The Filson Historical Society Blog

The Filson is pleased to announce that after years of preservation and cataloging efforts, the D. X. Murphy & Bro., Architects Records (1854 – 1949) are complete and open to researchers.

This massive collection of historical architectural drawings and business records documents 95 years of Louisville’s rich architectural history, mainly through the business records and drawings generated by two of the city’s most renowned architects: Henry Whitestone (1819–1893) and D. X. Murphy (1853–1933).  (Whitestone was famous for his work on the original Galt House and the L & N headquarters (located at the corner of Main & Seconds Streets which now anchors Whiskey Row) while Murphy’s firm was responsible for the iconic grandstand and twin spires at Churchill Downs and today is still extant as Luckett & Farley, Inc.).

Many of the grand buildings which once graced downtown, Broadway, and residential areas are documented in this collection, providing an invaluable glimpse of Louisville’s former architectural landscape. Additionally, a variety of late-19^th and early-20^th century Louisville building contractors and businesses are represented in the collection which provides valuable information on regional businesses, industry and technology, as well as substantive insights into architectural and decorative arts.

While most of the drawings in the collection are in excellent condition, a number of them have become severely brittle with time as well as exposure to fluctuating environment conditions, which hastened the breakdown of the papers’ composition.  Until rescued in the 1970s by local preservationists and historians Mary Jean Kinsman and Penny Jones, the collection resided for years in the turret of the old Louisville Trust building where it was exposed to the elements and an overly cozy population of pigeons.  The fragile nature of the collection as well as the dense amount of historical information it contains, made processing and stabilizing the historical drawings a slow process.

This work could not have been completed without the assistance of two dedicated, patient interns, Lori Wilson and Lena Gimbel, both of whom worked at the Filson while completing their Master’s in History at the University of Louisville.  Lori Wilson surveyed, arranged, re-housed and described project files, correspondence, business records, and account books associated with the D.X. Murphy & Bro. architectural firm and its predecessor Henry Whitestone.  Lena Gimbel indexed, preserved, and described architectural drawings representing nine decades of the area’s residences, churches, and medical, industrial, commercial, and federal buildings.

The two plus years it’s taken to process the D. X. Murphy & Bro., Architects collection have been an exciting and rewarding experience in building community and connections between historians, archivists, students, and architects all the while exposing a rich historical treasure for researchers.

The staff of the Special Collections department reveals some of their

sentimental favorites from The Filson’s collection in honor of Valentine’s Day.

 

~Ellen Bodley and $50 of Love~

While searching for Valentine’s Day related material in the Filson’s Special Collections, this particular item caught my fancy due to its humorous and somewhat sarcastic tone. In a letter to her brother William Bodley dated 5 March 1855, Ellen Bodley described a surprise Valentine she received while out of town.

“I must tell you about my valentines…sister Maria opened it and thought it was a $50 bank note brother Harry had sent me, but on examining it more closely, it was the State of Matrimony, the Bank of Love, fifty years of devotion (I would prefer the money) of a true and faithful heart on acceptance.”

Despite her lack of sentimentality in this letter, love had not given up on Ellen (who at over 30 years of age was probably considered a spinster): according to the records, Ellen married George H. Gill in St. Louis on 13 April 1857.

~Jennie Cole, Associate Curator of Special Collections

 

~Valentine Cards from the Bullitt Collection~

Although Valentines have been around since the Middle Ages, when lovers more than likely sang or said their valentines, manufactured cards did not come on the scene until the late 19^thcentury.  Since then the practice of sending Valentines has taken off.  Americans do like to express their love for one another.  So much so that Valentine’s Day is now second only to Christmas as the Holiday when most cards are sent. These two Valentines are from the Bullitt family papers and were sent to a young Tommy Bullitt in 1929. 

