Browse Items (55 total)
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Wool comb, circa 1800
In addition to flax, wool was an important fiber during the colonial and frontier era. Wool combs arranged the fibers, separating the undercoat from outercoat and teasing the wool before carding by disentangling, cleaning and intermixing fibers. Sheep were among the early domesticated animals brought to Kentucky. Home production of wool increased during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 due to trade embargos. Free and enslaved women prepared and spun the wool into a usable yarn. They used the yarn for knitting, or it was taken to a professional weaver (free or enslaved person) who turned it into cloth. Wool was often woven with cotton or hemp in early Kentucky textiles. Approximately 4/12 lbs. of spun wool were needed to make a single blanket. Wool cloth was also sewn into clothing by women. -
Weaving reed, circa 1800
Weaving reeds are a part of weaving looms that are used to separate and space the warp threads, which guides the shuttle’s movement across the loom and pushes weft threads into place. Reeds were interchangeable and different reeds were used to make different types of fabric. Despite many family narratives that claim female ancestors wove the textiles, generally weaving was a profession for men. However, there were exceptions, and in the Kentucky frontier there is evidence that enslaved men and women were also skilled weavers. More likely, the fiber was cultivated and harvested on the family farm. It was then prepared and spun into yarn by women who then turned it over to trained weavers who made it into cloth, which might be finished at home or sewn into clothing. In the early 20th century, during a revival of frontier craft, weaving became a skilled craft dominated by women. -
Travels through the states of North America, and the provinces of upper and lower Canada, during the years 1795, 1796, and 1797.
Includes view of the natural Rock Bridge, houses, conditions of the enslaved peoples,the land, cultivating tobacco, lower classes of people in Virginia, unhealthy apperances, the Shenandoa Valley, German immigratnts, landscapes, military titles that are common in America, Irish immigrants, etc.Tags African American; agriculture; canada; climate; clothing; clover; enslaved persons; enslavement; European Immigrants; farming; fashion; german immigrants; immigration; irish immigrants; military titles; natural history; natural rock bridge; nature; public health; social class; tobacco; travel; travelogue; wheat; Women -
Travels in North-America, in the years 1780-81-82
Translated from the French by an English gentleman, who resided in America at the period, with notes by the translator. Also, a biographical sketch of the author, letters from Gen. Washington to the Marquis de Chastellux, and notes and corrections by the American editor. -
The plan of Bards Town as laid off by William Bard in 1782
An early plan of Bardstown, Kentucky, showing 130 lots situated on Grave, Market, Arch, and Main streets (north-south) and 1st-5th streets (east-west). -
The American Geography, 1794
Title page of A view of the present situation of the United States of America, containing astronomical geography, geographical definitions, discovery, and general description. Included is a particular description of Kentucky, the Western territory, map of the northern and middle states, comprehending the Western territory and the British dominions in North America. The publication includes three maps of Kentucky by John Filson.
For the complete title, see the New York Public Library Digital Collections at https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/5b015bc0-c5d4-012f-4f5e-58d385a7bc34Tags astronomy; British; Geography; map; north america; pamphlets; Spanish; travelogue; western territory -
Textile shuttle, circa 1800
Shuttles were textile tools designed to carry and move yarn back and forth through the warp which in turn creates cloth. -
Teakettle, circa 1800
This teakettle was brought to Bourbon County, Kentucky, by the Liter family before 1800. Tea isn't immediately thought of as an 'American' staple, but historically it was. Tea in the early 19th century was more popular than beer and teakettles were essential items for households. -
Surveys on Elkhorn, 1774, 1972
Reproduction of survey of Elkhorn Creek in modern day Fayette County, Kentucky. -
Sugar Chest
Sugar was an expensive and coveted luxury item in frontier households. The chest protected sugar from theft or flies, and was also a status symbol indicating a household's socio-economic status. This sugar chest belonged to Elizabeth Tyler Sturgeon (1791-1833). The Tylers were early colonists in Jefferson County who had a cluster of family farms near Floyd's Fork. -
State of Kentucky: Richard Henderson & Co., land grant, 1796
Land-grant survey which was made at the request of Robert Burton, Esq., agent for Richard Henderson & Co., on 20 April 1796, after a grant of 200,000 acres was made to the company by the Virginia Assembly. -
Spinning wheel belonging to the Slaughter Family, circa 1800
This spinning wheel is said to have belonged to Caldweller Slaughter who came to Kentucky as early as 1787. It could also have come from the family of one of his wives. His first wife, Margaret Ransdell Slaughter, died in 1786. Some sources indicate he may have remarried Mary Fowke who died a few years later (unverified). He then married Lucy Slaughter in 1790. Slaughter owned 200 acres in the area today known as Cherokee Triangle in Louisville. Spinning wheels were crucial to early pioneer families. Generally, weaving was a professional occupation for men, and in Kentucky was also done by enslaved men and women. Spinning on the other hand, was a woman’s task and was done in between gardening, milking, preserving crops, cooking food, making/mending clothes, doing laundry, and rearing children. Fiber was painstakingly cultivated, processed, and spun on the family farm and then taken to a community weaver to be made into cloth, which might be finished at home or sewn into clothing. Approximately 3 lbs. of spun flax or 4/12 lbs. of spun wool was needed to make a single sheet or blanket. Spinning wheels, for some American women, were more than just tools and were also political statements. Prior to the American Revolution, and then during the embargos of the War of 1812 some colonial women (particularly in New England) hosted and participated in 'Spinning Bees' to create yarn and thread to boycott English-made goods. -
Receipt to William Ingram/Ingles, 14 October 1774
Receipt issued to William Ingram or Ingles signed by Josiah Ramsey verifying that he drove cattle for the expedition against the Shawnee. -
Plan of the town of Louisville, 1779 April 20
This original plan of the city of Louisville was found in George Rogers Clark's surveyors book in 1881 and traced by R.C. Ballard Thruston in 1910. -
Plan of Lystra in Nelson County, Kentucky, 1795
Plan proposal of the town Lystra in Nelson County, Kentucky. The town was never built. Printed in "Winterbotham's Historical Views of the U.S.A." -
MIlitary survey around Louisville
Plot of original military survey around Louisville. -
Memoir, correspondence, and miscellanies, from the papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 1.
Includes two letters which Jefferson wrote to John Randolph in 1775 at the commencement of the Revolution, and a letter written by George Rogers Clark to the governor of Virginia in 1779, describing the warfare along the frontier. -
Map of the United States in North America with the British, French, and Spanish dominions adjoining, according to the Treaty of 1783
From New South Wales and St. James Bay in the North to the Carolinas and northern Florida in the South and west to the Mississippi River.
Map shows towns, rivers, creeks, and frontier forts. -
Map of the state of Kentucky: with the adjoining territories, 1795
Map showing the Old Northwest and Southwest territories along with their rivers, towns, creeks, mills, courthouses, traces, forts, and salt licks. Includes tracts held by the Ohio, New Jersey, and Wabash Companies, the Virginia donation lands and land set aside in Tennessee for the "North Carolina troops." -
Map of the State of Kentucky, from actual survey, facsimile, 1795
Shows cities, towns, forts and stations, rivers, roads, etc. Includes notations on the fertility of the land and the quality of the salt licks.
The Filson has another original of this map which was removed from the 3rd London edition of Imlay's Topographical description of the western territory of North America, 1797.