This Little Colonel
website began as a small endeavor in 1998, a part of my
effort to put together a history of my
Old Louisville
home at 1432 S
Third Street. I began with an old manila folder with only three or
four scraps of paper in it that included an
obituary of Samuel Culbertson, a handwritten note that mentioned the
house was somehow linked to the Two Little Knights of Kentucky from the
Little Colonel story, some note cards from Annie
Fellows Johnston, and a number of original Culbertson family photos
without any other descriptions except for a full page framed picture article
from a 1928 edition of The Louisville Post. To be honest, at
the time I had little idea at all what the Little Colonel stories were
about. (I briefly wasn't even aware of the gender of The Little
Colonel.) Thanks to the availability of a brand new research tool
called the Internet, I was quickly able to obtain some paperback versions of
the books from Amazon.com. (I can remember, when reading Two Little
Knights first how surprised I was when a character named the Little Colonel
first appeared at a Valentine's party, and she was a girl!. It
was only when I picked up the original Little Colonel book that the story
seemed very familiar somehow. Obviously I was remembering the 1935
Shirley Temple movie that I had all but forgotten from early childhood.).
A few library trips later, and
the discovery of an Annie Fellows Johnston scrapbook at the Louisville Free
Public Library gave me enough material to begin publishing a website.
This early research was particularly exciting when I discovered that far
from being pure fiction, The Little Colonel stories were largely based on
real personalities and places associated with the history of my home.
The main reasons for publishing on the Internet (rather than just keeping
things in that little manila folder) were twofold. First, the Internet
is a handy way to organize and share information in a searchable format.
Second, I knew a web site would eventually be found by others with the same
interests and hopefully more information to share.
So that's the method in this
madness, along with some advice to all researchers using the Internet as
a tool. Don't just search for information, solicit it!
Whatever area your interest, post a website. Fill it with the all
the unique and worthwhile information you have been able to assemble on your
subject, then register it with search engines, and wait for others
with your same interests to contact you. As for this project, the
history has grown from a few pieces of paper in a manila folder to nearly a
thousand web pages (and growing) scattered on this and our
Culbertson
Mansion site, most of it due to help, information and input from across
the country and around the world (Europe and Asia.) Of special note are the
current residents of Lloydsboro (Pewee) Valley, Kentucky who have gone out
of their way to delve through their papers, dig in their trunks and search
their attics for artifacts and information relating to the Little Colonel.
To that end, many thanks are in order. Below, with the
help of my new website co-author, Donna Russell, I have tried to list
all the main people, in alphabetical order, who have made a significant
contribution to the material and knowledge on this site. If we have
inadvertently left someone out, it is a mistake and we'll add your name if
you'll be so kind as to remind us!
Many thanks for visiting our site!
Steve Locke, webmaster, originator & co-author
Author
Donna
Russell owner and savior of Edgewood Manor, journalist and
co-author of the website since early 2007. Donna and her husband David
are lifetime members of the Louisville
Historical Society. They have restored a National Register property in
Louisville's Portland district as well as one in Pewee Valley. Their final
lifetime project will be the restoration of a c. 1830 farmhouse in Shelby
County, Kentucky. For LittleColonel.com, Donna has been doing a
tremendous amount of research resulting in detailed stories of Lloydsboro
(Pewee) Valley people and landmarks related to the Little Colonel.
Contributors
Nancy Azzam, a direct descendent of Dr.
Peyton Harrison Hoge's sister, who shared Cary Hoge Mead's memoirs,
"Sunshine and Shadow," with us.
Kathy Bagby, Henry
Lawton Bagby and Jeanne Bagby
of Virginia, descendants of General &
Mrs. "Walton" (through Little Elise's line) for invaluable historic
information, and sharing letters and photographs.
Sue Berry for extensive
research on the Old Colonel, his gravesite and the Clark ancestors of the
Little Colonel.. Along with her Western Kentucky "team" including
Edna Macon and Nell Jordan.
Alice Walser Booker of Pewee Valley for sending
missing volumes of Annie Fellows Johnston's books.
Beverly Busch, who shared a Christmas card sent by her aunt, Mrs.
