Elk Garden / Burnam House, Kentucky Route 595, Kirksville, Kentucky
From Placeography
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| City/locality- State/province | Richmond, Kentucky |
| County- State/province: | Madison County, Kentucky |
| State/province: | Kentucky |
| Country: | United States |
Located between Kirksville and Paint Lick, this house was first the home of
A fine example of early nineteenth-century architecture, the brick house features a one-story pedimented wooden portico supported by aired, reeded Doric columns. A transom and sidelights on the five-bay facade flank the central doorway with a similar effect in the second-story central triple window. Interior end chimneys project above the gable roof. An original two-story brick ell at the rear contains an enclosed gallery.
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History
Thompson Burnam, Sr., a prominent Richmond merchant and son of Jon Burnam who had immigrated to Kentucky from Maryland in 1790. Thompson Burnam, Sr., was active in Madison County public affairs and served as a state representative from 1844-1849. An advocate of emancipation despite being a large slave owner, Burnam was a candidate for the state constitutional convention in 1849 with Cassius M. Clay as his campaign manager. He lost the election to Squire Turner who was pro-slavery. When Burnam died in 1854, he still owned twenty slaves worth about $800 each.
