Filson Club Lectures, 1887-1992
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Filson Club
Title: Lectures, 1887-1992
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Curator of Special Collections.
Size of Collection: 3 cubic feet
Location Number: Mss./BI/F489b
Scope and Content Note
Often referred to as “Talks Before the Filson,” the collection contains numerous research papers and memorial speeches given before meetings of the Filson Historical Society from 1887 to 1992. Topics cover many aspects of Kentucky history, focusing mainly on the state from the frontier-era to the Civil War. Many prominent club members, including Colonel Reuben T. Durrett and Alfred S. Pirtle, gave numerous papers and had papers given about them after their deaths. The collection also includes several poems and short stories. Some folders in this collection has been digitized. To view PDF scan, click on the link provided in the folder list below.
Historical Note
The Filson Historical Society was founded as the Filson Club in 1884 to preserve Kentucky history and has since amassed large collections of manuscripts, books, and artwork. In the Filson’s early days, members were required to present papers at meetings. These papers were often kept on file by the Filson, resulting in the “Talks Before the Filson” collection.
Folder List
Folder 1: Index
Folder 2: Alexander, Harry W.
Folder 3: Allison, Young E.
Folder 4: Altsheller, Brent
Folder 5: Anderson, Kitty
Folder 6: Andrews, Alfred J.
Folder 7: Anonymous
Folder 8: Barker, Thomas A.
Folder 9: Barton, W. E. (William Eleazer)
Folder 10: Bate, Richard Alexander
Folder 10a: Beattie, George W.
Folder 11: Beckner, Lucien
Folder 12: Bernhardt, Carl
Folder 13: Bloom, Levi
Folder 14: Bourne, James M.
Folder 15: Bowman, Pauline Newman
Folder 16: Boyd, Samuel G.
Folder 17: Brown, John Mason
Folder 18: Bruce, Horatio W.
Folder 19: Bryant, Thomas Julian
Folder 20: Burt, Jesse C., Jr.
Folder 21: Callahan, J. E.
Folder 22: Carrington, Wirt Johnson
Folder 23: Cawein, Madison
Folder 24: Cherry, T. C. (Thomas Crittenden)
Folder 25: Clay, Cassius Marcellus
Folder 26: Cleveland, Harry Whitney
Folder 27: Coats, Ida Symmes
Folder 28: Collins, Val. P.
Folder 29: Conkwright, Bessie Taul
Folder 30: Coomes, M. F. (click to access PDF)
Folder 31: Cotterill, Robert S.
Folder 32: Cromwell, Emma Guy
Folder 33: Crume, Lee G.
Folder 34: de la Hunt, Thomas James
Folder 35: Dickey, J. J. (John Jay)
Folder 36: Distelhorst, Walter
Folder 37: Dobbs, Charles
Folder 38: Donohue, James J.
Folder 39: Doyle, John A.
Folder 40: Duke, Basil W.
Folder 41: Duncan, Fannie Casseday
Folder 42: Durrett, Reuben T., Memoriams, 1887-1895
Folder 43: Durrett, Reuben T., Memoriams, 1900-1902
Folder 44: Durrett, Reuben T., Papers
Folder 45: Edwards, C. Hayden
Folder 46: Ellwanger, Ella H.
Folder 47: Fisher, Thomas C.
Folder 48: Fonda, Mary A.
Folder 49: Fowler, Ila Earle
Folder 50: Frank, Louis
Folder 51: Frazee, L. J.
Folder 52: Fuson, Henry Harvey
Folder 53: Gilbert, R. B.
Folder 54: Greene, Buckner F.
Folder 55: Greene, Nancy Lewis
Folder 56: Greenley, Thomas B.
Folder 57: Gregory, George H.
Folder 58: Hamilton, Samuel L.
Folder 59: Harrison, Ida Withers
Folder 60: Harrison, Lowell
Folder 61: Henton, Sara Hansborough
Folder 62: Heywood, John H.
Folder 63: Hill, Eugene D.
Folder 64: Hill, Samuel S.
Folder 65: Hoefelman, Walter M.
Folder 66: Holifield, Marvin Bertie
Folder 67: Humphrey, W. C.
Folder 68: Hunter, Mrs. Robert
Folder 69: Hurst, William L.
Folder 70: Huston, George
Folder 71: Isenberg, James L.
Folder 72: Jillson, Willard R.
Folder 73: Johnston, Josiah Stoddard, 1893-1901
Folder 74: Johnston, Josiah Stoddard, 1902-1904
Folder 75: Jones, Lewis H.
Folder 76: Jouett, Edward S.
