Archives

Held by The Filson Historical Society 

Creator:  Menefee Family 

Title:  Papers, 1826-1958 

Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department. 

Size of Collection:  0.66 cubic feet 

Location Number:  Mss. A M542 

Scope and Content Note 

Collection includes correspondence, primarily the letters of Richard Jouett Menefee (1837-1893) and Richard Hickman Menefee (1877-1956). Letters record primarily family news; condolences upon the death of Richard Jouett Menefee, June 1893; and army life and news from Richard H. Menefee from camps in Lexington, Ky., Ga., and Puerto Rico during the Spanish American War. Correspondents include James B. Beck, Benjamin Bristow, Don Carlos Buell, Garrett Davis, Henry F. Farney, Joel T. Hart, J. Proctor Knott, Thomas Satterwhite Noble, William T. Sherman, and Thomas Speed. Also included is genealogical material of the Menefee and Jouett families; family record labeled; Matthew H. Jouett’s Bible; diary, 1840-1841, of Richard Hickman Menefee; tributes and eulogies upon the death of Richard Jouett Menefee, 1893 June; and printed material of the Spanish American War period. 

Biographical Note 

Richard Hickman Menefee was born in Louisville in 1877. He attended Male High School and later married Edith Norton, daughter of George Chester and Jessie Norton. Menefee worked as a grain merchant with R. H. Menefee & Co. He served as First Lieutenant and Battalion Adjutant in the First Kentucky Volunteers during the Spanish American War. Menefee died in 1956. 

Richard Hickman Menefee 

• 1809 Born in Owingsville, Ky. 
• 1826-1828 Attended Transylvania University. 
• 1831 Began the practice of law. 
• 1832 Received his law degree from Transylvania University. 
• 1832 Married Sarah Bell Jouett, daughter of Matthew Harris Jouett.  
• 1837-1839 Served in Congress.1841Died and was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery. 

Richard Jouett Menefee 

• 1837 Born in Lexington, Ky. 
• 1863 Formed a partnership with J. C. and J. B. McFerran, wholesale provision dealers in Louisville. 
• 1871 Toured Europe.  
• 1873 Formed a partnership under the firm name of McFerran, Shallcross & Co. 
• 1875 Married Elizabeth Speed, daughter of J. Smith Speed of Louisville. 
• 1893 Died and was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.  

For more information consult the Kentucky Encyclopedia. 

Folder List 

Box 1 

1 Correspondence, 1826-1881.

2 Correspondence, 1883-1887.

3 Correspondence, 1888-1889.

4 Correspondence, 1890 Jan.-July.

fl.5 Correspondence, 1890 Aug.-Oct. 

6 Correspondence, 1891-1892 July.

7 Correspondence, 1892 Aug.-Dec.

8 Correspondence, 1893.

9 Correspondence, 1894-1897.

10 Correspondence, 1898 Jan.-June.

Box 2 

11 Correspondence, 1898 July-Aug.

12 Correspondence, 1898 Sept.-1899 Feb.

13 Correspondence, 1921-1958.

14 Correspondence, n.d. 

fl.15 Genealogical material-Menefee and Jouett families. 

16 Original diary of Richard H. Menefee, 1840-1841, speeches.

17 Tributes and eulogies written upon the death of Richard Jouett Menefee, 1893. 

18 Material concerning the Spanish American War, 1898.

19 Miscellaneous.

Held by The Filson Historical Society 

Creator:  McMeekin, Isabel McLennan, 1895-1973 

Title:  Papers, 1960-1972 

Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department. 

Size of Collection:  1 cubic foot 

Location Number:  Mss. A M167 

Scope and Content Note 

Collection contains manuscripts, letters, and working papers about the following books, stories, and poems: Nip and Tuck, Not Even a Mouse, Homespun Mary, The Wonder Goose, Company is Coming to Grandmother’s House, The Almost Forgotten Robin Crusoe, Blackie, Victorian Vittles, Louisville Butters `em Hot, Proud to be Black, Once There was a Girl, Speaking Ponies, “Question Mark,” “Joey,” “Country School,” and several others. 

Biographical Note 

Isabel McMeekin was born in Louisville, November 19, 1895. She was the daughter of Alexander and Rosa McLennan. Isabel was educated at Kentucky Home School in Louisville, at Westover School in Middlebury, Conn., and at the University of Chicago. In 1921, she married Samuel H. McMeekin of Louisville. McMeekin was an author of children’s stories and historical novels with a Kentucky background. She died in 1973. 

Folder List 

Box 1 

1 Manuscript: Once there was a Girl.

2 Manuscript: Speaking of Ponies.

3 Manuscripts: miscellaneous papers.

4 Manuscript: Company’s Coming to Grandmother’s House. 

5 Manuscripts: poetry.

Box 2 

6 Manuscript: Nip and Tuck.

7 Manuscript: The Wonder Goose.

8 Newspaper articles.

Box 3 

9 Manuscript: Louisville Butters `em Hot.

10Manuscript: Victorian Vittles.

