McDowell, Samuel Raymond (1893-1956) Papers, 1791-1982

Held by The Filson Historical Society 

Creator:  McDowell, Samuel Raymond, 1893-1956 

Title:  Papers, 1791-1982 

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 M138d 

Scope and Content Note 

Personal correspondence (largely from customers, acquaintances) addressed to Samuel McDowell and his wife, Marguerite Peck McDowell, personal and business documents belonging to Samuel and Marguerite and several of Samuel’s drawings and copies of several portraits. Collection also includes genealogical items pertaining to the McDowell and Peck families. 

Separation note: The World War I dog tags of William T. Peck, brother of Marguerite Peck McDowell, were transferred to the Museum Collection in 2023.

Biographical Note 

Samuel Raymond McDowell was born April 28, 1893, in Louisville, KY, the son of Robert Emmett and Anne Jane McDowell. Samuel graduated from Louisville Male High School and studied at the Art Institute of Cincinnati. He established a business as a professional portrait artist in Louisville. In 1928, he married Marguerite Peck. They had one daughter, Anne, who became a sculptor. Samuel died October 31, 1956, in Louisville at the age of 63. 

Folder List 

Folder 1: Documents and certificates belonging to Samuel and Marguerite McDowell 

Folder 2: Personal correspondence addressed to Samuel and Marguerite McDowell (1930-1949) 

Folder 3: Personal correspondence addressed to Samuel and Marguerite McDowell (1950-1982) 

Folder 4: Genealogical materials related to the McDowell and Peck families 

Folder 5: Sketches and newspaper photos of portraits painted by Samuel McDowell and sculptures made by Anne McDowell Lindstrom 

Folder 6: Miscellaneous items belonging to Samuel and Marguerite McDowell (newspaper photos, brochures, audiotape and transcription of a 1987 interview of Marguerite McDowell, etc). 

Folder 7 (Oversize): High school diploma (Marguerite Peck) and two drawings by Samuel McDowell 

 

Subject Headings 

Abell, Irvin 1876-1949 

American Hospital Association 

Building – estimates – Kentucky 

Business enterprises – Louisville 

Churches – Louisville 

Civil Service Board (Louisville, Ky.) 

Clark, Glenn 1882-1956 

Construction industry – Costs 

Daughters of the American Revolution 

Debutantes – Louisville 

Decedents’ estates – Kentucky 

Floods – Louisville – 1937 

High schools – Kentucky 

Highland Methodist Church (Louisville, Ky.) 

Houses – Louisville 

Letterheads 

Lincoln Institute of Kentucky 

Louisville General Hospital (Louisville, Ky.) 

Louisville Girls High School (Louisville, Ky.) 

McDowell family 

McDowell, Robert Emmett 1914-1975 

Modeling agencies 

Nervous system – Diseases 

Oxford Group 

Peck family 

Portrait painters – Kentucky 

Portrait painting – United States 

Portraits – Kentucky 

Speed, Hattie Bishop 1858-1942 

University of Louisville 

Veterans’ hospitals – Kentucky 

Ward-Belmont School (Nashville, Tenn.) 

Wills – Kentucky 

World War, 1914-1918 – Veterans