Duncan, Foster, Gibson family papers
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Duncan, Foster, Gibson family papers
- Date
- 1811-1985, undated (inclusive)
- Extent
- 12.6 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Decedents' estates -- Kentucky.
- Families -- Kentucky -- History -- 19th century
- Families -- Kentucky -- History -- 20th century
- Letters.
- Plantations -- Kentucky.
- Plantation life -- Louisiana.
- Plantation owners.
- Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
- Slavery -- Kentucky.
- Slavery -- United States.
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged into four series by subject and format: Duncan family; Foster family; Gibson family; Assorted manuscripts, photographs, and printed materials.
- Preferred Citation
- 2017ms056 : [identification of item], Duncan, Foster, Gibson family papers, 1811-1985, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- The Duncan and Gibson families were prominent families of Kentucky and Louisiana during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Foster family had roots in Kentucky, yet gained prominence through the timber industry of Minnesota and Washington during the late nineteenth century.
- Daughter of Lexington lawyer and hemp manufacturer, Henry Timberlake Duncan (1800-1880), Mary Duncan (1838-1910) married Col. Nathaniel Hart Gibson (1835-1904). Her husband, Nathaniel Hart Gibson, commonly referred to as Hart, served for the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Hart's father, Tobias Gibson, Sr. (1800-1872), was one of the leading cotton and sugar planters of the Mississippi Valley but made Lexington, Ky. his principal residence. Hart's brother, Randall Lee Gibson (1832-1892) served as a U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator for Louisiana after his time as Confederate Brigadier General during the United States Civil War. Both the Duncan and Gibson families owned slaves in Kentucky and Louisiana leading up to the Civil War. Mary Duncan and Col. Nathaniel Hart Gibson's daughter, Elizabeth Dunster Gibson (d. 1926) married Harrison Gardner Foster (d. 1940). Harrison's father, Addison Gardner Foster (1837-1917), was a successful business owner of timber and coal companies in Minnesota and Washington. He served in the United States Senate for Washington State from 1899-1905.
- Scope and Content
- The Duncan, Foster, Gibson family papers (dated 1811-1985, undated; 12.4 cubic feet; 30 boxes) comprise correspondence, legal and financial papers, photographs, and ephemera, which document the families' daily life, economic influence, and personal opinions primarily during the 19th century. A large part of the collection consists of correspondence to Colonel Nathaniel Hart Gibson, Mary Duncan Gibson, Henry Timberlake Duncan, Tobias Gibson, Sr., and their relatives during the mid to late nineteenth century when they primarily resided in Lexington, Kentucky. Letters in the collection discuss significant issues of the time, such as slavery, the Civil War, and reconstruction. Letters by Tobias Gibson, Sr., a successful sugar plantation owner in Louisiana, discuss moving slaves from Kentucky to Louisiana right before the Civil War as well as contempt for President Abraham Lincoln. Correspondence between brothers, Nathaniel Hart Gibson, known as Hart, and Senator Randall Lee Gibson, include negative reactions to the role of African-Americans after the Civil War. Letters to and from Mary Duncan Gibson primarily discuss family matters, especially among the Foster side of the family, who resided in Minnesota and Washington state near the turn of the twentieth century. Notable items include the plans and deed records for Ingleside manor, the large Lexington estate purchased by Nathaniel Hart and Mary Duncan Gibson in 1879 and given to their descendants upon Mary's death in 1910 and the handwritten account of John Hunt Morgan's Raid into Kentucky.
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
Duncan family, 1828-1902, undated
Scope and Contents
The Duncan family series comprises the personal papers of Henry T. Duncan as well as his relatives and ancestors. These relations include Elizabeth Pyke, Stephen Duncan, Henry T. Duncan Jr., Lily Duncan, and Mary Duncan. The majority of the series is correspondence and business papers. A significant portion of the correspondence consists of letters between Henry T. Duncan and his second cousin, Stephen Duncan. Henry and Stephen primarily discuss business in their letters. For instance, in 1840 Stephen Duncan wrote Henry Duncan about an order for Henry Clay cordage damaged during a tornado in Natchez on May 7th. Henry and Stephen also discussed politics; tariffs on foreign fiber, cordage, and cotton bagging; and slavery.
Stephen Duncan (1787-1867), second cousin of Henry T. Duncan, was the wealthiest cotton planter in the South prior to the US Civil War and the second largest slave owner in the country. He owned plantations throughout Louisiana and Mississippi. Henry and Stephen were partners in the sale and transportation of cordage and bagging manufactured in Kentucky and sold in support of cotton plantations. Stephen Duncan opposed the Confederacy and relocated to New York City in 1863.
Family correspondence, 1837-1902, undated
Elizabeth Dunster Pyke Duncan to her husband, Henry T. Duncan, undated
Elizabeth Dunster Pyke Duncan to her daughter, Mary Duncan, 1854-1855
Elizabeth Dunster Pyke Duncan to her daughter, Mary Duncan, 1856-1860, undated
Elizabeth Dunster Pyke Duncan to Hart Gibson, undated
Elizabeth Dunster Pyke Duncan incoming correspondence, 1844-1870, undated
Elizabeth (Lily) Duncan to Hart Gibson, 1864
Henry T. Duncan, Jr. to his sister, Mary Duncan Gibson, 1856-1859, undated
Henry T. Duncan, Jr. to Hart Gibson, 1848
Henry T. Duncan, Jr. incoming correspondence, 1863, 1871
Henry T. Duncan, Jr. signed check, circa 1870
[Henry T. Duncan, Jr.?] letter fragment, undated
Mary Duncan to Mr. Duncan, undated
Toulina Johnson to mother (Harriet Johnson), undated
Henry T. Duncan, 1828-1884, undated
Correspondence, 1836-1884, undated
Incoming, 1840-1881, undated
Duncan family letters to Henry T. Duncan, 1842-1866, undated
- Box 1, folder 6
Scope and Contents
This folder contains family letters written to Henry T. Duncan. It includes a letter written to Duncan from his cousin Rebecca Turley (July 5, 1849) talking about various cholera epidemics in Lexington and St. Louis. One letter (July 17, [1862]) from Mary Seargent Duncan, the wife of Henry P. Duncan (1823-1979), describes the destruction of family plantations in Mississippi during the Civil War. A letter from Henry Duncan, Jr. (April 19, 1863) includes a clipping announcing that a violation of General Orders no. 47, prohibiting persons from dealing in Confederate money, will be dealt with in the provisions of that order.