Sedley, showing the stone gates at Edgewood as they existed until the
property was subdivided in 1987
Jeffrey Butler, who provided a photo of a
the Lawton girls and Hattie Cochran (along with invaluable background
information), frequent visitors at his great grandfather's
National Sanitarium in Martinsville, Indiana
Delinda S. Buie,
chief archivist, Ekstrom Library rare book and photo collections,
University of Louisville
Don Campbell, administrator of Friendship Manor
Nursing Home, for supplying the post card, photo of the Campbell family and
“History of the Pewee Valley Church of the Seventh-Day Adventists”
Virginia (Gin) Herdt Chaudoin, Pewee ("Lloydsboro") Valley
historian, who doesn't even use the Internet, but has been so helpful in so
many ways over the years as a person who still remembers many of the
original people of the Little Colonel stories, including Annie Fellows
Johnston herself.
Willa Dean Cole, who shared
nine post card views of the Burge house after it became the Mt. Mercy Camp &
Boarding School
Beach Craigmyle for sending us information on Peace
Farm, Johann Heinrich's cottage in Two Little Knights of Kentucky
Mr. and Mrs. Mark
Critchfield of Columbia, MO for sharing Annie Fellows Johnston's letter
"My
dear Miss Dickinson" with
us.
Nancy Donner, who helped us secure copies of many of the "Little
Colonel" folks' wills from the Oldham County Courthouse, including those of
Annie Craig, Fanny Craig, Kate Matthews, Lillian Fletcher Brackett, Annie
Fellows Johnston and Mary G. Johnston among others.
Mary Dork of Wisconsin, whose encyclopedic knowledge
of the content of the Little Colonel books has served us quicker that a
search engine for finding passages.
Amber Druen who took the professional photos of The
Little Colonel game board and playing pieces
Gary Falk of the Louisville
Historical League for giving us permission to reprint his article on Jennie
Carter Benedict from the January 2007 issue of "The Archives"
Sue Finley at the
University of Louisville Ekstrom Library for her help with uncovering
"Betty's" true identity and all the work she has done on identifying
the real people who posed for photographer Kate Matthews.
Rita Fox, publisher of Paint Lick Reflections magazine
(Garrard-Madison counties) and B&B reviewer for Kentucky Monthly magazine
for tidbits and information on Annie Fellows Johnston, the mountain schools,
Lura Parsons, etc
Cleve Gatchel, grandson of
Frank and Alice Craig Gatchel, for the old postcard of Woodside; photo of
the W.D. Gatchel family, William Culbertson Gatchel, Frank E. Gatchel, II
and himself; and the Louisville storefront and interior of W. D. Gatchel &
Sons; and for providing information on the Gatchel family and business.
He is the last Gatchel family member
living in Louisville and the last president of W. D. Gatchel & Sons.
David Gleason and his wife, Helena McCoy Grimes, for sharing
information about the history of Pewee Valley, Tanglewood, the St. James
Episcopal Church and Waldeck, home of Karl and Amanthis Bullitt Smith
Jungbluth
Walter N. Haldeman III
of Redondo Beach, California for help and clearing up a few questions with
the early history of Edgewood, which was built by his great great
grandfather.
Eric Henderson, former Pewee resident and L&N model
railroader, for information about the 1983 topographic map that shows the
reservoir (now filled in) that once supplied the Confederate Home with
water.
Peyton Hoge,
who provided a photo of his great-great grandfather, the Rev. Dr. Peyton
Harrison Hoge
Jim Holmberg, Curator of Special Collections at The
Filson Historical Society, for working with us on photographs of Undulata,
the Villa Ridge School, and Mrs. Louise Cleland and helping find positive
proof that Beechmore was sold to the Board of Managers of the Jennie
Casseday Rest Cottage
Anne and John Kyser
of Pewee
Valley for sharing photographs and information about Twigmore.
Paulette Katz of Granger IN (where are you now, Paulette?) for
hooking us up with Annie Fellows Johnston's great grand-nephew, Scott Witwer
to obtain many personal pieces from AFJ, her sister Albion and the Lawton's.
Michael Chouteau Larned
for more genealogy on the Old Colonel's family.
Toni Langlais for
continuing invaluable research over several years on the Lees of Arizona's
Lee's Ranch, cryptography (Mrs. Lawton's letters) and just about any
genealogical research question we put to her on a number of subjects on this
site.
Alexandra Luken for her assistance with information and taking
pictures of the grave sites of Capt. Thomas Floyd Smith and his descendents
at Cave Hill, for providing additional historical research on Thomas and
Nanette Smith of Woodside and other Pewees of note, and for sending us
additional "Little Colonel" clippings from the Louisville Free Public
Library's scrapbooks.