Folder 77: Kelly, Walter H.
Folder 78: Kendrick, William C.
Folder 79: Kilpatrick, Lewis H.
Folder 80: Kincaid, Robert L.
Folder 81: Lafferty, Maude Ward, 1911, 1918
Folder 82: Lafferty, Maude Ward, 1930
Folder 83: Levi, Lily Ernestine, 1906 (click to access PDF)
Folder 84: Levi, Lily Ernestine, 1907 (click to access PDF)
Folder 85: Levi, Lily Ernestine, 1909
Folder 86: Levi, Lily Ernestine, 1917, 1924
Folder 87: Lewis, Ada S.
Folder 88: Little, Lucius P.
Folder 89: Loos, Charles Louis
Folder 90: Lytle, Elizabeth
Folder 91: McBryer, James
Folder 92: McDowell, William P.
Folder 93: McMeekin, Isabel McLennan
Folder 94: Macpherson, Ernest
Folder 95: Martin, Boyd
Folder 96: Martin, Mrs. Clarence
Folder 97: Mather, Otis M.
Folder 98: Mercer, S. C.
Folder 99: Miller, Elvira Sydnor
Folder 100: Miller, James C.
Folder 101: Moseley, M. H.
Folder 102: Mueller, Ignatius
Folder 103: Nachod, C. P.
Folder 104: Needham, Charles K.
Folder 105: Needham, Charles K.
Folder 106: Newcomb, Mary
Folder 107: Oldacre, Clara L.
Folder 108: Parsons, T. W.
Folder 109: Perrin, William Henry
Folder 110: Peter, Robert
Folder 111: Pettus, Joseph
Folder 112: Pirtle, Alfred, Tippecanoe
Folder 113: Pirtle, Alfred, 1898-1907
Folder 114: Pirtle, Alfred, 1910-1917
Folder 115: Pirtle, Alfred, 1921, 1922, no date
Folder 116: Pirtle, John Rowan
Folder 117: Price, Samuel Woodson (click to access PDF)
Folder 118: Purcell, Martha
Folder 119: Ranck, George W.
Folder 120: Reade, Philip
Folder 121: Richardson, John B.
Folder 122: Roland, Alice Kate
Folder 123: Rothert, Otto A.
Folder 124: Rouse, Alice Riddle
Folder 125: Sanders, Myra
Folder 126: Sanders, Robert Stuart
Folder 127: Sanders, Verney
Folder 128: Schachner, August
Folder 129: Schoening, Augusta
Folder 130: Scott, Elizabeth Slaughter
Folder 131: Sewell, Mrs. Nat B.
Folder 132: Seymour, Charles B.
Folder 133: Smith, D. T.
Folder 134: Smith, John F.
Folder 135: Smith, Zachary
Folder 136: Speed, Thomas
Folder 137: Stephenson, Martha
Folder 138: Stephenson, Wendell
Folder 139: Stone, May and Katherine Pettit
Folder 140: Strother, John C.
Folder 141: Summers, William T.
Folder 142: Tapp, Hambleton
Folder 143: Tevis, R. C.
Folder 144: Thixton, Marie M.
Folder 145: Thomas, D. L.
Folder 146: Thompson, Lawrence Sidney
Folder 147: Thompson, Stith
Folder 148: Threlkel, Marguerite
Folder 149: Thruston, R. C. Ballard
Folder 150: Thummel, G. E. and C. C. (Constantine Charles) Keller III
Folder 151: Tipton, French
Folder 152: Todd, C. C.
Folder 153: Todd, George D.
Folder 154: Todd, Lyman B.
Folder 155: Townsend, John Wilson
Folder 156: Trout, Allen M.
Folder 157: Tucker, Mattie B.
Folder 158: Van Stockum, R. R. (Ronald Reginald)
Folder 159: Walter, Lewis A.
Folder 160: Watterson, Henry
Folder 161: Wickliffe, John D.
Folder 162: Wilgus, D. K.
Folder 163: Wilson, Fannie S.
Folder 164: Wood, William F.
Folder 165: Woodson, Isaac T.
Folder 166: Young, Bennett H.
Subject Headings
Anderson, Charles, 1814-1895
Anderson family
Appalachian Region – Social life and customs
Artesian wells – Kentucky – Louisville
Artists – Kentucky
Baker, Alpheus, 1821-1891
Ballard, Bland W., 1761-1853
Bank of Kentucky
Banks and banking – Kentucky
Bell, Theodore S. (Theodore Stout), 1807-1884
Berea College
Bethel Academy (Jessamine County, Ky.)