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David Sayre letter to Henry T. Duncan, 1862 March 3
- Box 25, folder 20
Scope and Contents
Requests Duncan's assistance in obtaining appointments to military academies. In his post script he states, "I hope the President will release Governor Morehead."
Letters to Henry T. Duncan, 1860-1862
- Box 2, folder 1
Scope and Contents
Folder includes a letter from H.H. Timberlake, a member of Duncan's mother's family, to Henry T. Duncan (December 6, 1861) in which he questions Abraham Lincoln and Secretary Cameron's views on slavery and its impact on Kentuckians who supported the government as their "patriotic and holy duty of crushing out rebellion, and restoring the constitution and enforcement of the laws". Furthermore, Timberlake speculates, "if a crusade against the institution of slavery is to be the leading policy of the administration will Kentucky submit or spurn such an alliance?"
Folder also includes a letter from Colonel Charles Anderson about horses in Kentucky during the Civil War. He is seeking a black thoroughbred stallion and notes in the letter "If Morgan (John Hunt) has not made off with him, the horse is I think somewhere about you here."
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Letters to Henry T. Duncan, 1863
Letters to Henry T. Duncan, 1864
- Box 2, folder 3
Scope and Contents
Contains a letter written by General Ablin F. Schoepf (1822-1886) the commandant of Fort Delaware where Hart Gibson was incarcerated during the Civil War. Schoepf mentions a visit made by Duncan's daughters and references Hart Gibson saying "I am only sorry that I cannot enjoy his company as much as I want if our military creed was the same."
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Mary Duncan Barr letters to her brother, Henry T. Duncan, 1852-1859
Stephen Duncan letters to Henry T. Duncan, 1840
- Box 5, folder 14
Scope and Contents
Dr. Stephen Duncan's letters to Henry T. Duncan contain common themes, including business, politics, and travel. In May 1840, Dr. Duncan writes: "Major Gibson's bagging has not yet arrived at Alexander's Landing and Mr. Clay's cordage was damaged by being exposed to 14 hours of rain." A tornado hit Natchez, Mississippi, on May 7, 1840, killing 369 people. The May 14, 1840, letter contains more descriptions of the tornado.
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Stephen Duncan letters to Henry T. Duncan, 1841-1842
- Box 5, folder 15
Scope and Contents
Dr. Stephen Duncan's letters to Henry T. Duncan contain common themes, including business, politics, and travel. In a letter written in September 1842, Duncan, a Whig but not a fan of Henry Clay, discusses Clay's Tariff, which restored or placed new import taxes on foreign fiber, cordage, and cotton bagging. He writes in an August 22, 1842, letter, "if Congress adjourns, without passing a revenue bill, the fate of the Whig Party is especially sealed. -as it would well be. I am persuaded that the more moderate and reflecting will secede. While the more immediately interested in the protection policy, will be open to and opponents. I think nothing can justify- or even excuse the Whigs."
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Stephen Duncan letters to Henry T. Duncan, 1843-1844
- Box 5, folder 16
Scope and Contents
Dr. Stephen Duncan's letters to Henry T. Duncan contain common themes, including business, politics, and travel. In an April 21, 1843, letter Duncan writes, "I have a letter from Mr. Butler of the 15th Inst. in which he proposes to sell to me his Caillou place-for $80,000." Duncan then proceeds to the weigh the pros and cons of buying a sugar plantation at that price and provides a primer on plantation finance. He concludes this portion of the letter with: "Ellis & Battle have a very desirable plantation on Terrebonne which they are always anxious to sell. He goes on to say that they would take $60,000 in cash for it."
On October 30, 1843, Duncan writes, "The drumbeats for Mr. [Henry] Clay could not be better. I wish most sincerely he would not go to N. Carolina or anywhere else till the election is done. And I also wish he would avoid all occasions, (and) the subject of a bank of the U.S."
On November 23, 1844, Duncan laments the election of James K. Polk as president, writing "The long agony is over and J.K. Polk is President! Well, it is hard - very hard to believe. He is a man of mystification to us...I have made up my mind (to) never again cast my vote for President."
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Stephen Duncan letters to Henry T. Duncan, 1845-1849
- Box 5, folder 17
Scope and Contents
Dr. Stephen Duncan's letters to Henry T. Duncan contain common themes, including business, politics, and travel. In a letter written on April 18, 1847, Duncan discusses his views on an end to slavery, "I have no doubt you will in your situation, provide for a general, but gradual, emancipation of the slaves in your state. If I were a property holder, say even a slave holder, in the state, I would not object to this. Provided it was gradual, for I am sure it will displace the value of all other property in the state."
He also writes about the presidential election of 1848. In a letter written on August 8, 1848, he states that "The experience of the last 9 months has completely satisfied me that there exists no where, so selfish a set of demagogues, as is to be gleaned among those identified as our first statesmen - and those being first in the [?], I would place Mr. Clay, and Mr. Webster and Mr. Van Buren." He also defends General Zachary Taylor, writing that "You speak of Gen. Taylor as 'a man o fno principles.' This is unjust and I suspect very untrue."
