Questers devote themselves to 'The Grand Old Gal'

It’s been a wonderful relationship over the years – The Questers and the historic Bingham-Waggoner Estate, constructed in 1852 along the 1846 alignment of the Santa Fe Trail.
Nearly everyone in Eastern Jackson County is familiar with the  three-story Independence home at 313 W. Pacific Ave. Famed Civil War painter George Caleb Bingham once lived there, as did the Waggoner family from 1879 to 1976.

As for The Questers,  many folks in these parts aren’t  familiar with this international preservation and restoration organization with its more than 900 chapters and some 15,000 members in the United States and Canada.

   Take Shireen McLaughlin, Bingham-Waggoner site director. She is an example of someone who was not familiar with The Questers.
“When I came to the Bingham-Waggoner Estate a short time ago I didn’t even know what a Quester was,” she says in an e-mail. “Since then I have come across the name many times when I ask how (Bingham-Waggoner) acquired a fine piece of furniture or had one reupholstered or restored to its original luster.”

Continuing, Shireen writes: “It would have been difficult if not impossible financially for us to do any of these things on our own. ... They are a fine assortment of women from many walks of life who came together to do something great ... and they succeeded.”

Founded in 1944 for the purpose of stimulating the appreciation of antiques through study and encouraging the preservation of historical landmarks, The  Questers first appeared on the local scene in October 1984. They organized the Truman Towners  chapter and  adopted the magnificent Victorian home – with its wrap-around porch – as a permanent project.

Now celebrating 25 years of restoration and preservation at the city-owned Bingham-Waggoner home, the Truman Towners are looking forward to  another 25 years of working hand-in-hand with the Bingham-Waggoner Historical Society, which operates, pays the bills, and takes care of the Bingham-Waggoner.

“Working together for 25 years has given both the Bingham-Waggoner and The Questers a sense of fulfillment, and it is hoped this will continue for years to come,” says Madelyn Connelly, who had never heard of The Questers either before visiting her sister in-law in St. Louis in the early 1980s.

When the sister-in-law invited Madelyn to attend a Questers meeting with her, she did out of curiosity. The meeting sparked her interest and she returned home with the intent of starting a chapter in her hometown.
“About a year later, I got busy and I did it,” she recalls, noting eight women attended the initial meeting, adopted a name and decided to throw all their support behind preservation and restoration work at the Bingham-Waggoner.

What was so special about this unique mansion  was its originality, Madelyn recalls, noting  95 percent of the items there are original to the house.
“So we adopted it.”

 The chapter adopted Truman Towners as its name because local CB radio operators at that time referred to Independence as “Truman Town.”
Bingham-Waggoner is what it is today, thanks in part to monetary contributions from the local chapter, as well as 13 grants from International Questers and Missouri State Questers.
The total of all grants and  contributions in the past 25 years has resulted in preservation and  restoration projects totaling “well over” $100,000 – from planting a herb garden to locating and purchasing six oil paintings  original to the house and returning them to their rightful place.
Thanks to the two latest Questers grants, the home now has a new 5-by-6-foot window with arched mullions above the third-floor landing on the east side of the house. The other grant involves repairing the window framing in the Carriage House on the west lawn.

Replacing the large window came at a cost of $6,800. An international grant provided $4,900; the Truman Towners pitched in with a $1,900 donation to make up the difference.

International grants are $5,000, Madelyn says. But  International now wants individuals chapters to help fund what they can on these grants.
“This has never happened before,” she says.

A $500 Missouri state grant is paying for the window-framing work in the Carriage House. Work on that project is expected to begin soon. The large window was installed in late April.
Once there were 17 Truman Towners on the roll. But  age and health-related problems have taken a toll.  Although its membership is shrinking, Madelyn and Chapter President Judy Butler don’t believe the Truman Towners are ready to fold.

“One thing that keeps us going,” Judy says,  “is that we have a specific goal. It is not some nebulous project ... We have the Bingham-Waggoner. It is there and we have an attachment to it. ... We want to see it there for generations to come.”

Madelyn and Judy hope women interested in antiques, preservation and restoration will consider joining the Truman Towners or do what Madelyn did a quarter of a century ago – start a new chapter in Independence.
“This is what we would like to see happen,” Madelyn says, “because we are getting older and our fundraisers have dwindled.”

The Questers, whose motto is “It’s fun to search and a joy to find,” invites you to become a  member of the Truman Towners and fall in love with Bingham-Waggoner, also known as the “Grand Old Gal,” as other members have.
Call Madelyn at 816-254-5866. She would enjoy telling you more about The Questers and answering your questions.