Blackburn, Luke Pryor, 1816-1887
Bledsoe, Emma
Boone, Daniel, 1734-1820
Boone, Daniel, 1734-1820 – Statues – Kentucky – Louisville
Boone, Squire, 1744-1815
Booneville (Ky.) – History – 19th century
Bowmar, Daniel Mayes, 1843-1890
Breathitt County (Ky.) – History
Broadus, John Albert, 1827-1895
Brown, Richard Jones, 1819-1892
Brown, Samuel, 1769-1830
Bryant’s Station (Ky.) – History
Bryant’s Station (Ky.) – Poetry
Buckner family
Buckner, James Francis, 1813-1889
Bullitt County (Ky.) – History
Bullitt, Thomas James, 1763-1840
Business enterprises – Kentucky – Louisville
Caldwell, Charles, 1772-1853
Cawein, Madison Julius, 1865-1914
Centre College (Danville, Ky.)
Chappell, James A., 1823-1893
Charette de la Contrie, Antoine, marquis de
Chenault, William, 1835-1901
Chenoweth family
Christmas – Kentucky – Louisville
Church buildings – Kentucky – Louisville
Clark, George Rogers, 1752-1818
Clark, George Rogers, 1752-1818 – Poetry
Clarke, Marcellus Jerome, 1844-1865
Clay, Cassius Marcellus, 1810-1903
Clay family
Clay, Henry, 1777-1852
Collins, Richard H. (Richard Henry), 1824-1888
Constitutional law – United States
Corn Island (Ky.) – History – 18th Century
Cotton textile industry – Kentucky – Danville
Counties – Kentucky
Courthouses – Kentucky – Jefferson County
Craddock, Robert
Cumberland College (Princeton, Ky.)
Danville Political Club (Danville, Ky.)
Daughters of the American Revolution. Lexington Chapter (Lexington, Ky.)
Davie, George M., 1848-1900
Daviess, Joseph Hamilton, 1774-1811
DeHaven, Samuel E., 1825?-1893
Des Cognets, Anna Russell, d. 1902.
Dueling – Kentucky
Dickey, John Jay, 1842-1934
Duke, Basil Wilson, 1838-1916
Durrett, Reuben T. (Reuben Thomas), 1824-1913
Durrett, Reuben T. (Reuben Thomas), 1824-1913 – Library
Education – Kentucky
Estill County (Ky.) – History
Estill’s Defeat, 1782
Estill, Monk
Filson Club – Poetry
Filson, John, ca. 1747-1788
Fink, Albert, 1827-1897
Floods – Kentucky – Louisville
Folklore – Kentucky
Folk music – United States
Frontier and pioneer life – Kentucky
Gallagher, William D. (William Davis), 1808-1894
Galt, William H., 1827-1893
Gano, John, 1727-1804
Geology, Structural – Kentucky
Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863
Gilbert, R. B.
Gilkey, John
Gordon, Harry
Governors – United States
Grave robbing
Haldeman, Walter N., 1821-1902
Hancock County (Ky.) – History
Hardin County (Ky.) – History
Harney, Will Wallace, 1832-1912
Harrodsburg (Ky.) – History
Hart, Joel T. (Joel Tanner), 1810-1877
Hindman Settlement School – History
Historical Records Survey (U.S.)
Henning, Susanne Meriwether, b. 1888
Historic sites – Kentucky
Hudson family
Humphrey, Edward P. (Edward Porter), 1809-1887
Indians of North America – Wars
Innes, Harry, 1752-1816
Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845 – Death and burial
Jackson, William L., 1825-1890
Jarvis, John Wesley, 1780-1840
Jefferson family
Jeffersontown (Ky.) – History
Jewelers – Kentucky – Louisville – History
Johnson, Richard M. (Richard Mentor), 1780-1850
Kenton, Simon, 1755-1836
Kentucky – Anecdotes
Kentucky – Commerce – History – 18th century
Kentucky – Description and travel
Kentucky – Discovery and exploration
Kentucky – History – Civil War, 1861-1865
Kentucky – History – Fiction
Kentucky – History – Poetry
Kentucky – Maps – Early works to 1800
Kentucky. Militia
Kentucky bluegrass
Kentucky rifle
Kentucky River (Ky.) – Description and travel
Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834
Lair family
Land grants – Kentucky
Langdon, Josiah
Larue County (KY.) – History
Lewis family
Lewis, Lucy Jefferson, 1752-1811 – Family
Lincoln, Abraham, 1744-1786
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
Lincoln, Thomas, 1778-1851
Long Run Baptist Church (Louisville, Ky.)