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Stephen Duncan letters to Henry T. Duncan, 1861-1864, undated
- Box 5, folder 18
Scope and Contents
Stephen Duncan's letters to Henry T. Duncan written during the Civil War reflect on politics as well as the economic cost of the war. In 1863, Duncan moved to New York City and writes to Henry T. Duncan a long letter (December 1, 1863) discussing the losses on his sugar and cotton plantations in terms of property and human. He writes "I brought nothing from the south, but the proceeds of the sale of our plate...I was glad enough to have the means of getting away with life." He provides the terms of the emancipation of his slaves (without compensation) and states that he does not believe he will live to see the Union restored.
In a letter written on February 16, 1864, Duncan writes that his son, Henry, and his wife narrowly escaped from their home on board a steamboat after guerillas threatened to hang him. "Since I wrote you last, the Federal Army, and the [?], have completely gutted my two plantations".
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Daniel Duncan letter to his father, Henry T. Duncan, 1841 February 11
Outgoing, 1848-1872
Henry T. Duncan letters to his daughter, Lily, 1870
Henry T. Duncan letters to his daughter, Mary, 1848-1872
- Box 1, folder 2
Scope and Contents
Letters from Henry T. Duncan to his daughter Mary Duncan, later Gibson. His letters discuss school, her spending habits, and family and business news. In one he sends her specimens from Mammoth Cave including fish eyes (1855). In another he says "You will see that I am sojourning for several days at my bachelor establishment in Bourbon with no company but the overseer and 2 Irish laborers engaged in building stone fences."
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Henry T. Duncan letters to his son, 1856
- Box 1, folder 3
Scope and Contents
Letters from Henry T. Duncan to his son Henry T. Duncan, Jr. The folder includes a letter written on June 12, 1856, in which he cautions his son against openly discussing the political situations surrounding the Charles Sumner and Kansas controversies.
Henry T. Duncan letters to Hart Gibson, 1840, 1864
Letters written by Henry T. Duncan, 1859, 1861
- Box 1, folder 5
Scope and Contents
Folder contains three letters written by Henry T. Duncan. Two of the letters were written to Brigadier General Jeremiah T. Boyle (1818-1871) who was the military commander of Kentucky during 1863. In the letter written on June 30, 1863, Duncan writes Boyle concerning the slaves and property owned by his son-in-law Hart Gibson. Nine of Hart Gibson's slaves were taken in the public works and not returned. In the second letter to Boyle, written on July 11, 1863, Duncan writes on behalf of Thomas Wallace, who was taken prisoner near Perryville. Additionally, he mentions Hart Gibson's slaves from the first letter. Boyle wrote a reply on the verso, saying it is improper for Boyle to help Wallace.
The last letter was written by Duncan to an unidentified Doctor on May 28, 1859. It refers to a published account of an altercation between General Leslie Combs and Henry T. Duncan. Duncan refers to the article as "utterly destitute of truth and such a perversion of the facts." The letter give Duncan's account in detail.
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By subject, 1836-1884, undated
Architecture letters, 1842-1845, 1863
Crops letters, 1859, 1862
Slavery letters, 1844-1884, undated
- Box 3, folder 1
Scope and Contents
This file contains letters and documents relating to slaves owned by Henry T. Duncan or offered to him for sale. Several of the letters describe individual slaves and their health in detail. Two letters written on the same day [April 29, ?] by John Bell Swain talk about the capture of a runaway slave. Correspondants include C. Kelly, Anna des Cognets, E. Gills, I.F. Hall, James McRae, Thomas C. Gilroy, and William A. Gorham. The folder also includes a letter from O. Ferriss, of the U.S. Treasury Department, to Hart Gibson (January 11, 1884), who is attempting to locate information on Peter Bruce and Chloe, former slaves of Henry T. Duncan, Hart's deceased father-in-law.
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William H. Pope and Company letters, 1836-1859
- Box 3, folder 2
Scope and Contents
The William H. Pope & Co. (Louisville, Ky.) advertised bagging, bale rope, bagging, and slave clothing for sale. There are 21 letters from Pope or his employees to Duncan. They provide insight into how Duncan marketed his hemp. William Hamilton Pope (1803-1867) was a Harvard graduate (1817-1821), attorney, and later president of William H. Pope & Co. In 1832, he became president of the Bank of Kentucky (1837-1840). His home, later known as Bonny Castle Place, was built during the period 1825-1835 upon his father's estate. Pope's company also dealt in slaves.
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Letters about Henry T. Duncan, 1844, 1862
Files and financial documents, 1828-1879, undated
Articles of partnership with Samuel Pyke, 1828
Handwritten recipes, undated
Deeds, 1842-1865
Domestic accounts, 1840-1841
Draft grant to the Covington and Lexington Rail Road Company, 1852 June
Financial report, undated
Henry Clay monument, 1854-1874, undated
John McMurtry account sheets, 1841-1842
John McMurtry account sheets, 1841-1843
Kentucky bagging and rope accounts, 1837-1838
Land surveys, 1845, undated
List of thoroughbred colts and fillies, 1878
"The Necessity of Hard Study", undated
Samuel Pyke accounts, 1841
Travel pass, 1862 September 12
Will, 1859 January 25
Foster family, 1865-1985, undated
Scope and Contents
The Foster family series comprises the papers of Hart Gibson Foster and his mother, Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster, as well as Foster family relatives including Harrison Gardner, Addison Gardner Foster, Florence Jones Vining, and Martha Ann Weatherbee Foster. The series also contains assorted legal, genealogical, military records and printed materials.
Hart Gibson Foster (1890-1976) was the grandson of Nathaniel Hart and Mary Gibson. His papers primarily document Foster's early education at Philips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and at Yale University; his business activities in the cement pipe industry; his career in the U.S. Army (WWI and WWII); and his work in the oil and gas industry, banking, real estate, and farming. There are also files pertaining to Foster's wife, Florence Jones Vining. During the 1930s, Vining served in the Federal Housing Commission and in the U.S. Department of the Interior. Correspondents of interest in this portion of the collection include Vice President Alben Barkley, General George Duncan, Chief Justice Fred Vinson, Senator M.M. Logan, congressional representatives Emmet O'Neal and Edward O'Neill, and Louisville Courier-Journal editor Mark Etheridge.
