rachael’s two youngest daughters, Rachael Elizabeth and Harriet J., both remained unmarried.  They too were members of the Ebenezer Methodist Church until their deaths in the early 1920’s.  A local historian and family descendent, the late Lucille Chrisman documented this quote, “Headlee women wore silks and satin to church there.” (See Note A)

 

The Headlee Cabin remains today. The current property owners, Stacy and Adrian, where the cabin still stands, have generously donated this time capsule to EHS.  The scheduled Headlee Cabin Project is to dismantle the cabin and relocate it to another location where it can be reassembled back to original construction, and will be on display for public viewing.

 

The structure has been stabilized; all the logs have been evaluated, measured, catalogued, tagged and photographed.  All of the log cabin logs will be dismantled and stored indoors, in a barn, until its final rebuild in 2020.

 

This is a community project, something we are very excited that everyone wants to be involved throughout the various stages of this process.  Please stay tuned for more information or contact us to see how you can be a part of this great project! 

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GoFundMe - https://www.gofundme.com/f/restoring-judge-elisha-headlee039s-1846-cabin

Follow the above link to help support our GoFundMe campaign to restore the Headlee log cabin!

 

Special Thank You to Marcia and Bob Harralson for providing the Ebenezer Historical Society with family history, photographs, and documentation to make this project possible. 

 

(1)Jonathan Fairbanks and Clyde Edwin Tuck, Past and Present of Greene County, Missouri, Early and Recent History and Genealogical Records of Many of the Representative Citizens, Past and Present of Greene County, Missouri, https://thelibrary.org/lochist/history/paspres/cowdenw.html

 

(2)Pictorial and Genealogical Record of Greene County, Missouri, Together with Bibliographies of Prominent Men of Other Portions of the State, Both Living and Dead; A. S. COWDEN, A. S. Cowden - Pictorial and Genealogical Record of Greene County ...https://thelibrary.org/lochist/history/pictorial/cowdena.html