Bullitt-Berry-Hopson family papers
Abstract
The Bullitt-Berry-Hopson family papers (dated 1823-1988, bulk 1823-1911; 1.7 cubic feet; 4 boxes) comprise correspondence, ephemera, photographs, and family history papers that document the extended family of Dr. Owen G. and Virginia Berry Bullitt of Kentucky.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Bullitt-Berry-Hopson family papers
- Date
- 1823-1988 (inclusive)
- 1823-1911 (bulk)
- Extent
- 1.7 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Domestic Life -- United States
- Family archives -- Kentucky -- Lexington.
- Letters.
- African Americans -- Kentucky -- Lexington
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged by format.
- Preferred Citation
- 2009ms035 : [identification of item], Bullitt-Berry-Hopson family papers, 1823-1988, bulk 1823-1911, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Virginia Berry (1830-1914) was the oldest child of Henry King Berry (1808-1885) and Mary Catherine Taylor (1811-1892). Virginia lived in the Lexington-Versailles area of Kentucky with her seven sisters and two brothers until her marriage to Dr. Owen Gwathmey Bullitt in 1848. Owen Bullitt (1815-1861) also also came from a large family, with six sisters and five brothers, born to Thomas Washington Bullitt (1777-1823) and Diana Moore Gwathmey (1782-1853). Diana Moore Gwathmey Bullitt was related to George Rogers Clark.
- Virginia and Owen Bullitt had ten children, although four of them died at very young ages. The last child, Lilly Owen Bullitt was named after her father, who died before her birth in 1861. The family had considerable wealth that provided for boarding school education for all of the children and for travel in the U.S. and abroad.
- The family sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War. At least two siblings of Virginia and Owen fought for the South: Alexander Clark Bullitt, who was held as a prisoner of war in Ohio, and Anderson Berry, who was injured.
- After Owen's death in 1861, Virginia and her children moved to Lexington. Financial considerations caused daughter Mary Katherine Bullitt, to go to work, first as a newspaper reporter and then as Lexington's first librarian at the the city's new free library. By all accounts, she loved working as a librarian and remained there until her death from cancer in 1911.
- The Hopson family lived in Lexington and/or Paris, Kentucky, from the 1830s to the early 1900s. It is likely they lived in what is now called the Wallis House in Paris, Kentucky, built in 1850. Henry Hopson and Catharine Cooke were married in 1830 in Lexington. Their son, Joseph Henry Hopson, married Nannie Clarke Bullitt in 1883 in Lexington. Their daughter, Katharine Temple Hopson, married Robert Browning Hamilton in 1910 in Lexington, Ky. Robert and Katharine Hamilton's daughter, Mary Virginia Hamilton, was the poet Virginia Adair (1913-2004).
- Scope and Content
- The Bullitt-Berry-Hopson family papers (dated dated 1823-1988, bulk 1825-1911; 1.7 cubic feet; 4 boxes) comprise correspondence, ephemera, photographs, and family history papers that document the extended family of Dr. Owen G. and Virginia Berry Bullitt of Kentucky.
- The letters depict domestic life for a large, upper-middle class family in Kentucky during the middle of the 19th century. Many of the letters are from female relatives to other female relatives and describe travel, children, cooking, holiday celebrations, and other aspects of domestic life. Some letters reflect business ventures such as property or Dr. Bullitt's medical practice.
- The majority of letters are related to Virginia Berry Bullitt. There are two folders of letters from her husband during his travels as well as letters from her numerous sisters, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Owen's sister, Diana Gwathmey Bullitt Kearny (1821-1906), known to all as "Die", was a frequent letter writer to the Bullitts and their children.
- The Bullitt and Berry families had at least two members of their family enlisted in the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy. Her cousin W. Bullitt wrote letters to Virginia during his time as a prisoner of war in the Ohio State Penitentiary. Her brother Anderson Berry (1839-1921) was was also a prisoner of war and sent Virginia letters from Fort Delaware, Ohio State Penitentiary, and Camp Chase Prison.
