Browse Items (67 total)
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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. -
Silver Ladle
Coin silver ladle made by Asa Blanchard, who was one of many skilled artisans who migrated from the eastern states to the Kentucky frontier. Blanchard worked under other silversmiths in Philadelphia and New York, which were highly competitive environments for artisans. The Ohio River Valley offered a new market and opportunity for career advancement. Within a single generation, Kentucky transitioned from a frontier community into a society that supported painters, furniture makers, silversmiths, and other artisans. As middle- and upper-class families obtained financial stability, they purchased luxury goods symbolic of their status. -
Iron Link
Small circular iron ring that was most likely part of a bigger link of chain. This link was found in a Kentucky basement said to hold enslaved people. It is an example of the type of restraints used on those in bondage and a stark reminder of the inhumane conditions enslavers forced upon those they enslaved. By 1800, there were more than 40,000 enslaved men and women living on the Kentucky frontier. -
Mourning Bracelet
Mourning bracelet made of twisted gold wire, copper pearl, and the hair of Priscilla Christian Bullitt. Inscribed with the initials of Bullitt (P.C.B.), who was the daughter of William Christian and Annie Henry Christian, major landowners, enslavers, and operators of salt works in Kentucky. In 1785, Priscilla married Alexander Scott Bullitt at the age of fifteen. Her father William gave the couple 1,000 acres of land as a wedding present. Part of this land was sold and additional land purchased, which became Oxmoor Plantation. She gave birth to four children between 1786 and 1793, and the family lived in a four-room wooden house. -
Mourning Bracelet
Mourning bracelet made of twisted gold wire, copper pearl, and the hair of Alexander Scott Bullitt. Inscribed with Bullitt's initials (A.S.B). Alexander Scott Bullitt was born in Virginia in 1761. He migrated to Kentucky around 1783, first living in Shelby County. He married Priscilla Christian Bullitt in 1785, the daughter of William and Annie Henry Christian, major landowners, enslavers, and operators of salt works in Kentucky. Her father William gave the couple 1,000 acres of land as a wedding present. Part of this land was sold and additional land purchased, which became Oxmoor Plantation. The first dwelling was built on the land in 1791. The 1810 census shows that Bullitt enslaved eighty-three individuals, and that his household consisted of seven free white persons. -
Portrait of "Fanny" Frances Latham Slaughter
"Fanny" Frances Latham Slaughter was a wife and a mother who had strong ties with her family as seen through letters sent to her daughter and other relatives. "Time passes away tedious and heavy" writes Frances Latham Slaughter to her daughter (who left home) on 12 October 1816. Women who were separated from family and friends often experienced loneliness on the frontier. -
Jet Cross Necklace
Mourning necklace belonging to Ann Booth Gwathmey. Women experienced death and loss regularly on the frontier. They often expressed their grief by wearing mourning jewelry. Ann Gwathmey experienced death many times throughout her life. She married Jonathan Clark Gwathmey in 1800 when she was eighteen years old, and he was twenty-six. She was nineteen years old when she gave birth to their first daughter, who died less than six weeks later. During the next twenty-five years, Ann lost both of her parents, two more pre-school aged children, and her husband. In her senior years, two of her adult children preceded her in death. -
Portrait of Benjamin Bayless
Benjamin Bayless was born in Hartford County, Maryland, and migrated to Mason County, Kentucky, sometime withing the first decade of Kentucky's statehood. He married Elizabeth Wood in 1798. During the War of 1812, he sustained a lifelong injury. In 1815, he was appointed Sheriff of Mason County. The U. S. Census shows that he enslaved thirteen persons in 1820 and ten persons in 1830. -
Portrait of Elizabeth Wood Bayless
Elizabeth Wood Bayless was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania. She migrated to Mason County, Kentucky, with her family sometime within the first decade of Kentucky's statehood. Her father, George Wood, was a Revolutionary War Veteran who was one of the first Baptist preachers to settle in the region. Elizabeth married Benjamin Bayless in 1798 in Mason County, Kentucky. -
Clay Water Jar
Cherokee artist Mary Thompson crafted this red, Lizella clay water jar using traditional coiling techniques and a hand-carved paddle stamp process. The Filson Historical Society purchased this jar from Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, an artist co-op whose members are enrolled citizens of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. This piece illustrates the cultural resilience of the Cherokee people despite their forced displacement once pioneers began to settle on their lands. Though the Eastern Band of Cherokee now reside in North Carolina, Thompson occasionally travels back to her ancestral homelands in Kentucky to gather natural materials for her artwork. This piece took 1st place in the 2018 Cherokee Indian Fair held annually by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. -
Fort Nelson Building
Fort Nelson Building, Louisville, Ky. (Jefferson County, Ky.) Main Street at 8th.
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Fort Nelson Building
Fort Nelson Building (detail of sheet metal top), 801 W. Main St., Louisville, Ky. -
B. F. Avery & Sons: The Genuine Avery Plow
Annual catalog no. 86, 1911-1912; Plows and cultivating implements, B. F. Avery & Sons, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A., established 1825. -
Photograph of Paul and Johanna Gunter, ca. 1890
Studio photograph of Paul Gunter having tea with his wife Johanna. Likely taken shortly after they were married in 1888. The photo was taken in Hannover, Germany, likely at Herman Gunter, Jr.'s studio. -
Herman Gunter and family, ca. 1860s
A composite work of photography and painting likely done by Herman Gunter. The image shows Karoline Günter at her writing desk with a photo of Herman on the table. Their five children at the time and a dog are nearby and at her feet. They are all looking up to see Herman Gunter walk through the door. -
Ohio River Channel Completion Celebration Dinner
Dinner Celebrating the Completion of a Nine-Foot Channel in the Ohio River
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Maxwell House Christmas Day Menu, 1879
A Christmas day menu from the Maxwell House located in Nashville, Tennessee on December 25th, 1879. -
Simmons Restaurant Opening Day Invitation and Menu, 1974
Menu and invitation to opening day of the Simmons Restaurant on New Year's Day 1974. Invitation is attached to the inside of the menu and is address to Mr. and Mrs. Broecker.
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Phoenix Hotel Thanksgiving Dinner Menu, November 25th, 1884
A Thanksgiving menu for the Phoenix Hotel on November 25th, 1884 located in Lexington, KY. -
Pendennis Club Thanksgiving Dinner Menu, November 27th, 1969
A Pendennis Club Thanksgiving dinner menu for November 27th, 1969.