The Filson Historical Society Blog

With March well underway, one of my favorite holidays comes to mind–St. Patrick’s Day. As far as I know I’m not Irish, but I’m fairly sure that is of no consequence with regard to the celebration of the rich traditions of the Irish community in Louisville, KY. The celebration of St. Patrick’s Day guarantees fun to be had by all, and this year will be no exception.  For the past few years I have been able to experience the festivities of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade held in the highlands. This parade, (as well as the Limerick Neighborhood in Louisville) has a rich history which I was able to explore through an article in “Welcome to Greater Louisville Magazine” printed in March of 1974. I found this while searching through the Filson Library’s collection of historical files in the Limerick Louisville Neighborhoods file. The article, entitled “A Great Day for the Irish-St. Patrick’s Day Parade-March 16” was written by Eddie Hogsdon, and outlines a fairly detailed history of the old Irish Community of Louisville. In March of 1974 the mayor of Louisville, Harvey I. Sloane and his wife Kathy lived in the Limerick neighborhood. According to Hogsdon, Kathy represented the 4^th generation of an Irish family from County Mayo, Ireland and Mayor Sloane came from a Scottish family from County Tyrone, Ireland. The St. Patrick’s Day Parade had been dormant for about 60 years before it made its return in 1974 running from 5^th and St. Catherine Streets to Main Street. It stands to be reasoned that Mayor Sloane’s and his wife’s Irish heritage played a significant role in the revival of the parade and the subsequent celebrations.

The St. Patrick’s Day Parades were began by the Irish community in Louisville shortly following the Civil War and continued until the early 1920s. These early parades featured marchers who assembled in front of St. Louis Bertrand Catholic Church on Sixth Street and marched to Broadway and back. Immediately following these parades Hogsdon notes that the attendees partook in “a glorified beer garden” across town at Phoenix Hill Park. Hogsdon’s article does not mention the reason for the parade’s 60 year absence, however; one could surmise that the Great Depression of the 1930s played a role at least in its initial demise.

The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade continues to be a highly celebrated event in Louisville, although; it now proceeds from Broadway and Baxter Ave. down to Baxter and Bardstown Road. The Ancient Order of the Hibernians plan to put on another lively St. Patrick’s Day Parade this year on Saturday, March 10^th. More information about this year’s parade can be found online at http://www.louisvilleirish.com/shamrocks-shillelaghs.  Finally, the aforementioned article by Hogsdon can be found in the historical files within the Filson Historical Society Library.

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.

This past week, as the weather took a turn for the warmer, it reminded me that spring will be upon us in a few short months.  With the entrance of spring comes a re-emergence of a different kind, the start of the baseball season with spring training.  Louisville may not be a spring training site, but in the history of Louisville baseball is intertwined.  Most people know that Louisville is home to Louisville Slugger, which has been making baseball bats for players for over 120 years.  But did you know there has been professional baseball played in Louisville since the 1870s?  First, the Louisville Grays played in the old National League from 1876 to 1878. Then the Louisville Eclipse, later known as the Louisville Colonels played in the American Association from 1882-1891 when the league disbanded and then in the National League until the team disbanded in 1899.  Four Hall of Famers played for that Eclipse/Colonels team including the great Honus Wagner, who in August 1899 while with the Colonels became the first player to steal second, third, and home in succession.  When the National League contracted from twelve teams to eight at the end of the 1899 season, Louisville was left without a professional team.

In 1901, the American Association was created as a minor league baseball league at the Triple-A classification.  Louisville was granted a team within this league with a familiar nickname, the Louisville Colonels.  The Colonels would play in the American Association for 61 years until the American Association disbanded in 1962.  Famous alums to come through Louisville on their way to the major leagues included Billy Herman, Earle Combs, Phil Niekro and Louisville’s own Pee Wee Reese.  In 1949 Louisville had two professional baseball teams as the Cleveland Buckeyes of the Negro League moved to Louisville in hopes of changing their fortunes with a new city.  Unfortunately, the team was not able to get the number of fans that were needed to sustain the team, so the team was disbanded in 1950.

