Shelby-Bruen Family Papers, 1761-1916
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Shelby-Bruen family
Title: Shelby-Bruen Family Papers, 1761-1916
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department.
Size of Collection: 4 cu. ft. and 1 vol.
Location Number: Mss./A/S544e
Biographical Note
Isaac Shelby (1750-1826) was the first and fifth governor of Kentucky and served in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. He married Susannah Hart (1764-1833), the daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah Hart. Isaac and Susannah Shelby’s oldest son James Shelby (1784-1848) married Mary “Polly” Pindell (1784-1836) in Fayette County, Kentucky. Their children who survived into adulthood were Richard Pindell Shelby (1810-1849), Susan Hart Shelby Carter Magoffin (1813-1901), Isaac Shelby (1815-1873), James Shelby (1817-1852), Lafayette Shelby (1819-1859), and Evan Shelby (1824-1853).
Joseph Bruen (1794-1848) moved to Lexington, Kentucky, where he established a brass and iron foundry and married Margery Parker (1778-1853) in 1818. Their children who survived into adulthood were Elizabeth Bruen Ingels (1820-1874), Joseph Bruen Jr. (1821-1846), Amanda Bruen Shelby (1824-1853), and Sarah “Busy” Bruen Cronly (1828-1902).
At age 13, Amanda Bruen entered the school of Bishop Benjamin Bosworth Smith and began a lifelong association with many of his children, especially Elizabeth “Lizzie” Smith. In 1844, at the age of 19, Amanda married 20-year-old Evan Shelby, the youngest child of Gen. James Shelby. Their daughter Mary Pindell Shelby (1845-1916) would be orphaned in 1853 at the age of 7 when Evan and Amanda Shelby died within five months of each other. Evan died after suffering from erysipelas and Amanda’s cause of death is not known.
After the deaths of Evan and Amanda Shelby, Mary Pindell Shelby was raised by Amanda’s sister Sarah “Busy” Bruen Cronly, and likely also by Evan’s sister Susan Hart Shelby Carter Magoffin and Evan’s brother Isaac “Ike” Shelby. During the 1870s, Mary Pindell Shelby traveled with her Aunt Busy, visiting Shelby and Bruen cousins from New Jersey to California and collecting genealogy information. In 1880, she married John Calhoun Stallcup (1841-1915), a lawyer and judge living in Denver, Colorado. In 1889, they moved to Tacoma, Washington. Their children who survived into adulthood were Margery Bruen Stallcup Smith, John Calhoun “Buster” Stallcup, Jr., and Evan Dhu Shelby Stallcup.
References:
Sue Clark’s notes on the collection.
Scope and Content Note
The collection documents the lives of Shelby and Bruen family members, with a focus on Amanda Bruen Shelby of Fayette County, Kentucky. The 1844 marriage of Amanda Bruen and Evan Shelby, grandson of former Kentucky Governor Isaac Shelby, connected the two families. While the collection contains letters of Isaac Shelby and other Shelby and Bruen men, most of the correspondence, diaries, and other personal papers are authored by female family members and friends who lived in Lexington, Louisville, and other parts of Kentucky, as well as in Arkansas, Missouri, and Colorado. Their writings and keepsakes provide information about courtship and social life, female education, Episcopal religious activities, slavery, travel, and sicknesses and deaths. Included in the collection are genealogical materials, supplemental information, and Shelby Susan “Sue” Scherer Clark’s transcriptions of original documents, which have been digitized. To view PDF scans, click on the links provided in the folder list below.
Folders 1-4 contain late 1700s-early 1800s correspondence of Isaac Shelby, Col. Thomas Hart, Shelby family members, and Dr. Richard Pindell’s family. In the 1780s, Isaac Shelby writes to Hart primarily about disputed land claims and the sale of tobacco, land, and enslaved African Americans, particularly in reference to the ongoing settlement of the debts and estate of his father-in-law (and Thomas Hart’s brother) Nathaniel Hart. After Nathanial Hart’s wife Sarah died in 1785, Shelby writes of the education needs of the Harts’ sons. His 1789 letters discuss the land claims of Thomas Hart Benton and Daniel Boone. Thomas Hart’s letters from acquaintances and family members discuss family news, debts, and slavery. Included are letters from his son-in-law James Brown at his plantation near New Orleans. Among the personal papers of Shelby and Pindell family members are poems written by Susannah Hart Shelby Shannon, some reflecting on the death of her 16-year-old niece from yellow fever in Guatemala in 1832, and a letter from Gen. James Shelby to his wife during his military service in the War of 1812.