The Foster family became connected to the Gibson family when Harrison G. Foster married Elizabeth Dunster Duncan Gibson in 1889. The family originally settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1638, but later Harrison G. Foster along with his mother, Martha Wetherbee, and father, Addison G. Foster, moved to St. Paul, Minnesota. From Minnesota, Harrison G. Foster and his wife and eldest son, Hart G. Foster, moved to Tacoma, Washington in 1890. In 1901, the Foster family moved back to Minnesota where they remained until circa 1917 when the family moved to Lexington, Ky.
Foster family letters and documents, 1889-1940, undated
Addison Gardner Foster telegraph, 1890
Addison Gardner Foster clipping, 1903
Addison Gardner Foster II letters to brother, Hart Gibson Foster, 1907-1923, undated
Addison Gardner Foster II letters to mother, 1911 June 1
Addison Gardner II envelope from American Consular Service, undated
Everett W. Foster clipping, 1927
Harrison Gardner Foster agreements and correspondence, 1892-1940, undated
Martha Ann Weatherbee Foster US President Inauguration invitation, 1913
Francis Weatherbee albumen print, undated
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster, 1869-1939, undated
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to her brothers, Duncan (Buddie) and Hart Gibson, 1869, 1877
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to her aunt, Lily Duncan, 1877
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to her father, Nathaniel Hart Gibson, 1877, 1900
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to her mother, Mary Duncan Gibson, 1877-1886
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to her sister, Louisiana Breckinridge Hart Gibson, 1877, undated
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to her mother, Mary Duncan Gibson, 1891-1896, undated
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster estate bills and receipts, 1901-1928, undated
Elizabeth Dunster Duncan Foster Pettit clippings, 1939, undated
Hart Gibson Foster, 1892-1985, undated
From Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster, 1907-1936, undated
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, undated
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1907 January-October
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1907 October-December
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1908 January-March
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1908 April-June
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1908 September-November
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1909 January
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1909 March-April
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1909 May-December
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1910 May-August
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1910 September-November
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1912 January-May
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1912 June-December
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1913 January-May
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1913 May-November
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1916 January-June
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1916 August-September
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1916 October-December
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1916-1925
Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, undated
From Harrison Gardner Foster, 1892-1940, undated
Harrison Gardner Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1907 October-November
Harrison Gardner Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1907 December
Harrison Gardner Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1908 January-March
Harrison Gardner Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1908 March-April
Harrison Gardner Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1908 April-June
Harrison Gardner Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1908 September-December
Harrison Gardner Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1909 January-October
Harrison Gardner Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1916 January
Harrison Gardner Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1916 February-March
Harrison Gardner Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1916 April-June
Harrison Gardner Foster letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1916 August-October
Incoming, 1907-1985, undated
Duncan Dunster Foster Pettit letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1908-1940, undated
Dunster E. Pettit letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1963-1985, undated
Louisiana Breckinridge Gibson letters to Hart Gibson Foster, 1907-1935
Assorted documents, 1865-1985, undated
Biographical information, circa 1946
Florence Jones Vining, Federal Housing Administration, 1934-1940, undated
- Box 13, folder 11
Scope and Contents
Florence Jones Vining, who married Hart G. Foster, served in the women's division of the Federal Housing Commission and was the Commission's national director of women's activities. She directed a program designed to acquaint American women with the provisions of the National Housing Act for financing the improvement and repair of homes, the construction of new ones and the refinancing of existing mortgages. She also worked with the United States Travel Bureau of the Department of the Interior. Her file contains a number of recommendation letters from historical notables including the following: Alben Barkley, M.M. Logan, Emmet O'Neil, Edward O'Neil, Mark Etheridge (Louisville Courier-Journal).
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Furniture inventory, Allied Van Lines, 1951
Geometry proof exam, 1908 May 22
Insurance, 1918
Legal, Hart Gibson et al v. Duncan Gibson et al, 1916
Legal, Shell Oil Company settlement, 1978-1980
Map, Menifee County, Kentucky, 1927
Military, Army-Navy-Air Force Register, 1955 October 15
Military, The Bayonet Remembrance Book of Camp Lee, Virginia, 1918
Military diet chart, undated
Military, War Department envelopes, undated
Newspaper clippings with correspondence, 1915-1916
Newspaper clippings from Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster, 1907
Newspaper clippings from Elizabeth Dunster Gibson Foster, 1913
Phillips Academy, 1908, 1972, undated
The National Association for Constitutional Government pamphlet, undated
Gibson family, 1830-1938, undated
Scope and Contents
The Gibson family series comprises the personal papers of Col. Nathaniel Hart Gibson, Mary Duncan Gibson and their relatives. The majority of the series consists of correspondence between family members such as Tobias Gibson, Louisiana Hart Gibson, and Randall Lee Gibson. Also included is information concerning the Ingleside estate, copies of newspaper clippings, genealogical information, and assorted papers and printed materials. Letters to and from Gibson family members discuss slavery leading up to and during the Civil War. In 1855, Henry T. Duncan wrote to his daughter, Mary, that she should not mention the slaves in correspondence while attending school in Massachuessets because he feared abolitionists would discover the letters. William Gibson wrote his brother about the impending war and the difficulties of cotton slaves working sugar plantations in 1860. Further, Henry T. Duncan and Preston Gibson wrote letters to members of Gibson family about relocating slaves from Kentucky to Louisiana before the war. After the Civil War, Gibson family letters regard the sale of plantation lands and the freedman's bureau. In 1868, C.R. Greathouse writes to Nathaniel Hart Gibson about the over payment of black teachers by the bureau. The Randall Lee Gibson sub-series consists of letters written to and from Randall Lee Gibson (1832-1892), Nathaniel Hart Gibson's older brother, which document Randall Lee's career as a sugar planter, Confederate officer, U.S. Congressman, and Senator from Louisiana.
