Lindsey-Weisiger Family Papers, 1814-1934
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Lindsey-Weisiger family
Title: Papers, 1814-1934
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department.
Size of Collection: 0.33 cubic feet
Location Number: Mss. A L753
Scope and Content Note
The Lindsey-Weisiger collection reflect the lives and pursuits of two prominent families in early Frankfort, Kentucky. The business, legal and financial records of Thomas Noble Lindsey (1807-1877) pertain to his various pursuits including his legal practice and his interest in the Weisiger House hotel. Lindsey’s 1830 certificate to practice law is among these items.
The elder Lindsey’s correspondence (1836-1857) largely pertains to local and family news, business or legal matters and the people he held in bondage. He offers his son John B. Lindsey (1837-1922) frequent parental advice after the latter settled in DeWitt County, Texas in 1856. Of note are his instructions on the proper relationship between master and slave and the most appropriate measures for their punishment should the need arise. The letters from John’s stepmother, Louisa, also report local and family news including the family slaves.
Also present in the collection are the elder Lindsey’s recollections of his youthful days in Newport and Campbell County, Kentucky. He recalls Kentucky troops marching off to war during the War of 1812, pioneer settlers, early Ohio River traffic and other matters of historical interest.
The letters of John Hord Slaughter (1799-1865) and his second wife, Sarah (1809-1899) also contain local and family news as well as John B. Lindsey’s pursuits in Texas. Of particular interest are Sarah’s letters following the end of the Civil War in which she describes the behavior of local freemen and the activities of the Freedmen’s Bureau.
John B. Lindsey’s correspondence, which begin with his sojourn in Texas, shed light on the mule and horse trade in the 1850’s. His subsequent correspondence pertains to his travels, friendships and courtship of his future wife, Helen Talbot Lindsey (1841-1908). Notable among his postwar correspondence is his 1866 account of the lynching of a black man in Frankfort for the alleged attempted rape of a young white girl.
Family letters contain references to John’s older brother, Daniel W. Lindsey (1835-1917) regarding his legal studies and courtship. There are also surviving fragments of his duties as Kentucky Adjutant General (1863-1867) primarily related to the publication of the two-volume roster of Kentucky’s Union Volunteers during the Civil War.
While members of the Weisiger family are frequently mentioned in the aforementioned letters, the bulk of the collection related to this family is reflected in financial and legal documents. Beginning in 1814 there are several promissory notes due to Captain Daniel Weisiger (1763-1829). There are also several invoices from Frankfort merchant, Addison S. Parker, related to goods purchased by the Captain’s widow, Lucy, in 1826, 1838-1843. Of interest is a hiring document dated 1847 pertaining to Lucy’s slave, Phillip.
Miscellaneous items include the cancelled checks of John Brown Lindsey, Jr (1876-1962), the 1789 ordination of future Kentucky Governor, James Garrard as a Baptist minister and the recollections of Dr. Francis Lloyd (c.1803-1857) of Frankfort, Ky. Also present are genealogical notes on the Talbot and Garrard families as well as a 45-page document containing information of the Lindsey, Noble, Talbot, Richardson, Price, Weisiger, Calmes, Thomas, Waller, Price and Ewen families.
Biographical Note
A native of Newport, Kentucky, Thomas Noble Lindsey (1807-1877) was the son of John B. Lindsey (1775-1849) and Maria Noble (1786-1850) of Virginia. Educated at Augusta College in Augusta, Kentucky, Lindsey moved to Frankfort, Kentucky in 1834 and began a distinguished legal career. That same year he married Isabella Price Weisiger (1809-1852), the daughter of Capt. Daniel Weisiger (1763-1829) and Lucy Price (1774-1857). After the death of his father-in-law he was an active partner in the management of the Weisiger house hotel from 1834-1841. Following the death of his first wife he married a widow, Louisa M. Benham, nee Applegate (1808-1879) in 1853. Their union produced no children.
An ardent Whig, Lindsey represented Franklin County in the Kentucky Constitutional Convention of 1849 and represented the 33rd District in the Kentucky State Senate from 1851-1853. After the collapse of the Whig Party, he joined the Native American or “Know Nothing” party and represented Franklin County in the Kentucky House from 1857-1859. A slave-owning Union man he negotiated the surrender of Frankfort, the state capital, to Confederate forces in 1862 and served as mayor of the city during the subsequent occupation. After the Civil War he supported the Democratic Party and served as President of the Farmer’s bank of Kentucky at Frankfort from 1868 to 1876.
The son of Thomas N. Lindsey and Isabella Weisiger, John Brown Lindsey (1837-1922) attended B. B. Sayre’s private academy in Frankfort and the Kentucky Military Institute. From 1854 to 1855 he also studied Law with his father. In late 1855 he accompanied his maternal grandmother, Lucy Price Weisiger to Dewitt County, Texas. Other members of the Weisiger clan had previously settled in the vicinity, including John Hord Slaughter ((1799-1865) whose first wife was Mary Bell Weisiger (c.1801-1847) and Dr. Joseph Weisiger (1794-1873), respectfully, the daughter and son of Lucy.
John farmed and engaged in the stock trade from 1857 to the fall of 1859. He bought mules in Mexico and drove them from the Rio Grande to markets in Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky. He returned to Kentucky and farmed in Woodford County before returning to Frankfort near the close of the Civil War. He subsequently practiced law, joined his brother Daniel W. in the land title business and served as an agent for the Home Insurance Company of New York for fifty years.