~Shirley Harmon, Associate Curator of Special Collections

 

~John “Romeo” Thompson~

Letter writers of the 18^th and early 19^th centuries didn’t typically write passionate love letters – at least many that survive. Their letters tended to be rather formal and circumspect in any proclamations of love. An exception to this is John Thompson. Born in Virginia in 1764 he married Elizabeth “Betsy” Housion (ca. 1768) on February 15, 1784, just missing a day that suited him so well. In their courtship, and whenever separated from her, he faithfully writes of his love and affection for her. A surviving letter written during their courtship serves as a wonderful example:

My Dear Miss Betsy,

Were you acquainted with the Tumult of my soul, the agonizing Torments your Absence occasions me to suffer, you’d pity my distress, and render me some relief, since from you alone it is in my Power to obtain it. . . . What hope of Happiness have I now left, what flattering reflections to sooth [sic] my troubled Breast, but your Constancy, Generosity and Fidelity.  Remember the Vows you have given me, my Love, my Sufferings, the great Probability of an eternal Seperation [sic] without your Exertions?  Consider your own Happiness, the Ease with which you may obtain it; &you must, “it is impossible you can avoid it” you must consent and be mine forever, throw off every appearance of reserve, tell me the Secrets of your Soul, drive away each Thought of doubt and make me blest in blessing you.  I declare to you “my dear Miss Betsy” I call Heavens to witness, I never deceiv’d you, that I have told you every Circumstance concerning me, & I swear to you again that what you have heard is base, false & malicious.  If it’s in my Power to make you happy, if I am the Person you would chose to marry, you may entrust yourself with Safety to my Care, & nothing in my Power shall be ever wanting to make you forever & compleatly [sic] blest. . . . Reflect, “Oh lovely Maid,” reflect on what I feel, bless me once more with your deluding Smiles & if I am to die then will I die content.  I am My Dr Miss Betsy Your unhappy Lover John Thompson April 29, 1783″

“Die” John Thompson did. After moving to Kentucky in the mid-1790s and settling just outside Louisville on a farm along present Brownsboro Road in Crescent Hill, John left his family in August of 1805 to serve as a territorial official in Louisiana. He never saw his beloved Betsy again. His letters are full of his protestations of love and longing but she refused to move to Louisiana and he never returned home, not even for a visit. In January 1810 Thompson suffered a mental breakdown and killed himself. Despair over believing he’d lost the love of his life – like the ill-fated Romeo and Juliet – was certainly a contributing factor.

~James J. Holmberg, Curator of Special Collections

~A Undying Affection~

There is always a sense of intruding when reading someone else’s letters.  Never is this more apparent than when reading their love letters.  But please, don’t call me a snoop, I’m an archivist!  It’s my job to catalog and preserve the lives of others.   Most correspondence is fascinating and it is truly difficult to not get sucked into the lives of others, nevertheless select letters are more arresting than others. I encountered one such letter recently while helping a researcher and was immediately moved by its tenderness.

The letter was written by a young Simon Bolivar Buckner to his sweetheart (and later wife) Mary Jean Kingsbury.  The romantic sentiment and respect expressed in his short letter is almost tangible. At the time, Buckner was 24 years old and a soldier in the Mexican-American War (Buckner went on to have a career as a business man, Civil War General, and Governor of Kentucky).  On 15 August 1847, he dashed off a short note  from Chalco, Mexico to his beloved Mary Jean while facing an impending battle.  I imagine him quickly penning these words, with growing anxiety, as he approached battle, then slipping the letter into his pocket.  Should he fall in battle, the note, with his last message, would be retrieved from his person and delivered to Mary Jean.

My “best friend,”  We move in a few hours to attack the enemy’s works.  If I fall, believe that I remained until death, with fondest affection, Your “best friend,” S. Bolivar Buckner

166 years later as I hold his letter to Mary Jean, I feel downright swoony.  What a rush of emotions he must have felt writing this message to his Love, contemplating his mortality!  How her heart must have swelled to receive this and to know that her ‘best friend’ and Love was thinking of her at such a vulnerable moment!

Buckner and Kingsbury were married in 1850 at her aunt’s home in Old Lyme, CT and in 1858 had a daughter, Lily.  The Filson’s ‘Simon Bolivar Buckner miscellaneous papers’ contain many compelling letters that document their deep friendship and romantic courtship.