11 Manuscript: Blackie.

12 Manuscripts, picture book material.

13 Manuscript: Homespun Mary.

14 Manuscript: The Almost Forgotten Robin Crusoe. 

Held by The Filson Historical Society 

Creator:  McElroy, William Thomas, 1829-1910 

Title:  Papers, 1850-1869 

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 M141 

Scope and Content Note 

Papers include letters discussing McElroy’s education and personal life; a statement about his false arrest and controversy surrounding the Walnut Street Presbyterian Church in Louisville; and McElroy’s journals, 1852-1868, 1889, and 1901-1905, chronicling his studies at Union Theological Seminary, N.Y., 1852-1854, his pastorates at Presbyterian churches in Mercer County, Paris, Maysville, and Louisville, Ky., and Mobile, Ala. and discussing events surrounding his family, spiritual matters and meditations, McElroy’s day-to-day thoughts, slavery, free African Americans, the Civil War, and the conflict between Old School and New School Presbyterians. An additional volume contains records for various years and churches of baptisms, marriages, new members, expenses, and sermons preached. 

Also included are papers of geologist Samuel Addison Casseday, including his 1853-1854 travel journal in which he recounts his experiences and observations while in Europe. His papers include a note written in French from Prussian scientist Alexander Von Humboldt, who granted a visit to the young Casseday. He describes his interview with Humboldt in his travel journal. 

Biographical Note 

1829 Born near Lebanon, Ky. 

1850 Graduated from Centre College. 

1854 Graduated from Union Seminary in New York. 

1854 Ordained by the Providence Presbytery in Kentucky. 

1854-1857 Served at New Providence and Salvisa. 

1857-1860 Served in Paris, Ky. 

1859 Married Eliza Casseday of Louisville. 

1860-1862 Served in Maysville. 

1862-1868 Served at the Walnut Street Church, Louisville, Ky. 

1868-1870 Served at the Westminster Church, Louisville. 

1870-1872 Served as an evangelist in Louisville. 

1872-1880 Served in Perryville. 

1880-1882 Served at Pisgah Church in Transylvania Presbytery. 

1893-1895 Served at Lees Summit, Mo. 

1895-1897 Served at Woodlawn Church in Birmingham, Ala. 

1898 Served at Ford, Ky. 

1899-1901 Served at Winchester, Ky. 

1904-1910 Served at the Broad Street Church in Mobile, Ala. 

1910 Died in Mobile, Ala. 

Folder List 

Box 1 

1 Letters and papers, 1850-1869.

2 Samuel Casseday letter, 1838. 

3 Samuel Casseday correspondence, 1853-1859. 

4 Samuel Casseday journal, 1853-1854. 

5 Letter from Alice Hegan Rice to Fannie Duncan Casseday, 1903 Jan. 30. 

6 Correspondence to Mary Ann McNutt, 1838-1851. 

7 William Thomas McElroy notebook, 1850-1863.

8 William Thomas McElroy notebook, 1853-1854.

9 William Thomas McElroy notebook, 1856.

10 William Thomas McElroy journal, 1852-1905

Held by The Filson Historical Society 

Creator:  McDowell, Robert Emmett 

Title:  Writings, 1961-1969 

Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department. 

Size of Collection:  0.66 cubic feet 

Location Number:  Mss. A M138 

Scope and Content Note 

Galley proof of novel Tidewater Sprig, 1961, 318 p.; page proofs of City of Conflict, a study of Louisville during the Civil War, 1962, 245 p.; scripts of the outdoor drama, Home is the Hunter, for 1963, 1964, and 1965; original typescript of article, “The Wilderness Road in Jefferson County,” 1967, 20 p. Also included are additional writings, 1969, containing the original 20-page typescript of his article “Louisville: The Real Gateway to the West,” which was published in Louisville Magazine, April, 1969, and concerns the Lewis and Clark expedition’s connections with Louisville. 

Biographical Note 

1914 Born in Sentinel, Oklahoma. 

1940 Married Audrea Adams.  

WWII Served in the merchant marine. 

1964 Tidewater Sprig. 

1962 City of Conflict. 

1963-1965 Home is the Hunter performed in Harrodsburg. 

1971-1975 Editor at the Filson Club. 

1975 Died and was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery. 

Held by The Filson Historical Society 

Creator:  McConochie, James Robert, c. 1786-1853 

Title:  Papers, 1812-1869 

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 M129 

Scope and Content Note 

Papers include correspondence, 1825-1853, regarding McConochie’s family and business affairs; legal papers, 1837-1853; land papers, 1812-1851; bills and receipts, 1825-1853, primarily regarding his medical practice; slave papers, 1817-1853; and will and estate records, 1853-1869. 

Biographical Note 

James Robert McConochie (ca. 1786-1853), was a Scottish-American poet and physician of Louisville, Ky. 

Folder List 

Box 1 

1 Correspondence, 1825-1836.

2 Correspondence, 1838-1845.

3 Correspondence, 1846-1847.

4 Correspondence, 1848.

5 Correspondence, 1849-1853 and n.d. 

6 Legal papers, 1837-1845.

7 Land papers, 1812-1835.

8 Land papers, 1836-1851.

9 Bills and receipts, 1825-1831.

10 Bills and receipts, 1832-1853 and n.d.

11 Slave papers-bills of sale, notes, hiring agreements, 1817-1853 and n.d.

12 Elijah Thompson v. James Robert McConochie, 1853.

13 J. R. McConochie will and estate papers, 1853-1869.