- A significant portion of the collection contains correspondence to Mary Katherine Bullitt, Virginia and Owen's daughter, from James Lane Allen, a successful author from Lexington, who was then living in New York City. The letters begin in 1895 and continue until her death in 1911. Transcripts of these letters are available in the collection.
- As in many families, nicknames are frequently employed, many names are recycled through generations, and letters are addressed very informally. Much care has been taken to determine the intended recipient. For Virginia Berry Bullitt, Owen G. Bullitt, and Mary Katherine, who received the most letters in the collection, the letters are sorted by their names and who sent it to them. For people who appear infrequently in the collection, they may only have a folder for the correspondence sent to and from them. As is noted in the family history papers, a relative destroyed an entire trunk of letters, so the letters give a glimpse into the lives of the family members, but do not contain complete sets of letters.
- The collection also contains 25 photographs of Owen and Virginia Bullitt; their children, particularly Mary Katherine Bullitt, Ann Clark Bullitt, and post mortem photographs of Diana Temple Bullitt, who died when she was young; and members of the Hopson family. There are painted photographic portraits of Owen's parents, Thomas Washington and Diana Gwathmey Bullitt. Other photographs depict the Hopson family, which descended from Ann Clark Bullitt Hopson. Of particular note is the crystoleum photograph of Ann Clark Bullitt.
- There are numerous recollections by Bullitt and Berry descendants that date from the 1980s and provide colorful stories about the family. The collection also contains genealogical and historical research done by later members of the families.
Restrictions on Access and Use
- Conditions Governing Access
- Collection is open to researchers by appointment
- Use Restrictions
- The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Contents of the Collection
Correspondence, 1823-1979, undated
Atkinson family correspondence, circa 1859
Berry, Henry King correspondence, receipts, clippings, telegraph, 1861-1885
Bullitt, Ann Clark correspondence, 1859
Bullitt, Ferdinand B. to parents regarding trip to Bogota, Colombia, 1823
- Box 1, folder 4
Scope and Contents
This folder also includes a later, undated letter from Hebe Craig to Katharine T. Hamilton, which encloses the Ferdinand Bullitt letter from Bogota.
Bullitt, Henry Berry correspondence, Kentucky Military Institute cadet card, 1865-1867
Bullitt, Lilly Owen correspondence, circa 1875
Bullitt, Lizzie correspondence, undated
Bullitt, Mary Katherine correspondence, 1864-1979
Bullitt, Mary Katherine from James Lane Allen (author), 1895-1911
Bullitt, Mary Katherine from James Lane Allen letter transcripts, undated
Bullitt, Mary Katherine correspondence, 1864-1911
Bullitt, Mary Katherine from unidentified, undated
Bullitt, Mary Katherine from Nancy Bullitt, undated
Bullitt, Mary Katherine from Virginia Berry Bullitt (mother), 1875
Bullitt, Mary Katherine from Diana G. Bullitt Kearny, undated
Bullitt, Mary Katherine condolences from her class regarding the death of her sister, Lilly Owen Bullitt, 1876
Bullitt, Mary Katherine correspondence, remembrances, clippings concerning her death, 1911-1979
Bullitt, Owen Gwathmey correspondence, 1825-1860
Bullitt, Owen Gwathmey correspondence, 1841-1860
Bullitt, Owen Gwathmey business correspondence, 1857-1860
Bullitt, Owen Gwathmey from nieces, nephews, 1850-1860
Bullitt, Owen Gwathmey from siblings, 1825-1860
Bullitt, Owen Gwathmey from Bullitt family, 1859-1860
Bullitt, Owen Gwathmey from Virginia Berry Bullitt (wife), 1859
Bullitt, Owen Gwathmey from Diana G. Bullitt Kearny, undated
Bullitt, Owen Gwathmey with Frederick de Kantzow, 1841-1853
Bullitt, Owen Gwathmey from Mary Ann Bullitt Steuart, 1854-1860
Bullitt, Virginia Berry correspondence, 1848-1911
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from Berry family, 1854-1866