The Gibson family has ties, through marriage, to several prominent 19th and early 20th century families, particularly the Duncans, Prestons, Pykes, Harts, Timberlakes, Fosters, Van Meters. The Kentucky Gibson family originally came to the state around 1827 when patriarch Tobias Gibson married Louisiana Breckinridge Hart. Tobias Gibson was privately educated in Lexington and even though he maintained several estates in Louisana his primary residence was in Lexington, Ky.
Family correspondence, 1843-1935, undated
Claudius Gibson correspondence, 1858-1861, undated
- Box 23, folder 20
Scope and Contents
Claudius Gibson letters to his sister (either Louisiana Hart Gibson or Sarah Thompson Gibson Humphries) consist of a fragment in which he mentions learning about Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry (Oct. 1859), provides a description of Paris, and discusses his attempts to obtain a passage home. Claudius Gibson, a CSA artillery officer, was killed during the Civil War.
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Hart Gibson, Jr. incoming letters, 1892
McKinley Gibson incoming letters, 1879
McKinley Gibson incoming letters, undated
McKinley Gibson voter registration, Orleans, Louisiana, 1878 June 29
Mary Montgomery Gibson letters to Louisiana Breckinridge Gibson, 1870 May 29
Mittie Gibson letters from Florence M. Shelby, 1878
Montgomery Gibson letters to Hart and Mary Duncan Gibson, 1890-1900
Unknown Gibson letters to Mrs. William T. Warfield, 1891 March 2
Joseph Alexander Humphreys letters to Tobias Gibson, 1881 July 28
Lucy Humphreys outgoing letter (fragment), undated
Tobias Gibson letter to Sarah Thompson Gibson Humphreys, 1865 July 25
Sarah Thompson Gibson Humphreys letter to Louisiana Breckinridge Hart, 1880 October 23
Hart Vance letter to Hart Gibson, 1890 April 23
Hart Vance letter to Mary Duncan Gibson, 1878 March 31
Dr. and Mrs. Morgan Vance letters to Hart and Mary Duncan Gibson, 1878, undated
Sarah Preston Vance letters to Mary Duncan Gibson, 1877-1878, undated
Sarah Preston Vance letters to Sarah Thompson Gibson Humphreys, 1871, 1876
Sarah Preston Vance outgoing letters, 1875-1877
Mary H. Voorhies letters to Louisiana Breckinridge Gibson, 1843
William Voorhies letter to Tobias Gibson, 1854 July 27
William Voorhies outgoing letters, 1861
Freidrich (Fritz) Johannes Hugo von Engelken letter to Mary Duncan Gibson, 1905 August 2
Ingleside, 1896-1932, undated
Scope and Contents
John McMurtry designed and built the mansion, Ingleside, beginning in 1842, for the industrialist Joseph Bruen. It was completed ten years later at a cost of $29,000. After the Civil War, Colonel J. Watts Kearney, son of General Phil Kearney, purchased Ingleside. After passing through the hands of several families, it was purchased by sisters Lily Dunster Duncan and Mary Duncan Gibson, wife of Hart Gibson, in 1879. The Gibson family owned Ingleside until the early 1930s.
This sub-series includes several letters (1893-1930) concerning Ingleside, a plat drawing of the property, newspaper clippings, and legal documents (deeds and mortgages) pertaining to the estate.
Ingelside deed and release of mortgage, 1930
General plan for Ingleside, undated
Hart Gibson (Nathaniel Hart), 1830-1916, undated
Scope and Contents
The Hart Gibson (Nathaniel Hart) subseries contain letters written to and by Gibson as well as other financial and legal material. Notable items include a June 8, 1861, petition signed by 32 persons requesting that Hart represent them as "Southern Rights" men in the lower house of the next legislature- this was during Kentucky period of neutrality. Another document (August 1861) invites Hart to speak at "a peace meeting." One the most significant and valuable items in his papers is a manuscript (11 leaves) in Hart Gibson's hand that details the final days of Morgan's Ohio raid from July 19, 1863, at Buffington Island until Morgan's capture near Lisbon, Ohio on July 27, 1863. Materials found in Hart Gibson's papers from the 1870s and 1880s continued to provide historical surprises. In 1877, Hart Gibson was in Washington, D.C. visiting his brother Randall Lee. There he witnessed Congressman Gibson's role in the disputed Hayes/Tilden election that resulted in the election of Rutherford B. Hayes as president in exchange for the end of reconstruction in Louisiana. He wrote several letters to his wife Mary describing the political situation.
Nathaniel Hart Gibson (1835-1904), the husband of Mary Duncan Gibson (1838-1910), was known as Hart, Gibson grew up in Kentucky and Louisiana. During the 1850s, Hart graduated from Yale College, studied law at Harvard and political science and philosophy overseas at Heidelberg University. Upon his return to Kentucky he continued to study law. In 1862, Hart was commissioned a Colonel in General Kirby Smith's cavalry and in 1863 participated in General John Hunt Morgan's Ohio raid. He was captured, incarcerated, and exchanged in 1864. After the war he co-founded The Lexington Daily Press, served in the Kentucky State legislature, served on the board of the state university, and was one of the incorporators of the Confederate Veteran Association.
Correspondence, 1830-1903, undated
Incoming, 1830-1903, undated
William P. Gibson letters to Nathaniel Hart Gibson, 1860-1861
- Box 15, folder 11
Scope and Contents
In his first letter to his brother Hart, William discusses the possibility of spending time in Kentucky. He also reminds Hart of his promise to send him a Berkshire pig. They have picked their cotton crop and he says, "How much less trouble there is in cotton than sugar planting." In his second letter, William reports that heavy rain has played havoc with their preparations for their next cotton crop. He states further that, "Pa (Tobias, Sr.) says that this is my last gasp-a big crop or go by the board." Of the coming Civil War, he says that he has learned who will hold some of the offices of the Confederacy. In addition, he states, "The talk is that in his management Lincoln means war and that Davis will march an army of fifty thousand men on Washington city if a single blockade takes place." William (1833-1865) was Tobias and Louisiana Hart Gibson's forth child, two years older than Hart. He married Elodie Mary Humphries on July 19, 1855 in St. James, Louisiana (Terrebonne Parish).