Folders 5-25 hold correspondence and papers of Bruen family members from the 1830s-1840s. The majority consist of young Amanda Bruen’s letters, autograph albums, and journals. Amanda’s school journals are filled with lessons and short compositions. Passports, correspondence, pressed flowers, and Amanda’s travel journals document a trip to Europe taken in 1841 by Amanda, her father Joseph Bruen, her sister Elizabeth Bruen Ingels, and architect John McMurtry. A ledger for Joseph Bruen’s iron store lists accounts with individuals and businesses; the account book later became a scrapbook for his children and/or grandchildren. There are a small number of Elizabeth Bruen Ingels’s letters, as well as letters and poems from Evan Shelby to Amanda Bruen leading up to their marriage in May 1844.
Folders 26-42 hold correspondence and journals of Amanda Bruen Shelby and other family members from 1844 through the deaths of Evan and Amanda Shelby five months apart in 1853. Shelby family letters address politics, family tensions at Gen. James Shelby’s home Richland in 1845, and the birth of Evan and Amanda’s daughter Mary Pindell Shelby in November 1845. Amanda’s prescription and account books provide information about medical treatments and the purchase of household items. Amanda’s daily journals and correspondence document the 1849 cholera epidemic in Lexington, social events and visits, stays at nearby springs, household activities, church attendance, and the lives and deaths of enslaved African Americans in Kentucky as well as in Helena, Arkansas. Letters mourn the deaths of Joseph Bruen Jr. in 1846, Joseph Bruen Sr. and Gen. James Shelby in 1848, Susan Hart Shelby Carter’s husband William Grayson Carter in 1849, and Margery Parker Bruen and Evan Shelby in early 1853. There is a lock of Amanda’s hair saved after her death on July 31, 1853.
Folders 43-66 consist primarily of letters and other personal papers of Mary Pindell Shelby, as well as an autograph book and journal belonging to Sarah “Busy” Bruen Cronly. Included are a school journal, phrenological readings, and miscellaneous papers and keepsakes. Letters between Mary Pindell Shelby and John Stallcup lead up to their marriage in 1880 in Kirkwood, Missouri, where Mary’s aunt, Susan Hart Shelby Carter Magoffin, lived. Stallcup, who lived in Denver and ran for Colorado attorney general on the Democratic ticket in 1880, writes about state and national political elections and about anti-Chinese mobs. Correspondence after 1880 includes cards and letters sent to Mary and John Stallcup’s daughter Margery Bruen Stallcup.
Folders 67-75 consist of correspondence and genealogical notes from 1890-1915, as Mary Pindell Shelby Stallcup gathered information about the Bruen, Pindell, and Shelby families.
Folders 76-89 contain supplemental materials assembled by Shelby Susan “Sue” Scherer Clark, whose great-great-grandmother was Amanda Bruen Shelby. They include information about Shelby and Bruen family members, modern-day photographs of Shelby and Bruen family homes and Kalorama, indexes of letters, and photocopies of wills and other documents. The photocopies of records from other archives are kept in the collection for reference purposes only. Researchers using the photocopies of records from other archives must cite the original repository.
Volume 90 is a scrapbook assembled by Mary Pindell Shelby Stallcup to display family documents, photographs, and clippings dating from ca. 1761-1914. Included are ca. 1865 sketches—one in the scrapbook and one in Folder 91 stored with the scrapbook—of Sarah Brown, who may have been enslaved by Shelby family members and, after the Civil War, worked for Mary Pindell Shelby.
