Listen to Rogers and Nienhaus to raise money to move the 1816 Joseph Sappington log cabin.

Removing the roof is rather rough work. The more delicate work happens when dismantling the log structure. Photo Courtesy of the Thomas Sappington House Museum.

Both historic preservationists and people who liked the music of the Byrds should enjoy this Saturday, Sept. 24, concert at Sappington Park at Crestwood.

The Preservation Part:

The concert is a fundraiser to move an 1816 log cabin belonging to one of the members of the prosperous Sappington family, a prominent family in Missouri during the 1800s. (John S. Sappington was an American physician known for developing a quinine pill to treat and prevent malaria. He was a third cousin to Thomas Sappington, who built what is believed to be the first brick house in St. Louis County in 1808; the house is now a museum.) The log cabin belonged to Joseph Sappington, who was a first cousin of Thomas Sappington.

The Thomas Sappington house is an outstanding example of Federal architecture. Joseph’s cabin, which was five miles away, is being moved from a more obscure location in suburbia to the site of the Thomas Sappington House Museum, roughly 2.5 miles north of the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. The Sappingtons were contemporaries of Grant, who sometimes hired yet another Sappington, Sebastian, to assist with legal matters pertaining to Grant’s home, White Haven, during and after the Civil War.

The cabin is already being disassembled, with logs numbered for reassembly in 2023. Three massive fireplaces in the cabin will be the last to come down, perhaps by mid-October, says Sally Cakourous, the resident manager of the museum site. The stones will also be numbered for reassembly.

The Musical Treat

The concert, from 4 – 7 pm, will be performed by Terry Jones Rogers and Scott Nienhaus. They have been performing their pristine harmonies and superb instrumentation for folk-country-rock music together since meeting in Nashville in 1993. They now are based in St. Louis. Terry was an original member of The Byrds, and Missouri is Nienhaus’s home state. They met each other at the urging of another Missouri native, Michael “Supe” Granda of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils. Rogers and Granda had become friends when working together in The Byrds when the original drummer Michael Clarke reformed the group in 1988. After Clarke died in 1993, Rogers formed a group, The Byrds Celebration. Rogers and Nienhaus have toured the world, and they are still writing and recording. These two exceptional musicians are still delighting crowds.

 

Photo Courtesy of the Thomas Sappington House Museum

Details:

  • Tickets at the Gate: $20 for adults and free for children under 12.
  • Mystery gift card boxes
  • 50/50 chances on sale
  • Food and drink will be available for purchase from The Barn restaurant porch.
  • Bring your lawn chairs but no coolers, please.
  • Park across the street from the Thomas Sappington House Museum at Crestwood Elementary School and in the overflow lot off Reco Avenue. The museum is at 1015 Sappington Road, Crestwood. For more information, phone 314-822- 8171 or email [email protected].