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W.E. Terrell letter to Nathaniel Hart Gibson, 1860 January 21
- Box 15, folder 12
Scope and Contents
Written by the overseer at Hartland plantation, in Woodford County, Kentucky. He reports on cribbing corn, moving logs, the health of slaves, and engaging the Irish to raise "dirt for your brick".
C.R. Greathouse letter to Nathaniel Hart Gibson, 1868 January 16
- Box 15, folder 13
Scope and Contents
Greathouse encloses a petition signed by the Woodford County judge and all the justices present at court in relation to a bill introduced by Gibson to use taxes paid by African-Americans to pay for African-American schools. Greathouse claims that the Freedman's Bureau created the schools and employed female teachers imported from Lexington. Greathouse feels the teachers were overpaid and that the schools did not attempt to conform to state school laws.
Mary Gibson letter to Nathaniel Hart Gibson, 1864 July 7
Letters to Nathaniel Hart Gibson, 1830
Outgoing, 1850-1899, undated
Nathaniel Hart Gibson letters to Mary Gibson, 1863-1899
- Box 16, folder 8
Scope and Contents
This file includes a prisoner of war letter from Hart Gibson to his wife Mary Duncan Gibson while he was imprisoned at Fort Delaware during the Civil War. The folder also includes a letter concerning the Compromise of 1877 and the end of Reconstruction. Gibson writes to his wife on March 2, 1877, that "the long agony is over and Hayes is counted in. We have entirely secured the practical reorganization of the Nichols government in Louisiana."
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Nathaniel Hart Gibson letter to Preston Gibson, undated
Assorted, 1840-1916, undated
Broadsides, undated
Nathaniel Hart Gibson calling card plate, undated
Calling cards, undated
Envelopes, 1888-1894, undated
Nathaniel Hart Gibson manuscript Civil War narrative and correspondence, 1863-1864, 1896, undated
Newspaper clippings, 1861, undated
Steamship ticket, New York and Liverpool, 1865 December
Tacoma Chamber of Commerce invitation, undated
Turnpike Company draft bill, 1887
Nathaniel Hart Gibson Washington and Lee University report cards, 1871
Western Military Academy, Bland Jones, 1870 April
Mary Duncan Gibson, 1849-1910, undated
Correspondence, 1849-1906, undated
Incoming, 1849-1906, undated
Hart Gibson letter to Mary Duncan Gibson, 1874 January 19
- Box 17, folder 14
Scope and Contents
Written from Oak Forest, Louisiana, and describes a riot of African-Americans in the Parish, protesting a general reduction in wages from 18 to 13 dollars per month. The rioters wanted no workers to work for the reduced rate. His brother Randall Lee wants Hart to join him in his practice in New Orleans and he asks Mary to consider his proposal arguing that he can't currently pay off his debt where they are now.
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Hart Gibson letter to Mary Duncan Gibson, 1877 February 20
- Box 17, folder 15
Scope and Contents
Written on U.S. House of Representatives stationery from Washington, D.C. Hart is in Washington visiting Randall Lee Gibson. He reports that Lee could not possibly have left Washington to attend a funeral in Kentucky because "The Louisiana complications required every moment of his time; seeing the President every day, sending and receiving telegrams and attending the argument before the commission. There has been no such excitement here since 61 ' Of course, Hayes will be counted in but I think there is no doubt that the whole Southern policy of previous Republican administrations will be abandoned."
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Hart Gibson letters to Mary Duncan Gibson, 1870-1882
- Box 17, folder 16
Scope and Contents
Folder contains a letter written on March 2, 1877. Hart writes: "The long agony is over and Hayes is counted in. We have entirely secured the practical reorganization of the Nichols government in Louisiana. The chances are that Lee will be elected Senator." The letter refers to the disputed presidential election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden and the decision by a special electoral congressional commission on the side of Hayes. Southern Democratic support was achieved through agreement to end Reconstruction.
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Henry T. Duncan letter to Mary Duncan Gibson, 1855 January 18
- Box 17, folder 17
Scope and Contents
He cautions Mary against speaking about slavery with anyone while she is at school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts or with sharing her letters. He is afraid they will get in the hands of abolitionists and then published in the press. The latter which will "misrepresent an institution, which though bad enough-she graphically misrepresents."
Tobias Gibson letter to Mary Duncan Gibson, 1860 November 25
- Box 17, folder 18
Scope and Contents
He writes that the slaves sent from Kentucky are doing well, "I am out and out for a separate and independent government and people. I loathe the very idea of a further connection with Northern fanatics with their vile abominations of every sort the least of which is their slanders of the truth which we could well disregard."
Outgoing, 1855-1905
Mary Duncan Gibson letter to Elizabeth Dunster Pyke Duncan, 1860 January 18
- Box 21, folder 7
Scope and Contents
She and Hart have just returned from New Orleans. "Tell father there was a large sugar plantation fifty miles from New Orleans on the river sold the other day for five hundred thousand dollars-it was bought by Burnside-the same man who has the Preston plantation. His income will now be five hundred thousand a year. He is an old 'back' and has the finest home in N.O. This is certainly the country for making money-and that easily-where one gets 60% of his property and as to slaves-the place is no worse to own them than another-you must not think I am losing my abolition principles-they are the same." Mary refers to the Houmas House mansion begun in 1810 under Wade Hampton I, and completed in 1828 by John and Caroline Preston-his daughter and son-in-law. It was purchased by John Burnside, a native of Belfast, Ireland, in 1857 for one million dollars (not $500,000). The Houmas was the largest slave holding in Louisiana before the Civil War.