~Sarah-Jane Poindexter, Associate Curator of Special Collections

 

~Major General Elliott Warren Rice and Marion Harlan Lincoln~

Marion Eunice Harlan Lincoln - The Elliott Warren Rice Collection

While recently cataloging a small collection of photographs belonging to Civil War Major General Elliott Warren Rice, I encountered a faded carte de visite of a woman.  Although in relatively good condition, the CDV was creased and exhibited two or three very tiny holes.  The photograph had without a doubt suffered some wear over the last 150+ years, but had none the less been lovingly preserved.  Examining the back of the photo for identifying text, I read “Marion Harlan Lincoln, carried through the war by General E. W. Rice.”  As I continued to look at the photo, I was incredibly moved by the idea of General Rice carrying Marion Harlan’s image all throughout the dark days of the war.  The years seemed to fall away as I imagined Marion giving her likeness to Eliott, and what that might have meant to him….what comfort it may have given him in the difficult times ahead.

I have found nothing to indicate the nature of the relationship between Marion and Elliott, other than a note on the back of a CDV of Rose Mitchell in the same collection.   Mitchell was a “…cousin of Mrs. R. Lincoln,”  and the note further states, “… Mrs.Robt. Lincoln and Miss Rose Mitchell were friends of General E. W. Rice.”  However, we do know that in 1868, Marion Harlan married Robert Todd Lincoln, oldest son of President Abraham Lincoln.  Brevetted Major General for war service on March 13, 1865, Rice  mustered out of Federal service on August 24th, having been wounded 7 times in 4 years.  After the war he practiced law in Washington D.C., until retiring in poor health to his sister’s home in Sioux City, Iowa in 1885, where he died.

~Robin Wallace, Associate Curator of Special Collections

The television series “Downton Abbey” and the film “War Horse” are vividly bringing the horrors and heroics of World War I to life this year.  Louisville was, of course, very actively involved in the Great War with the construction of the army training facility Camp Zachary Taylor in 1917, and over 10,000 local soldiers serving in the war.

The National Guard History eMuseum tells us that a total of 84,172 persons from Kentucky served in the United States Army. This total included 80,009 enlisted men, 3,747 commissioned officers, 241 nurses, 153 army field clerks, and 22 United States Marine Cadets. A breakdown of these figures show that there were 12,759 men in the regular Army, 7,518 National Guardsmen, 2,526 in the Reserve Corps, 2,734 volunteers, and 58,635 drafted men. Seven Kentuckians were Army Major Generals, nine were Brigadier Generals, and 23 were Colonels. Distinguished aviators were Major Victor Strohm and Lieutenant Colonel J. O. Creech. Of the overall total 41,655 saw overseas duty, while 2,418 deaths occurred among Kentucky troops, 890 of which were battle deaths.

Sentiments were divided in Louisville at the start of the war, with Courier-Journal editor Henry Watterson vehemently opposing the German and Austro-Hungarian Central Powers in his daily editorials; young men were whipped into a frenzy of volunteering at patriotic meetings.  But the local German-American community  and the German language newspaper the Louisville Anzeiger vocally supported Germany.  And much like “Branson,” the Irish chauffer on “Downton Abbey,” many Irish-American Louisvillians were more Anti-English than Pro-German, but also opposed the U. S.’s entry into the war.  The city was, however, united in May of 1917 when a German submarine torpedoed a Louisville-owned cargo ship owend by C. C. Mengel and Brothers.  Louisvillians flooded recruiting stations, German, Irish and otherwise.

Camp Taylor opened in 1917 and 150,000 men were trained there.  In addition the casualties of war visited upon the troops, 824 soldiers at the Camp died of the Spanish Flu when the disease struck in 1918.

Kentucky’s last World War I veteran, Robley Henry Rex of Louisville, passed away in 2009.

Back in the 1920s the city of Louisville was looking toward the river and a connection with Southern Indiana in order to promote economic growth. This political cartoon by Van Leshout ran in the Louisville Daily Herald back then, but could easily be adapted for today.  Substitute “2^nd Street Bridge” for “East End Bridge” and it would strike a chord with today’s readers.

