Story and Pictures of Barbara Eva Barnes Henderson & Family aka "Granny Henderson"

Howard Villines

Howard Villines related the following account of his recently deceased and beloved grandmother. His grandmother was Eva Barnes Henderson, or "Granny" Henderson to all who knew her, one of the most legendary and beloved residents of the Ozarks.

Granny Henderson was born near the Buffalo River and had lived continuously on her 166 acres near Compton since 1912. She spent the last 23 years of her time on the land alone after her husband had passed away. She lived without the comforts of electricity, telephone, and plumbing, but she loved her home and welcomed countless "floaters" and tourists whom she let camp on her property through the years. Granny Henderson befriended so many people that she corresponded with people from as far away as Canada and England. She was once featured in National Geographic as exemplifying the finest attributes of the Ozark woman.

About 1976 two or three Land Acquisition Officers from the Park Service approached Granny Henderson on her land and said, "We've come to appraise your place." Villines said his grandmother replied, "Appraise my place! What for? I wouldn't sell it for anything." To which the Park Service replied, "You'll sell it or we'll condemn it and take it." This shocking statement made the elderly woman physically ill and she was bedridden for several days after initial contact with the NPS. At first, the Harrison office of the BNR denied such rude treatment of Granny Henderson, but they did send someone out to apologize.

Although there is some dispute on this matter, the Park Service may have failed to realize that Granny Henderson was not even the sole owner of her land. Her husband's will left her grandson, Howard, as co-owner. Howard Villines to this day remains bitter that the NPS probably did not even check the available records to determine correct ownership. He feels that his grandmother should not have been approached first by the LAO personnel. After the initial contact, he insisted that the Park Service deal directly with him and cease harassing his grandmother, a request with which the NPS complied.

Then began what Villines called three or four years of "badgering" by the Park Service for him to sell the property. Time and again the Harrison NPS office would call Howard Villines to say that they had raised their purchase offer. After twice driving his grandmother on the tortuous road from her farmhouse all the way to Harrison only to discover that the LAO had not changed perceptibly its previous offer, Villines began to realize that the Park Service would probably eventually resort to condemnation. Therefore he asked for what he considered was a fair price and after an 18 month wait, the NPS agreed. In the subsequent negotiations the Park Service offered Granny Henderson a life estate on the land, but forbade her from keeping her few livestock (although the NPS has denied that it told her this). Her livestock were very important to her according to Howard Villines. She wanted her cattle where she could watch them and carry water to them daily. Granny Henderson was very distressed by this latest stipulation dictated by the Park Service. The thought of leaving her home of 65 years was too much for her to think about. As she had told National Geographic, "I hope to stay just as long as the Lord and those Government folks allow. Moving out o' here would mean givin' up all I've got, all I've ever had." Sadly, Granny Henderson decided that if she could not have her treasured livestock she would just as soon move.

After the sale was consummated, Howard began to build a new house for his grandmother near his own. It was wintertime, however, and he asked the Park Service if they would allow his grandmother to remain on her land longer than the three months stipulated in the sale contract. The agency agreed, but only if Eva Barnes Henderson paid rent on the land she had lived so long upon. After Howard told his grandmother this latest development, "she just sat by the stove and wrung her hands. Time after time, I went down there and she would be doing that."

When the day of the move came, late February of 1979, Howard Villines recalled, "We wanted her to come out to the new house with the first load, but she said, 'Just let me stay till the last load,' so that's what we did. She sat on a stool by the stove and cried the whole day." Granny Henderson spent only two days in the new house. She was then hospitalized for tests for cancer. She had borne "a small red pimple" on her forehead for 40 years, but at this stage of her life it had begun to grow into a malignant tumor. After Granny Henderson left the hospital she stayed at her grandson's home that night. The following morning revealed a heavy night's snowfall and Granny Henderson said, "Oh goody, its-a snowing. Now we won't have to go to that house." Granny Henderson always referred to her new house as "that house." Howard Villines then asked his grandmother to stay in his home. Five months later, Granny Henderson died, never having returned to "that house" forced upon her by the Park Service.

The doctors who diagnosed her cancer said that a "trauma" had sparked the new growth. Howard Villines said, "We feel it was definitely the trauma and stress of the three years of dealing with the Park Service over property she would not willingly have sold at any price and the dread of leaving what had been her home for 67 years."