Arrangement Note: Upon arrival at the Filson Historical Society, a large portion of the Shelby-Bruen papers were housed in three-ring binders. Original documents and their transcriptions and photocopies were removed from binders and foldered for ease of use; photocopies of supplemental information and records were put at the end of the collection.
Related Collections:
Two Shelby-Bruen family bibles and two books of common prayer in the library collection.
Shelby-Bruen family photograph collection (020PC32).
Shelby-Bruen museum objects (2020.25.1-16).
Folder List
Box 1
Folder 1: Correspondence from Isaac Shelby to Thomas Hart, ca. 1782-1789
Folder 2: Correspondence of Thomas Hart, 1799-1807
Folder 3: Correspondence, poems, and school reports of Shelby family, 1809-1842
Folder 4: Transcriptions and photocopies, ca. 1782-1842 (click to access PDF)
Folder 5: Iron store account ledger of Joseph Bruen, 1831-1835
Folder 6: Correspondence of Amanda Bruen and Elizabeth Bruen Ingels, ribbon of Sarah “Busy” Bruen, ca. 1836-1841
Folder 7: Transcriptions and photocopies, ca. 1836-1841 (click to access PDF)
Box 2
Folder 8: Autograph album of Amanda Bruen, 1835-1839
Folder 9: Journal given to Charlotte Bruen by Amanda Bruen, 1837-1859
Folder 10: Transcriptions and photocopies, 1835-1859 (click to access PDF)
Folder 11: School journal of Amanda Bruen, Jan.-April 1838
Folder 12: School journal of Amanda Bruen, April-Dec. 1838
Folder 13: Index, transcriptions, and photocopies, Jan.-Dec. 1838 (click to access PDF)
Box 3
Folder 14: School journal of Amanda Bruen, March 1839-Feb. 1841
Folder 15: School journal of Amanda Bruen, 1840-1852
Folder 16: Index, transcriptions, and photocopies, 1839-1852 (click to access PDF)
Box 4
Folder 18: Diary of Amanda Bruen from trip to Europe, April-May 1841
Folder 19: Diary of Amanda Bruen from trip to Europe, June-Aug. 1841
Folder 20: Notes, calling cards, and pressed flowers of Amanda Bruen from trip to Europe, 1841
Folder 21: Index, transcriptions, and photocopies, 1841 (click to access PDF)
Box 5
Folder 22: Correspondence of Amanda Bruen, 1841
Folder 23: Correspondence of Amanda Bruen, 1842
Folder 24: Correspondence and poems from Evan Shelby to Amanda Bruen, 1843-1844
Folder 25: Journal notes and correspondence of Amanda Bruen, ca. 1843-1849
Folder 26: Correspondence of Amanda Bruen Shelby, 1844
Folder 27: Correspondence of Amanda Bruen Shelby and Shelby family, 1845
Folder 28: Transcriptions and photocopies, 1841-1849 (click to access PDF)
Box 6
Folder 29: Correspondence of Amanda Bruen Shelby and Shelby family, lock of Mary Pindell Shelby’s hair, 1846-1847
Folder 30: Prescription book and account books of Amanda Bruen Shelby, 1849-1853
Folder 31: Diaries of Amanda Bruen Shelby, 1849-1851
Folder 32: Pages from Shelby family bible, 1852, including transcriptions and photocopies
Folder 34: Transcriptions and photocopies of diaries, 1849-1851 (click to access PDF)
Box 7
Folder 35: Correspondence of Amanda Bruen Shelby and Bruen and Shelby families, funeral notices, 1848-1849
Folder 36: Transcriptions and photocopies, 1848-1849 (click to access PDF)
Folder 37: Correspondence of Amanda Bruen Shelby, poem, 1850
Folder 38: Transcriptions and photocopies, 1850 (click to access PDF)
Folder 39: Correspondence of Amanda Bruen Shelby and Bruen and Shelby families, 1851-1852
Folder 40: Transcriptions and photocopies, 1851-1852 (click to access PDF)
Folder 41: Correspondence of Amanda Bruen Shelby, funeral notices, estate sale notes, 1853