Mary Duncan Gibson letters to Henry Duncan, Jr., 1856
Mary Duncan Gibson letter to David Sayre, 1855 August 4
Assorted, 1863-1910, undated
Mary Duncan Gibson bonnet receipt, Tacoma, Washington, 1892 October 18
Empty envelops and stamps, undated
Mary Duncan Gibson obituary, Lexington Leader, 1910 May 23
Mary Duncan Gibson travel pass, 1863 May 22
Louisiana Breckinridge Hart Gibson, 1864-1905, undated
Louisiana Breckinridge Hart Gibson letter to Mrs. Hart Gibson (Mary Duncan), 1875
Louisiana Breckinridge Hart Gibson letters to Mrs. Hart Gibson (Mary Duncan), 1892 January-October
Louisiana Breckinridge Hart Gibson letters to Mrs. Hart Gibson (Mary Duncan), 1892 November-December
Louisiana Breckinridge Hart Gibson letters to Mrs. Hart Gibson (Mary Duncan), 1893
Louisiana Breckinridge Hart Gibson letters to Mrs. Hart Gibson (Mary Duncan), 1896, 1905, undated
Louisiana Breckinridge Hart Gibson letters to Hart Gibson, Jr., 1872, 1891
Louisiana Breckinridge Hart Gibson letter to Duncan Gibson, 1892
Invitation to tea to Loulie [Louisiana Breckinridge Hart Gibson], undated
Tobias Gibson, 1845-1938, undated
Scope and Contents
This sub-series contains more than sixty-five letters (1855-1871) from Tobias to his son Hart as well as other family members. Some were written while his sons were at Yale and others while they were in Europe. A small group, written in the late 1850s and early 1860s, discusses the problems Kentucky slaves experienced acclimating to a new environment after they were sent to Louisiana by Henry T. Duncan. As the Civil War approached, Tobias' letters were filled with anti-Abraham Lincoln rhetoric. By war's end in 1865, he was still complaining about what he termed "the annihilation of labor," military government, government control from Washington, and the need to reinstate state's rights. Aside from the war and politics, topics in Tobias' letters include discussions of plantation crops (sugar cane and cotton) and plantation infrastructure, levees and flooding on the Mississippi, travel, financial affairs, and family matters.
Correspondence, 1849-1871, undated
Letters to Tobias Gibson, 1849-1866, undated
- Box 21, folder 14
Scope and Contents
This folder contains many letters from Tobias Gibson, Sr. to the Duncan family including his son's father-in-law Henry T. Duncan and his daughter-in-law Mary Duncan Gibson. He often writes about slaves on the plantation of his son Hart Gibson, the political situation of Kentucky during the Civil War, and Reconstruction in the South.
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Tobias Gibson letters to Hart Gibson, 1871
Assorted, 1845-1938
Craig & Elliott account ledger, 1851-1852
Newspaper clipping: Lexington Gibson House, 1938 November 13
Tobias Gibson Power of Attorney, 1865 August 13
Randall Lee Gibson, 1855-1896, undated
Scope and Contents
This sub-series contains materials relating to the most well known member of the Gibson family, Hart's older brother Randall Lee Gibson (1832-1892). It includes a large amount of lettes written to Hart Gibson and other siblings between 1855 and 1883. The majority of letters were written to Randall Lee's brother Hart. These letters document Randall Lee's career as a sugar planter, Confederate officer, U.S. Congressman and Senator from Louisiana, and a founder of Tulane University. Letters between the brothers generated in the 1850s discuss their education at Yale, their travels through Europe, and their initial ventures into plantation life. As the country disintegrates into civil war in the early 1860s, they discuss abolitionists, the presidential election of 1860, and the need to establish a confederate form of government in both Louisiana and Kentucky. Letters that followed the war, took stock of family fortunes and the family's attempts to resume growing cotton, the difficulty in utilizing freed men, Recondstruction government in Louisiana, the election of Rutherford B. Hayes, Randall Lee's law practice and his successful venture into politics, and his marriage to Mary Montgomery.
Correspondence, 1855-1890, undated
Randall Lee Gibson letters to Hart Gibson, 1855
Randall Lee Gibson letters to Hart Gibson, 1860-1866
- Box 23, folder 6
Scope and Contents
This folder contains letters written by Randall Lee during the Civil War period. Notable letters include one written on August 31, 1860, in which Randall Lee provides the names and ages of slaves on his plantation, including 30 of his own and then the slaves owned by Hart who came from Kentucky. He also discusses the health of the slaves from Kentucky. On December 22, 1860, Randall Lee writes about Louisiana's secession convention and the possibility of one in Kentucky, counseling that if Hart wishes "to take the lead in this matter you had better begin to lay your plans as soon as possible, to be elected to a convention, taking the southern side as far as you can go. A convention is inevitable in Kentucky, and she must decide to join the North or South."
The folder also contains several letters discussing the financial situation of the Gibson family following the end of the Civil War. In a letter dated June 20, 1865, Randall Lee writes about the financial debts of Tobias, Sr., Randall Lee's decision to go into the law, and encourages Hart to seek amnesty as soon as possible. In a letter dated July 27, 1865, Randall Lee writes that Tobias Gibson has gone to New Orleans to confer with officials of the Freedman's Bureau on how he should pay his workers (former slaves). He writes that "We are all in favor of white labor and will undertake what you propose; organize companies to introduce Irishmen and their families. This cannot be done immediately as everything is too broken up and there is absolutely no money and no credit at hand."
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Randall Lee Gibson letters to Hart Gibson, 1875-1878
- Box 23, folder 10
Scope and Contents
This folder includes letters concerning the election of Rutherford B. Hayes, the Compromise of 1877, and the end of Reconstruction. In one letter, written on February 10, 1877, Randall Lee writes that "it looks unfavorable for us, but if Tilden is declared elected, we all after so many years of disaster - with luck - must manage to get on the rising tide. You must therefore, without a day's delay, upon the announcement of Tilden come directly here." He promises to help Hart get a position and a living income.
