History of the Kikendall Cabin

When I saw you today, I wondered how you could of shrunk so small. Was all that happy living we had confined to these four walls? You had no great beauty, but there was a warm charm that won many hearts. It never was assumed you would last so long when you were built. Now, as you approach your 100 year birthday, we look with loving memories on your past. You sheltered a homesick family, far from their family ties. But found so much to do, to make a new home they trusted in security to you. By your being there, a road to town was made necessary and neighbors could go by and come in.

- Anna (Machmeier) Maddox

The Kikendall Cabin was built by Charles McNare Kikendall, a Civil War veteran who arrived in Puget Sound in the 1870s. Born in Warren County, Pennsylvania in January 1837, Charles’ family later moved to Michigan, where he enlisted in the U.S. Army, four months after the onset of the Civil War. He stood 5’8”, with gray eyes and brown hair, and served in the 6th Infantry, a regiment of heavy artillery stationed along the Mississippi River. He was discharged for disability (chronic diarrhea) on March 2, 1864, in Louisiana. (Like thousands of other soldiers exposed to unsanitary conditions, Charles’ bout with intestinal infection would follow him the rest of his life, eventually dying from it.)

In 1867, Charles married Zilpha Anna Willis of Eaton Rapids, Michigan, and the couple had three children: Harriet, Hannah, and William. After securing a free homestead near Iola, Kansas in the early 1870s, the young family endured three years of drought before deciding to seek a milder climate out west. They traveled by rail to San Francisco, then boarded a steamship headed for Seattle. Tragically, during the journey, their 3-year-old daughter, Hannah, was found in the ship’s coal bunker, where she had succumbed to the toxic fumes.

Soon after landing, Charles purchased 120 acres of timbered land along the Pilchuck River for $150 (about $4,000 today). In the fall of 1875, he began building a cabin from “the finest and straightest logs available.” The family welcomed another daughter, Lillian (Lillie), just three months after beginning the cabin. It would take another three years to finish it. Located about a mile and a half north of the small settlement of Snohomish, Charles had to row his canoe down—and back up—the rivers to get supplies. Later, Charles would blaze a trail through the forest and the path would grow into a dirt road, finally paved in 1922 and christened Route 4, or the Snohomish-Machias Road.

The cabin’s overhanging porches protected the structure in the region’s wet weather. The main floor measured 20 feet wide and 16 feet deep, with a kitchen added off the back around 1895. The second floor served as sleeping quarters. It was furnished with three beds, two rocking chairs, 10 dining chairs, one sofa, two clocks, one bureau, one sewing machine, and one organ. The family had brought the organ with them by rail from Kansas. When the cabin was eventually wired for electricity, the light bulb was placed directly over the prized instrument: not only for light, but to help keep the organ warm and dry in the winter. Sadly, the organ has since disappeared.

Charles cleared 11 acres of land for crops and fruit trees before his death in 1886. He was buried in the Snohomish Pioneer Cemetery, but moved to the Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery when it opened three years later. Zilpha passed away in 1890. Daughter Harriet married Frederick Livingston, a farmer, and moved to Idaho. Son William attended the Snohomish School District’s first high school program beginning in 1893 and went on to serve as a mail carrier in Snohomish for many years.

Daughter Lillie married William Maddox in 1894 and moved into the family cabin. She bore three daughters at home: Stella (Huffman), Harriett (Solvang), and Anna (Machmeier). The Maddoxes added two stone fireplaces made from river rock gathered along the Pilchuck. In April 1921, William Maddox passed away suddenly while undergoing an appendicitis operation at the Snohomish General Hospital. Lillie and her daughters continued to maintain the farmstead as best they could.

In 1923, the family sold the property to Arthur Fralick. After changing hands a few times, the cabin was in dire need of an upgrade. New owner Albert Day decided to donate the structure in 1966 to the Pioneer Girls & Boys Association of Snohomish. The cabin was moved to what was then the Snohomish Memorial Cemetery and was soon joined by a collection of historic buildings near Second Street and Pine Avenue. Volunteers from the 3rd Armored Cavalry of Fort Lewis spent several days helping the Girls & Boys Association in putting up wallboard, laying flooring, installing windows, and crafting shutters. In 1987, the Association transferred ownership of the buildings to the Snohomish Historical Society.

Though the Snohomish Historical Society cared for the cabin for many years, neglect eventually set in. Neighboring historic buildings were relocated to Society member Chris Gee’s property, but the Kikendall Cabin remained. The land it sits on is owned by the city, but an early 2000s court case ruling requires the city to remove all structures from the property, as the land below is certified as a cemetery. It is illegal for structures to be on top. Complicating matters is that the burial ground also holds Native American remains, giving the Tulalip tribes preeminent rights over any future changes. No disturbance of the soil is allowed without Tulalip approval.

In 2009, local businesses and volunteers installed new windows and wood supports to help preserve the cabin. Although efforts were made by Guy Betten, Chris Gee, and Kikendall descendants to establish a Kikendall Cabin Historical Society and relocate the structure, those plans never came to fruition. In recent years, it has been further damaged and trespassed upon.

A new future for the old building is imminent.

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