Folder 42: Transcriptions and photocopies, 1853 (click to access PDF)
Folder 43: School journal likely belonging to Mary Pindell Shelby, ca. 1864-1865
Folder 44: Transcriptions and photocopies, ca. 1864-1865 (click to access PDF)
Folder 45: Phrenological readings of Mary Pindell Shelby, 23 December 1865, 22 March 1866
Folder 46: Transcriptions and photocopies, 1865-1866 (click to access PDF)
Folder 47: Miscellaneous personal papers of Mary Pindell Shelby, ca. 1853-1881
Folder 48: Transcriptions and photocopies, ca. 1853-1881 (click to access PDF)
Folder 49: Notes, autograph book, and journal of Sarah (Busy) Bruen Cronly, ca. 1850-1900
Folder 50: Transcriptions and photocopies, ca. 1850-1900 (click to access PDF)
Folder 51: Correspondence from Mary Pindell Shelby to John Stallcup, ca. 1878
Folder 52: Transcriptions and photocopies, ca. 1878 (click to access PDF)
Folder 53: Correspondence from Mary Pindell Shelby to John Stallcup, ca. 1879-1880
Folder 54: Transcriptions and photocopies, ca. 1879-1880 (click to access PDF)
Folder 55: Correspondence of Mary Pindell Shelby and John Stallcup, June-September 1880
Folder 56: Transcriptions and photocopies, June-September 1880 (click to access PDF)
Folder 57: Correspondence of Mary Pindell Shelby and John Stallcup, 4-22 October 1880
Folder 58: Transcriptions and photocopies, 4-22 October 1880 (click to access PDF)
Folder 59: Correspondence of Mary Pindell Shelby and John Stallcup, 24-31 October 1880
Folder 60: Transcriptions and photocopies, 24-31 October 1880 (click to access PDF)
Folder 61: Correspondence of Mary Pindell Shelby and John Stallcup, 1-4 November 1880
Folder 62: Transcriptions and photocopies, 1-4 November 1880 (click to access PDF)
Folder 63: Correspondence from John Stallcup to Mary Shelby Stallcup, 1882
Folder 64: Transcriptions and photocopies, 1882 (click to access PDF)
Folder 65: Correspondence and notes of Mary Shelby Stallcup and Margery Bruen Stallcup, 1889-1914
Folder 66: Transcriptions and photocopies, 1893-1914 (click to access PDF)
Folder 67: Genealogy notes and correspondence, ca. 1890-1895, undated
Folder 68: Transcriptions and photocopies, ca. 1890-1895, undated
Folder 69: Genealogy notes and correspondence, 1896-1897
Folder 70: Transcriptions and photocopies, 1896-1897
Folder 71: “A Pedigree of Shelby, Including that of Hart,” ca. 1897
Folder 72: Transcriptions and photocopies, ca. 1897
Box 8
Folder 73: Genealogy notes and correspondence, 1898, 1908-1911
Folder 74: Transcriptions and photocopies, 1898, 1908-1911
Folder 75: Volume on genealogy of the Pindell family, ca. 1916
Supplemental records
Folder 76: Family member information and images
Folder 77: Alphabetical index of letters by author and by people mentioned
Folder 78: Alphabetical index of topics, places, and issues, and chronological index of people
Folder 79: Information about and photographs of family homes, Kalorama, and Lexington Cemetery grave sites
Folder 80: Photocopies of supplemental records, 1761-1833
Folder 81: Photocopies of supplemental records, 1834-1840
Folder 82: Photocopies of supplemental records, 1841-1844
Folder 83: Photocopies of supplemental records, 1844-1847
Folder 84: Photocopies of supplemental records, 1848-1849
Folder 85: Photocopies of supplemental records, 1850-1852
Folder 86: Photocopies of supplemental records, 1853-1859
Folder 87: Photocopies of supplemental records, 1860-1874
Folder 88: Photocopies of supplemental records, 1875-2018
Oversize
Volume 90: Scrapbook of Mary Shelby Stallcup, ca. 1761-1914
Folder 91: Sketch of Sarah Brown, ca. 1865