Earlier this year, the Special Collections Department received J. Stoddard Johnston’s 1853 Class Book from Yale College as a transfer from The Filson’s Library.  The Class Book provides an interesting glimpse into Johnston’s life and surroundings at Yale.  Colonel Josiah Stoddard Johnston (1833-1913) served as a staff officer in the Civil War, and was the editor of the Frankfort Kentucky Yeoman. He later became active in Kentucky politics as a member of the state Democratic Party, eventually becoming Kentucky’s Secretary of State.  Johnston moved to Louisville in 1889, taking on roles such as associate editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal, president of the Filson Club, and author of several books, including The Memorial History of Louisville (1896) and The Confederate History of Kentucky (1898).

Lest the reader picture his or her high school yearbook when envisioning this historical item, a class book is typically a souvenir book of a graduating class, containing photographs, biographical and statistical information on members of the class.  At Yale in the mid-nineteenth century, these books were also known as class albums or autograph albums.

The Yale Class Book for 1853 includes lithographic images of Yale’s campus buildings, faculty and administrators, and members (as well as non-graduates) of the class of 1853, along with selected members of the classes of 1852 and 1854. Some of the faculty and the majority of Johnston’s classmates left an autograph on the page bearing their image and a handwritten note on the adjacent page.  The notes were often vague sentiments regarding college days or well-wishes for the future (although I didn’t see “don’t ever change!!!”), but occasionally notes were personal messages from true friends.

Classmate Henry R. Bradley wrote: “Dear ‘Stodd,’ I hardly know how to write an autograph for you; for I cannot reconcile myself with the idea that we, who have roomed so near each other, and have been so intimate, ay, rather brotherly, are so soon to separate, never, perhaps to meet again.”

Another classmate, Randal Lee Gibson, began his autograph with a quote from the English poet and playwright James Thomson (which is better recognized from Washington Irving’s use of it in The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent).

 

“In the service of mankind to be a guardian God below; still to employ the mind’s brave ardor in heroic aims such as may lift us o’er the groveling herd and make us shine forever – that is life.”

Dear Stod,  May the blessings of Heaven rest upon you and may you honorably fullful (sic) the chief end of man’s existence by leading to the altar in due time the fairest of Eve’s daughters. Hoping that we may meet often hereafter and that our friendship may exist always without a cloud. I beg to remain, Ever your sincere friend, Randal Lee Gibson, La.”

Johnston was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, founded at Yale in 1844 as a “more fraternal” junior class society, whose members would combine “in equal proportions the gentleman, the scholar, and the jolly good fellow”.  Many of his fellow DKE members wrote their enclosed notes to Johnston on DKE stationary. [Future DKEs included Theodore Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush.]

  Other members of Johnston’s class were pictured in their lithographs wearing pins signifying fraternal organizations or secret societies.  Stodd’s cousin, William Preston Johnston, was pictured with his pin from the mystery-shrouded Skull and Bones Society.

Johnston penciled in biographical notes on the pages for some of his classmates, and several became fairly well-known – Randall Lee Gibson, quoted above, became a Brigadier General in the Confederate States Army, and a U.S. Senator and a member of the House of Representatives from Louisiana; George Shiras became a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; George Washburn Smalley, a journalist, was a well-known war correspondent for the New York Tribune during Civil War and a foreign correspondent in later years for New York Tribune and New York Times; Andrew Dickson White became a professor at the University of Michigan, president of Cornell University, United States Minister to Germany and Russia, United States Ambassador to Germany and the president of the American Historical Association.

Johnston’s cousin, William Preston Johnston (actually a member of the Class of 1852), was Lieutenant Colonel of the First Kentucky Infantry and aide-de-camp to Confederate President Jefferson Davis; he became a professor of History and English Literature at Washington and Lee University and was eventually chosen as president of Louisiana State University and Tulane University. No offense to any of my former classmates, but to date I can’t rattle off a list quite this impressive.

You can learn more about the “Famous Class of 1853” (and compare it to your own class lists) by perusing a listing of Johnston’s classmates, attached here – and you can also learn more about Stodd’s time at Yale, including a description of his suspension and re-admittance, by visiting The Filson to inspect his college diaries, part of the J. Stoddard Johnston Papers.