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Randall Lee Gibson letters to Tobias Gibson, 1859-1868
- Box 23, folder 14
Scope and Contents
Includes a letter, written on February 11, 1866, discussing Hart Gibson and Randall Lee Gibson's survival of a steamboat explosion. He writes, "I am concerned about Hart's deterioration. I am afraid his hands will be crippled or greatly disfigured, but it was such a merciful rescue from the jaws of death that we ought not to complain."
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Assorted, 1875-1896, undated
Randall Lee Gibson Power of Attorney, 1881 April 4
Tulane University in memoriam of Randall Lee Gibson, 1892
Randall Lee Gibson clippings, 1894-1896, undated
Assorted manuscripts, photographs and printed materials, 1811-1977, undated
Scope and Contents
The Assorted manuscripts, photographs and printed materials series comprises books, clippings, correspondence, drawings, notes, photographs, and records related to the Duncan, Foster and Gibson families but with an unclear provenance. Correspondence includes letters by significant 19th century educators like Louis Agassiz and David Sayre. Drawings are architectural and artistic sketches. Notes include lists or narratives for events. Books, magazines, poems were presumably owned by family members. The photographs appear to primarily depict persons near the turn of the twentieth century.
Assorted correspondence, 1811-1971, undated
Louis Agassiz, 1893 January
Nannie Barr, 1861
Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn, 1871
Frank Brady to General John Hunt Morgan, 1862 September 11
- Box 26, folder 1
Scope and Contents
Brady writes "I have received of Mr. James McKee the sum of two hundred and fiftydollars. He states that he did not place any claim with Combs. Did not and would not receive one cent-for his horse. He refers to Mr. Frank P. Kinkead and Dr. Whitington the statements he makes." James McKee owned a farm near Versailles. Frank (Francis) Brady was a Lieutenant in command of Morgan's Scouts. He was born near Paris, Ky. In the autumn of 1865 he married Mary Fulmer of Eufaula, Georgia. In 1867 he drowned in Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana while on a business trip.
William Campbell Preston Breckinridge, 1866-1876
Wickliffe Cooper, 1862 August 25
M.C. Johnson to Dent, 1862 February 27
Henry Keane to David Sayre, 1842 October 1
Drawings, notes, and printed materials, 1836-1977, undated
"An Appreciation of the Half-Bred Horse" by Olive Bennett, after 1944
Architectural drawing of horse stalls, undated
Joseph Bowmar draft of circular, 1865 August 5
Civil War broadside, undated
Deed of conveyance template, 1871
Delegates and Alternates to the Democratic National Convention booklet, St. Louis, 1916 July 14
Democratic Party of Kentucky draft resolution, undated
Drawing of parallel bars, undated
Fragment titled "Miriam," from unknown drama, undated
Kentucky Agricultural and Mechanical Association constitution and by-laws, 1850 April
Kentucky Agricultural and Mechanical Association seventeenth annual fair at Lexington book, 1893 August
"Kentucky Historical and Genealogical Magazine", vol. 1, no. 1, 1899 June
Lee Memorial Association proposal, undated
Little Women: A Comedy in Four Acts by Mariam De Forest, 1921
Manuscript poem, undated
Newspaper clippings, 1860-1899, undated
Newspaper clippings, 1900-1966, undated
Poem: "There is a Letter in the Candle", undated
Porter, Ebenezer "Letter on Eloquence and Style" book, 1836
Society for the College Instruction of Women circular, 1883 February 22
Voorhies architectural drawings, undated
"Vice in Lexington" newspaper clipping, undated
Nathaniel Hart Gibson portrait appraisal for the Kentucky Historical Society, 1977
Social list, undated
Legal records and notes, 1841-1894, undated
Hart v. F. Harper petition, Woodford, Kentucky, undated
John W. Horine to George Williams property deed, Fayette County, Kentucky, 1876 January
D.C. Humphreys Executor Plaintiff vs. D. C. Humphreys Legatees & Defendants, Woodford County, Kentucky, 1868
Richard Keiningham and Benjamin Keiningham deed trust, Bourbon County, Kentucky, 1841
Hugh Kerr & Co. investment in Robert Clark, grocer, 1843
Notes on Harris v. John G. Marshall, undated
William Voorhies deed map, undated
Voorhies remarks in US Deficiency Appropriation Bill, 1870 March
Woodford Court of Common Pleas summon to Louisiana Gibson, Tobias Gibson and S.F. Humphreys, 1874 September 29
Photographs, 1894, 1913, 1934-1938, undated
Charles Herbert Anderson and Harrison G. Foster crossing the River Styx, 1938 July
Confederate States of America veterans Jack Baker, W.G. Gossom and Hart Gibson, 1894 February 25
Henry Timberlake Duncan portrait, undated
Exterior view of house with two men in front, undated
Four women in a car next to a fence, undated
Tobias Gibson house, Second Street, Lexington, Kentucky, undated
Portrait of a young man, undated
Three men wearing boater hats, undated
White woman laying in chair carried by boys in peasant clothes, undated
Harrison G. Foster drinking with Col. Roche, pattern toast, 1937 May 1
Group photo of the Thigum Thu centered about Col. James Maurice Roche, 1934
Interior of Yale dorm room, 1913
Interior of Andover dorm room, undated
New machine in Calgary, undated
Cement mixer, undated
Cement mixer, undated
Two men with wooden platform, undated
Two men with working machine in factory, undated
Pipe machine with notes for table rest, undated
Pipe machine in factory, undated
Pipe machine in factory, undated
Vertical surface grinder, undated
Exterior of San Diego Glazed Cement Pipe Company factory, undated
Envelop labelled Photograph of Thomas Machine, undated
Man in uniform, undated
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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.
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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.
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