MARION COUNTY POOR FARM 1998


A special thank you to Bill Meyer, Publisher of the Marion County Record for giving us the permission to transcribe this article. The following article is from the October 14, 1998 issue of the Marion County Record.

Bit of History

Actor Darren Burrows lived at former 'poor farm'

By ROWENA PLETT
Staff reporter

The large three-story stone house located on the former "county poor farm" southwest of Marion
has had many uses during its 110-year span. It is four miles west of Marion on 190th Street and 
three miles south on Old Mill Road.  One fact that many people may not know is that popular 
actor Darren Burrows briefly lived there as a child. He is best know as Ed Chigliack, the aspiring 
film maker from the series "Northern Exposure." He also plays spot parts in other TV shows. 
Burrows played the part of one of seven soldiers in the recently released movie "Saving Private Ryan."
According to Nancy Marr, present owner of the house, Burrows lived there with his mother, brother,
 and step father, Rolf Penner. When Penner was unable to finance a acquisition of the old house,
Nancy and her husband Wendel Hendricks of Wichita purchased it. They had two teenage sons and 
twin five-year-old daughters. They shared the house with the Penners for a brief time, until the
Penner family moved to a home between Florence and Marion. Burrows attended Bown-Corby Elementary
School in the early 1970s during his first, second, and third grades, after which the family moved
to Wichita.
Construction of Marion County Poor Asylum began in 1888 and was completed in 1890. It included
160 acres of land. With adult supervision, indigent and somewhat incompetent people could live 
there, work the land, raise their own food, and earn their keep. Unwed pregnant girls could stay
there until they delivered their babies, which were put up of adoption. The asylum was self-sustaining
for a number of years, even paying taxes to the county. Most of the land was later sold off and
the house became known as Marion County Rest Home, the Cedar Rest.
In 1964, after the elderly residents were moved to a new county nursing home in Peabody, everything
but the house was sold at auction. Several years later, Art and Virginia Mills purchased the house
and remodeled the first floor into a restaurant called "Cedar Villa," which opened in 1968 and 
operated for several years. The house then sat empty for several years, during which time it 
deteriorated badly.
It was then purchased by the Rev. Bill Cowell, former pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Marion.
He served a church in Hutchinson at the time and had a radio program called "Heart Ministries." 
He planned to use the large house as a youth center for girls. Volunteers put on a new roof but
that's as far as the remodeling got according to Marr. She said the project fell through.
The Hendricks couple owned a prosperous business in Wichita called Central Graphics. At the time 
they purchased the old house, in the early 1970s, they owned a large home in the College Hill
residential area of Wichita. Why did they do it?
"I liked this large house," Marr said. "We were dreamers and saw the potential." She said they spent
a large amount of money fixing up the place. The stone walls were sandblasted and new wiring
and plumbing were installed on the top floor and in the basement. Doors, windows, and ceilings in
the 12 rooms on the top floor were replaced and the rooms were furnished with beds.
When plans to make it a retreat center failed, they opened the house to serve as a youth hostel. 
It was listed in the national directory of youth hostels and was used by a number of young European
people traveling through the United States on Bicycles. "It was a service, not a money-making 
business," she said.
After the couple divorced, Nancy retained her maiden name, Marr, and became sole owner of the property.
She was a certified elementary school teacher and took 16 hours of credit at Tabor College to 
obtain secondary school certification in English. She did her student teaching at Centre High School.
She said she wanted to experience other cultures, so she spent several years teaching in Mexico, 
Yemen (Africa), and the Arab Republic. She also taught in Topeka. She took her twin daughters 
with her wherever she went.
"During the times we were gone, this house was never vandalized," she said "Marion County is a 
good place to live." Her daughters, Jane and Ann attended Marion Elementary School. She recently 
started a new career in multi-county diversified services. Her job is in McPherson and is 
part of the move away from state mental institutions to community homes. She helps four women who
all have jobs but need supervision in their group home. "I'm doing something similar to what I would
have been doing here at the old poor farm when it was first established," she said.
Marr said she is a shy person who enjoys living a simple life. She belongs to the Friends church, 
which has a history of following a principle of non-violence. She calls the place Stone Prairie. 
She lives in the cool basement during summer months and on the first floor during the winter. 
She has a flower and vegetable garden. Visitors tour the house by appointment Her guest book contains
the signatures of people from all over the United States, Canada, and Europe. She hopes to host 
another Halloween tour this month, during which time she will display unusual, unique, and 
"scary" items from the United states and other cultures.
Tourists may visit the "museum," a room filled with artifacts found on and around the premises 
and other items of historical interest. After 25 years, the old house is once again in desperate 
need of repair. Marr said that though she enjoys the large house, it is more than she can handle.
"I am looking for the right people," she said. "If they want to preserve and restore it, they can 
have a bargain." She said she is sentimental about the place because of the noble intentions that
produced it. "I give myself credit for having saved it. I hope it will be safe in the future."
"I feel very privileged to have lived here. I has been a unique experience, a unique lifestyle that
forms one's attitude and character." She said she likes the peace and quiet of the country and hopes
to someday purchase another rural home and continue to live in Marion County.