Daniel Weisiger Lindsey (1835-1917), an older brother of John B., also attended B. B. Sayre’s private academy in Frankfort and the Kentucky Military Institute. He entered the legal profession but at the outbreak of the Civil War he became colonel of the 22nd Kentucky Infantry, Union. Following active service in the Western Theater he was appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky in 1863 and held that office until 1867. In addition to his business and legal pursuits he served as president of the Frankfort Water Company and on the Frankfort city council for several years.
The correspondence, property, business and financial records of these individuals represent the bulk of the items in this collection. However, there are references to numerous other individuals in this collection. Please consult the folder listing and added entries for further information.
Folder List
Box 1
Folder 1: Personal Correspondence, 1824-1857
Folder 2: Personal Correspondence, 1858-1876, undated
Folder 3: Business and Legal Correspondence, 1836-1868
Folder 4: Business, Legal and Financial Papers, 1814-1884, undated
Folder 5: Cancelled Checks, 1868-1934
Folder 6: Legal Papers, 1830-1888, undated
Folder 7: Business and Legal Papers, 1829, 1844
Folder 8: Union Army Discharge Paper, 1865
Folder 9: Ordination of James Garrard, 1789
Folder 10: Helen Talbot Lindsey’s Recipe Book, undated
Folder 11: Daniel W. Lindsey Papers, ca. 1866-1867
Folder 12: Thomas N. Lindsey’s Recollections, ca. 1870
Folder 13: Misc. Envelopes
Folder 14: Genealogy and Francis Lloyd Recollections, undated
Subject Headings
Administration of estates – Kentucky – Franklin County.
African Americans – History – 19th century.
African Americans – Kentucky – History – 19th century.
African Americans – Southern States – History – 19th century.
African Americans – Texas – History – 19th century.
Agriculture – Texas – History – 19th century.
Agriculture – United States – History – 19th century.
Allen, R. T. P. (Robert Thomas Pritchett), 1813–1888.
Blanton, A. M. (Alexander M.), 1823–1861.
Bruce, John, b. ca. 1835.
Callender, William Larabee, 1815–1895.
Cates, Owen Glendover, 1806–1865.
Cookbooks – Kentucky – Franklin County.
Crittenden, John J. (John Jordan), 1787–1863.
Day, Sherman, 1806–1884.
Dudley, Maria Garrard, 1790–1876.
Dudley, Peter, 1878–1869.
Dudley, William Talbot, 1833–1886.
Eastin, Augustine, 1750–1833.
Families – health and hygiene – Kentucky – 19th century.
Finance, Personal – Kentucky – Frankfort.
Frankfort (Ky.) – Buildings, structures, etc.
Frankfort (Ky.) – History – 19th century.
Frankfort (Ky.) – Social life and customs – 19th century.
Freedmen – Texas.
Garrard family.
Garrard, James, 1749–1822.
Grant, John, 1754–1825.
Hanna, John H., 1786–1861.
Hardin, Mark, 1782–1875.
Harlan, John Marshall, 1833–1911.
Hewitt, John M., ca. 1794–1866.
Horse trading.
Kennedy, Joseph, 1768–1825.
Kentucky – History – Civil War, 1861–1865.
Kentucky – Politics and government – 1792–1865.
Kentucky Military Institute (1845–1971)
Kidnapping – United States – History – 19th century.
Law – Study and teaching – Kentucky.
Legal documents – Kentucky.
Lindsey family.
Lindsey, Daniel Weisiger, 1835–1917.
Lindsey, Helen Talbot, 1841–1908.
Lindsey, James Noble, 1818–1897.
Lindsey, William H., b. ca. 1824.
Lloyd, Francis, 1799–1857.
Lynching – Kentucky – Franklin County.
Madison, Dolley, 1768–1849.
Medicine – United States – History – 19th century.
Methodist Church – Kentucky – Franklin County.
Mules – Kentucky.
Mules – Texas.
Newport (Ky.) – History – 19th century.
Noble family.
Ohio River – Navigation.
Outlaws – West (U.S.)
Overland Mail Company.
Parenting – Kentucky – History – 19th century.
Parenting – Religious aspects – Christianity.
Parker, A. S. (Addison S.), 1791–1850.
Presbyterian Church – Kentucky – Franklin County.
Ravel Troupe.
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865–1877) – Texas.
Scurry, William Read, 1821–1864.
Slaughter family.
Slaughter, John Hord, 1799–1865.
Slaughter, Sarah Pleasants Raily, 1809–1899.
Slave insurrections – Kentucky – History – 19th century.
Slavery – Kentucky – Franklin County.
Slaves – Employment.
Smith, E. R. (Elias Randolph), 1823–1879.
Suddarth, Samuel Gilson, 1823–1878.
Taxation – Kentucky – History – 19th century.
Taylor, James Jones, 1802–1883.
Taylor, James, 1769–1848.
Taylor, Thomas Hart, 1825–1901.
Todd, James Madison, 1818–1897.
Todd, Lucy Payne Washington, 1769–1846.
United States – History – Civil War, 1861–1865 – Prisoners and prisons.
United States – History – War of 1812.
United States. Army. Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, Three Forks Battalion (1864–1865)
United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.
VanWinkle, John Salee, 1829–1888.
Violence – Kentucky.
Violence – Kentucky – Franklin County.
Washington, William Temple, 1800–1877.
Weisiger family.
Weisiger, Daniel, 1763–1829.
Weisiger, Joseph, 1794–1873.
Weisiger, Lucy Price, 1774–1857.
Weisiger, Samuel Price, 1804–1886.
Whiskey – United States – History.
Yellow fever.
