Home Archives: Fayette County
  1. Lexington Reminiscences of Burton Milward Sr.

    Lexington Reminiscences of Burton Milward Sr.

    Editor’s note: The following reminiscences represent an excerpt from the larger edition that resides in the Martin F. Schmidt Research Library. To review the full 34 pages, please visit the library or contact us to access a complete copy. Introduction by Burton Milward Jr.             Lewis William Burton Milward was...

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  2. The Letters of Frances Pope: “Bad speler…and too old to lern to do better”

    The Letters of Frances Pope: “Bad speler…and too old to lern to do better”

    By: Rogers Bardé Frances Watkins Walton was the third wife of John Pope. The couple married in 1820 and are buried side by side in the Cemetery Hill Cemetery in Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky. John Pope was a substantial citizen of Kentucky.  He served in both Houses of the Kentucky Legislature,...

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  3. Collections Corner: The Watson-Robinson Letters

    Collections Corner: The Watson-Robinson Letters

    In the summer of 2012, KHS acquired letters that made a few headlines. The reason the Watson-Robinson letters garnered such attention was due to the fact that most of the authors were from the African American community prior to the Civil War. While scholars and historians will spend years dissecting...

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  4. Collections Corner: Elder John “Raccoon” Smith Marriage Records

    Collections Corner: Elder John “Raccoon” Smith Marriage Records

    The early Kentucky landscape was often painted as a wild frontier, full of colorful characters that had enough eccentricity and determination to successfully settle this new land. While record keeping might have taken a back seat, or even been overlooked as a necessity in this “wilderness”, the ultimate goal of...

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  5. Kenwick: The History of a Lexington Neighborhood

    Kenwick: The History of a Lexington Neighborhood

    By:  Jeff Jones, Ph.D., Georgia Southern University  “Here in Henry Clay’s apple orchard where a refugee from the French Revolution’s guillotines taught a young Mary Todd Lincoln, more than 900 ‘Kenwicked’ households continue to create new stories and cherish their own old Kentucky homes.” The lives of every Kentuckian take...

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  6. History Mystery: Summer Picnic or Fair?

    History Mystery: Summer Picnic or Fair?

    This month’s History Mystery takes us to a beautiful summer day of the past. On a grassy hillside, a group of finely dressed ladies and gentlemen are posed, looking relaxed and somewhat happy. As happy as a turn of the century photographer would allow them to look: “OK everyone! Keep...

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