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from Bullitt and Berry cousins, 1857-1911
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from children, 1863-1876
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from nieces and nephews, 1859-1867
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from Anderson Berry, held at Ohio Penitentiary, Fort Delaware, and Camp Chase Prison, 1863-1865
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from Henry King Berry (father), 1849-1861
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from Henry B. Bullitt (son), 1865-1868
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from Owen G. Bullitt (husband), 1848-1859
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from W. Bullitt, prisoner of war at Ohio Penitentiary and Philadelphia martial barracks, 1863-1865
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from Eloise Bullitt de Kantzo, 1848
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from Lucy Johnson, 1856-1866
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from W. H. Jones (attorney), 1861-1866
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from Diana G. Bullitt Kearny, undated
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from G. F. Robb, 1862-1885
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from Mary Ann Bullitt Steuart, 1859-1861
Bullitt, Virginia Berry business correspondence, receipts, promotional material, 1864-1880
Bullitt, Virginia Berry from unidentified, includes poem dedicated to her, 1854-1863
De Kantzo, Frederick William correspondence, undated
Johnson, Lucy correspondence, 1861
Kearny, Diana Gwathmey Bullitt from Owen G. Bullitt, 1842-1858
Kearny, Diana Gwathmey Bullitt correspondence, undated
Kearny, Diana Gwathmey Bullitt from family, 1860-1875
Kearny family correspondence, 1860-1861
Steuart, Mary Ann Bullitt correspondence, circa 1857
Unidentified correspondence, 1856-1889
Bullitt family receipts and accounts, 1858-1859
Recipes for soda ash soap and medicine for a child, undated
Photographs, 1840s-1910, undated
Bullitt, Diana Gwathmey painted photograph, undated
Bullitt, Diana Gwathmey photograph, undated
Bullitt, Thomas Washington photograph, undated
Bullitt, Dr. Owen Gwathmey photograph, undated
Bullitt, Virginia Berry photograph, undated
de Kantzow, Eloise Bullitt tintype photograph, undated
Bullitt, Virginia Berry daguerreotype portrait, undated
Bullitt, Virginia Berry tintype photograph, undated
Bullitt, Dr. Owen Gwathmey painted portrait, undated
Kearny, Diana Bullitt painted portrait reproduction, undated
Bullitt, Diana Temple (likely) post-mortem daguerreotypes (2), 1853
Bullitt, Mary Katherine full-length portrait, undated
Bullitt, Mary Katherine photograph, undated
Hopson, Ann "Nannie" Clark Bullitt child portrait tintype, undated
Hopson, Ann "Nannie" Clark Bullitt child portrait on card, undated
Hopson, Ann "Nannie" Clark Bullitt portrait crystoleum, undated
Bullitt, Virginia Berry; Joseph Henry Hopson; Ann "Nannie" Clark Bullitt Hopson; Mary Katherine Bullitt; Katharine Temple Hopson; Sally the Cook; Jumbo the dog in front of Virginia Bullitt's residence, corner of Clay and Central Avenue, Lexington, Ky., 1885
Hopson, Ann "Nannie" Clark; ; Rose Gamble; Sally the Cook in front of 642 Central Avenue, Lexington, Ky., undated
Hopson, Catherine Eston Cooke daguerreotype, undated
Hopson, Stephen Cooke and Joseph Henry Hopson ambrotype, undated
Hopson, Joseph Henry encased, small, oval photograph, undated
Hopson, Charlotte Armstrong painted photographic portrait, undated
Hopson, Mary Susan painted photographic portrait, undated
Allen, James Lane photographic portrait, undated
Family history, 1855-1988, undated
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Table of Contents
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UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Requests
No items have been requested.
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
