Browse Items (23 total)
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Diary entry describing the death of a woman's baby, 5 December 1815
Daniel Chapman Banks was a Louisville Presbyterian minister. The diary chronicles his 1815-1816 trip from Connecticut to Louisville in which he travels through New Yok, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. This diary entry describes the death of a woman's baby. -
Jet Cross Necklace, circa 1825-1862
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. -
Letter from William Clark to Jonathan Clark, 26 November 1809
Clark writes his brother Jonathan from Fincastle, Virginia, where they are visiting Julia's family, regarding the death of Meriwether Lewis, information he has received from the commander of Fort Pickering at the Chickasaw Bluffs, Gilbert Russell, who provides details of Lewis's condition and situation while there, and what he has learned from Lewis' servant John Pernier about Lewis's mental state. -
Letter from William Clark to Jonathan Clark, 8 November 1809
Clark writes his brother Jonathan from Bean Station, Tennessee, while traveling eastward to Fincastle, Virginia, with an update on what else he has learned about Lewis's death. He also reports on the difficulty they've encountered regarding their carriage, the roads, and the weather. He is not inclined to accept the governorship of Upper Louisiana as Lewis's replacement if it is offered to him because he doesn't want a "green pompous new england" [William Eustis] as his boss.Tags death; government; Letters; Louisiana; Meriwether Lewis; Tennessee; travel; Virginia; weather; William Clark -
Letter from William Clark to Jonathan Clark, 30 October 1809
Clark writes his brother Jonathan from Lexington, Kentucky, while traveling eastward to Fincastle, Virginia, that he has learned of the certainty of the death of Lewis. He has written Judge [John] Overton in Nashville for more information and the whereabouts of Lewis's papers. Wishes he could talk to Jonathan about this.Tags death; Letters; Lexington; Meriwether Lewis; Nashville; suicide; travel; Virginia; William Clark -
Letter from William Clark to Jonathan Clark, 6-7 June 1808
William Clark writes his brother Jonathan Clark while on his boat at the mouth of the Tradewater River traveling down the Ohio River, moving to St. Louis. He has visited their brother Edmund in that neighborhood. Tells of Philes, a woman he enslaved, dying. Continuing the letter on June 7, he reports that Dr. [Richard] Brown's courtship of Ann Anderson has failed. He has sent York and some of his other enslaved persons overland with Joseph Charles to Kaskaskia. He has received word that Lieutenant Nathaniel Pryor is waiting for him with about twenty men and two boats at the mouth of the Ohio to assist their ascent of the Mississippi.Tags boats; death; Enslaved people; Letters; love; Military; Mississippi River; Missouri; Ohio River; romance; William Clark -
Letter from William Clark to Jonathan Clark, 2 March 1802
Clark writes his brother Jonathan from Louisville, reporting the party's arrival but also the unfortunate death of one of Jonathan's horses. He reports on a variety of land business, a school in their neighborhood starting, and beginning work on Jonathan's house. -
Letter from Alexander Scott Bullitt to Mr. Billie, 26 April 1786
Bullitt writes to purchase black silk, gloves, thread, and other mourning goods for Anne Henry Christian after the death of William Christian. -
Letter from her cousin Edward to Annie Christian, 9 September 1786
Letter to Annie Henry Christian from her cousin, Edward, regarding the death of her husband, settling his estate and accounts, the potential sale and moving of enslaved people, and the removal of the family. The top portion of the letter is missing -
Letter from Annie Christian To Patrick Henry, no date
Letter to Patrick Henry requesting he post an announcement of William Christian's death in Virginia papers and send three mourning rings for her daughters from Annie Christian. -
Poem on the death of Susan C. Speed
Poem regarding the death of Susan C. Speed. -
"On Suicide as Justifiable"
Essay contemplating suicide as a justifiable act. -
"On Suicide as Not Justifiable"
Essay contemplating suicide as not-justifiable. -
Mary Adair letter to sister, 23 November 1799
Letter from Mary Adair to her sister, updating her on her family and wishing she has enjoyed "all of the happyness of a wife and mother in the midst of an agreeable family." She worries of her father dying soon because without him she will be "destitute of any other home." -
Letter from Ann Thruston to Captain John O'Fallon, 30 January 1819
Reports to her brother of social news, the impending marriage of Ann Bullitt to a widower, Mr. Howard. Says it was generally thought that Ann would never marry because “she would have no person that would ever think of her fortune but must marry her for herself alone.” Tells of an enslaved man who was executed for burning down his master’s house with the anxiety to kill his mistress, who hid in the corn field. -
Letter from Amos Kendall to F. G. Flugel, 10 March 1815
In this letter, Kendall discusses social customs, quoting "Are you rich? You are courted and carressed. Are you poor? You are despised or neglected." He mentions a man murdering his wife. Included is another poem, this one dscussing the bright future of Germany and Flugel's family. -
Letter from Isaac Hite to Abraham Hite, 26 April 1783
Letter from Isaac Hite to his father relating his business interests in land speculation, salt works, and iron manufacturing. He discusses Native American hostilities, specifically a raid at Crab Orchard, Kentucky, in which an African American fought off the Natives and saved a white family. Tells of John Floyd's death and its effect on the defense of Jefferson County, Kentucky. Mentions his business dealings with James Sodowski, Walker Daniel, George and John May, Gilbert Imlay, Isaac Kellar, Moses Kuykendall, and George Rogers Clark. -
Letter from Henry Clay to William Simmons, 14 December 1813
Letter from Henry Clay to William Simmons at the War Department requesting the proper pension to be paid to the widow of Colonel John Allen, who was killed at the Battle of River Raisin. -
Letter from Henry Clay to Thomas Hart, 25 May 1805
Letter from Henry Clay to Thomas Hart discussing the impossibility of large vessels passing through the Falls of the Ohio. He also discusses Napoleon Bonaparte's assassination, stating that "a revolution ought not to astonish us."