Lotteries – Kentucky
Louis Philippe, King of the French, 1773-1850
Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company
Louisville Cement Company
Louisville (Ky.) – Climate
Louisville (Ky.) – History – 18th century
Louisville (Ky.) – History – 19th century
Louisville Turnpike (Ky.)
Lynn, Benjamin, 1750-1814
Lytle, Elizabeth
McDowell, Ephraim, 1771-1830
McHenry, John H., 1832-1893
McMeekin, Isabel McLennan, 1895-1973
Marshall, Nancy, ca. 1781-1860
Martin, Eliza Gathright, 1847-1929
Martin’s Fort (Bourbon County, Ky.)
Mastodon – Ohio River Valley
Medicine – Kentucky
Menefee, Richard J., 1837-1893
Mercer, S. C. (Samuel C.)
Mexican War, 1846-1848
Mexican War, 1846-1848 – Causes
Miller, Christopher, b. ca. 1768
Mines and mineral resources – Kentucky
Morton, David, 1833-1898
Morton family
Muhlenberg County (Ky.) – History
Musicians – Kentucky
National characteristics, American
National Statuary Hall (United States Capitol, Washington, D. C.)
Nelson County (Ky.) – History
Numbers in the Bible
Ohio River – Power utilization
Oneida Baptist Institute
Ovariotomy
Paper industry – Kentucky – Louisville
Perry County (Ind.) – History
Perryville, Battle of, Perryville, Ky., 1862 – Personal narratives
Physicians – Kentucky – Biography
Pine Mountain Settlement School (Pine Mountain, Ky.)
Pineville (Ky.) – History
Pirtle, Alfred, b. 1837
Poetry, Modern – 20th century
Pollard, Joseph, Jr.
Porter, James D., 1810-1859
Portland cement industry
Portland (Louisville, Ky.) – History
Presidents – United States – Election – 1844
Preston, William, 1816-1887
Price, Samuel Woodson, 1828-1918
Pusey, Henry K., b. 1827
Quantrill, William Clarke, 1837-1865
Railroads – History – 19th century
Ranck, George Washington, 1841-1900
Richardson, T. G. (Tobias Gibson), 1827-1892
Ridgely, Frederick, 1757-1824
Riots – Kentucky
Ritchie, John, 1752-1814
Rivers, R. H. (Richard Henderson), 1814-1894
Roads – Kentucky – History
Rogers, Joseph M, 1742-1834 – Tomb
Rothert, Otto Arthur, 1871-1956
Rowley, William – Will
Ruddle’s Fort (Bourbon County, Ky.)
Russell family
St. Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818
Salt industry and trade – Kentucky
Sanders, George Nicholas, 1812-1873
Shane, John Dabney, 1812-1864 – Library
Shelby County (Ky.) – History
Shelby, Evan, 1719-1794
Shiloh, Battle of, Tenn., 1862 – Personal narratives
Shippingport (Ky.) – History
Slaves – Biography
Solomon, William King, 1775-1854
Speed family
Speed, John, 1772-1840 – Family
Speed, Joshua F. (Joshua Fry), 1814-1882
Stanton, Henry T. (Henry Thompson), 1834-1898
Steamboats – Kentucky
Sue Bennett College
Superstition – Kentucky
Taggart, John D., 1822-1898
Tarascon, John D., 1765-1825
Tarascon, Louis Anastasius, b. 1759
Tardiveau, Pierre, d. ca. 1835
Tates Creek Baptist Church (Louisville, Ky.)
Taylor family
Taylor, Richard, 1749-1825
Taylor, Zachary, 1784-1850
Taylor, Zachary, 1784-1850 – Tomb
Tecumseh, Shawnee Chief, 1768-1813 – Death and burial
Theater – Kentucky
Thixton, Marie M.
Todd, Lyman Beecher, 1831-1902
Tradewater River Region (Ky.) – History
Transylvania University
Trimble Co. (Ky.) – History
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Medical care
United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Underground movements
United States. Navy
Vendetta – Southern States
Wabash Campaign, 1786
Walker, Thomas, 1715-1794
Walter, Lewis Allwhyn, 1868-1951
Waring, John U., 1790-1846?
Wayne, Anthony, 1745-1796
Wayne’s Campaign, 1794
Weir, James, b. 1821
Whiskey – Kentucky
White, John, 1822-1902
White, Levi, b. 1803 – Correspondence
Wilkinson, James, 1757-1825
Wintersmith, Richard C., 1822-1902
Wood, William F.
Yandell, David Wendel, 1826-1898