Jane Marion
of
Paris, France who tracked down the real
Gate of the Giant Scissors.
Kurt X.
Metzmeier, Associate Director, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law
Library, University of Louisville for the photo and biographical information
on Judge P.B. Muir ("Judge Moore")
Frances Morrison
for digging out (and setting us straight on) the genealogy of the
Old Colonel and Amanthis.
Sue Lynn McDaniel, University Archivist and Records
Officer, Associate Professor, Library Special Collections Kentucky Library &
Museum at Western Kentucky University and expert on the works of Annie
Fellows Johnston font size is the problem here (author of "The Little
Colonel: A Phenomenon in Popular Literary Culture." ) for research and
historic material.
B. Utley Murphy for assorted information on Woodside
and Pewee Valley
John Nation, of Louisville Magazine,
for giving us permission to reprint his
photographs of Edgewood Manor today and inside Edgewood Manor today
Rod Nave of Georgia for the photos of his great-grandmother, Ida
Michael Souther Speer, on
Tanglewood's page
Mary O'Neal, daughter of Emmet O'Neal, for sharing family
photographs and information about the O'Neal years at Olde Pine Tower; a
photo of Hattie Cochran's future husband, Albert Conrad Dick, in his days at
Centre College; and a letter Annie Fellows Johnston wrote to her father when
he was 14 years old
Brad and Pat Palmer, for sharing information about
Olde Pine Tower and getting in touch with Mary O'Neal
Julie and Warren Payne of Louisville for sharing
information on Mary G Johnston as artist as well as example of her work.
Suzanne Laborde Perry of Pewee Valley for sharing
information about the making of "The Little Colonel" movie, for assistance
with genealogical information on the Fletcher and Matthews families and for
providing us with other valuable insights about the history and residents of
Pewee/Lloydsboro Valley and for information on the Bracketts’ of Twigmore
Rudy Rau
of Boulder, Colorado for extensive
information on General Henry Ware Lawton ("General Walton")
Jeanne Lawton Reagan
of Colorado for sending us significant amount of the information
very early on for the website, particularly about the Lawton family
(Walton's).
Dorian K. Rinehart (while stationed in Korea) for
pointing out and helping correct omissions on Mary Ware in Texas.
Shawna L.
Ropp,
Assistant Director of Special Events
at
Bellarmine University, who provided historical
information about "Ambassador Bingham's First Summer Home in Kentucky" from
the Bellarmine Show House
Suzanne Schimpeler for generously sharing items from her private
collection of "Little Colonel" related art and photographs
Norman Schippert,
who has even gotten in his plane to do aerial
photos for us.
Shelley Schippert, the gifted artist who designed the
Pewee Valley Driving Tour Guide.
Olivia Smith for information on her great grandfather
Capt Thomas Floyd Smith & family and
Beechmore
Ann Sharp for
cryptography and deciphering on many of "Mrs. Walton's" letters and some
genealogy help.
Richard Dennis Souther of the Souther Family
Association in Honolulu, Hawaii for assistance with the Souther genealogy on
Tanglewood's page
George Spence of Niles, Michigan for sending original
covers and correspondence from Annie Fellows Johnston in 1999, containing a
few mysteries yet to be solved.
M. Jay Stottman of the Kentucky Archeological Survey
who prepared a report on the Souther family in Pewee Valley in 2005
Sally Tanselle,
owner of the Little Colonel's childhood home, contributor of short
stories by Annie Fellows Johnston and vintage photo of of the home.
Nancy Theiss, executive director of the Oldham County Historical Society,
for providing us access to the National Historic Register information on
Historic Pewee Valley and for her wholehearted support of the work we are
doing.
Marjorie Fletcher Thompson,
great-great niece of Kate Matthews, for sharing her family photos
and memories of her Aunt Kate and Clovercroft
Joanie Walser, who has
shared photos, documents, relics, and other information about Pewee Valley
people and landmarks
Suzette Yetman
for photos and research on Annie Fellows Johnston and The Little
Colonel
There may still be some missing entries
here as we scour our records for people we may have missed mentioning.
If you think you should be on this list, it might be that you should, please
email us!
FINALLY, MANY THANKS to all our
web visitors who sent emails of encouragement, sent personal stories
(many extraordinarily touching) and who may have posted comments in our "Good
Times Book." They have been a joy to read and make us all feel like our
efforts here have not been in vain. Thank you again and again!
This web site is devoted to
