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John Wilson Townsend papers, 1908-1951

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Author

Finding aid prepared by Laura A. Hess

Title

John Wilson Townsend papers

Date

1908-1951

Repository

University of Kentucky Special Collections

Arrangement

Collection is arranged by format.

Conditions Governing Access note

Collection is open to researchers by appointment.

Preferred Citation Note

73M3: [identification of item], John Wilson Townsend papers, 1908-1915, University of Kentucky Special Collections.

Extent

0.5 Cubic feet

1 box, 1 item

Biography/History

John Wilson Townsend was born November 2, 1885. He graduated from the Kentucky University, now Transylvania College, in 1906, before continuing his education at Harvard University. Residing in Lexington, Townsend began writing books and articles about Kentucky history. His most well-known book is an anthology of Kentucky literature titled Kentucky in American Letters. His second wife was Grace Cole.

Stokdyk, Jonathan. John Wilson Townsend Papers, 1840-1980. 2005. Web. Accessed 12 January 2012.

Scope and Content

The John Wilson Townsend papers consist of letters from Townsend to his second wife, Grace Cole, during their courtship. It also contains a typed manuscript draft of a biography of Irvin S. Cobb; drafts and galleys of a reprinting of the Knickerbocker article from the Idleberg Papers by Ambrose Barbour; and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings regarding events in Townsend's life, the functions of the Lexington Filson Club, the life of author James Lane Allen, and memorabilia relating to William King Solomon and the 1833 cholera epidemic in Lexington, Kentucky.

Subjects

  • Manuscripts.
  • Kentucky--History.
  • Allen, James Lane, 1849-1925
  • Barbour, Ambrose, 1822-1852
  • Cobb, Irvin S., (Irvin Shrewsbury), 1876-1944
  • Solomon, William, 1775-1854
  • Historians--Correspondence.
  • Historians.

Related Material

72M3, John S. Van E. Kohn letters to John Wilson Townsend, 1946-1965, University of Kentucky Special Collections.

Collection Inventory

Townsend letters to Grace Cole, 1915 July-September
[Box: 1, Folder: 1]
Townsend letters to Calverton, Irvin S. Cobb manuscript, 1928, 1931
[Box: 1, Folder: 2]
Cobb manuscript, 1928
[Box: 1, Folder: 3]
Ambrose Barbour and the Idleberg Papers, The Knickerbocker article, undated
[Box: 1, Folder: 4]
Townsend notes on Ambrose Barbour and the Idleberg Papers, 1950-1951
[Box: 1, Folder: 5]
Ambrose Barbour and the Idleberg Papers, galley, 1951
[Box: 1, Folder: 6]
Scrapbook, 1908-1910
[Item: 1]