In 1968 professional baseball made a return to Louisville as the Louisville Colonels of the International League came to the city.  This would be short lived however, as the team was forced to move in 1972 when the stadium they were using, Cardinal Stadium, was converted into a football stadium that was not conducive to baseball.  Notable players to come through Louisville during that time include Carlton Fisk, Luis Tiant, and Cecil Cooper.  Finally in 1982 the team that is now known as the Louisville Bats moved to Louisville.  Although the team has gone by different names due to its many affiliations with major league teams, the team has not changed.  Today, the people can go out to the ballpark in Louisville and see many of the players that will be playing in the majors in a short time.  Professional baseball has come back to Louisville, and hopefully this is where it will stay.  So the next time the weather is a bit warmer, grab a glove and ball and go outside for a little game of catch to get ready for another season of the sport that runs through the history of Louisville.

Jonathan Clark, of the famous Clark family, passed away on November 25, 1811 – 200 years ago this month. Born in August 1750 in Albemarle County, Virginia, Clark was the oldest of the ten children of John and Ann Rogers Clark. Two of his younger brothers – George Rogers and William – achieved great fame; George for his exploits in Kentucky and the Northwest Territory during the Revolutionary War and William as co-leader of the epic 1803 to 1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition across the American West to the Pacific Ocean.

Jonathan was a source of solid support and advice to both George and William as to his other siblings. He also achieved success and was widely admired in his own right. Jonathan served as a representative to two Virginia Revolutionary conventions and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Eighth Virginia Regiment in the Continental Line during the American Revolution. He served with distinction in a number of campaigns and battles. He was one of the original Virginia members of the Society of the Cincinnati and in 1793 was commissioned a major general in the Virginia militia. Thus he, like George and William, also achieved the rank of general (all in militia service).

Jonathan moved with his family from Spotsylvania County, Va., to Jefferson County, Ky., in the summer of 1802, settling on a plantation on the South Fork of Beargrass Creek near his brother William’s Mulberry Hill plantation (and where the Clarks had settled in 1785). His house was located off of Dundee Road near Atherton High School and still stands (though greatly altered over the years).

Jonathan moved at a fortuitous time, as great things were happening in the west beyond the Appalachians. Brother William set off on his “western tour” to the Pacific in the fall of 1803. Jonathan and other Clarks were there to see him depart. Big brother even sailed downriver a ways with the captains and the nucleus of the Corps of Discovery.

William wrote letters to him during the expedition and sent reports, notes, and artifacts collected along the trail to him for safe-keeping and dispersal to family and friends.  When the captains returned to the Falls of the Ohio in early November 1806,  Jonathan noted it in his diary; as he did a celebration at sister Lucy Croghan’s home Locust Grove in honor of their return. As short as these diary entries are, at least they record these momentous events in the life of the family, our region, and the country.

Not long before his death, Jonathan recorded yet another event that proved to have great regional and national  importance. He took a ride on the first steamboat to travel on western waters. The New Orleans  left Pittsburgh in October 1811 and eventually reached New Orleans in January 1812.  While waiting at Louisville for the Ohio to rise sufficiently to pass through the Falls, Nicholas Roosevelt (the boat’s designer and one of its owners) gave rides upstream to demonstrate the paddlewheeler’s ability to travel against the current.  On November 9, Jonathan was one of the passengers to take a ride and see for himself what this feat of engineering foretold for river travel and the development of the country.  It is one of the few references by someone about, much less who rode on, the boat. One wishes he had described the boat and his excursion, but at least we have this: “Sailed in the Steam Vessle New Orleans - as far as the Diamond Island.” (Although uncertain, best evidence indicates that Diamond Island is present Twelve Mile Island.)

Sixteen days later Jonathan Clark passed away. Thanks to his diary-keeping, as brief as his entries are, Jonathan recorded the momentous as well as the mundane over the course of more than forty years, and provided an important record of American history.