Mrs. Luckie: Killed by Lightning

This scrapbook entitled “Mortuary of Lexington, Kentucky” and compiled by General John M. McCalla (1793-1873), consists of funeral notices and obituaries printed in local Lexington newspapers from 1803-1869.
 

2013ms0755: John M. McCalla "Mortuary of Lexington, Kentucky" scrapbook

 

Scrapbooks are an often unloved historical format, but this mortuary depicts a snapshot of Lexington social life and the treatment of death in the nineteenth century. Additionally, it documents various newsworthy events through its marginalia.  

Numerous funeral notices have notes written in ink or pencil. For example, this one from 1817 is a notice for the funeral of Mrs. Jane Luckie. The marginalia reads “Killed by lightning at the Presbyterian Church”.

 

These funeral notices from 1829 document a famous Lexington duel between Charles Wickliffe and George J. Trotter. The duel has its roots in the acquittal of Charles Wickliffe for the murder of Thomas R. Benning, editor of the Kentucky Gazette. Wickliffe shot Benning during a disagreement over editorials, which criticized his father, politician Robert Wickliffe. Henry Clay acted as Wickliffe’s lawyer during his trial. Later that same year, Wickliffe challenged the new editor of the newspaper, George J. Trotter, to a duel over articles questioning the fairness of the trial. During the duel Trotter killed Wickliffe on the second shot.

 

The mortuary contains the funeral notice for Thomas R. Benning with the marginalia “Killed by Charles Wickliffe” and the notice for Charles Wickliffe annotated with “Killed in a duel with G.J. Trotter.”

 

Lastly, this 1844 funeral notice for Caroline Turner notes that she was “murdered by her slave”. Caroline Sargent Turner, wife of the Honorable Fielding L. Turner, was notorious for beating her slaves. She was found strangled in her home in 1844. After fleeing, one of her slaves, Richard Moore, was apprehended in Scott County, tried, and hanged for her murder.
 

We're pleased to announce several notebooks and scrapbooks from the Frank Fitch Notebooks, 1867-1873 (2008ms007) are now available on Explore UK.

Abstract: The Frank Fitch Notebooks span from 1867 through 1873. During this period Frank Fitch, along with his brother Fred, built a furnace in Estill County Kentucky. The seven notebooks in this collection serve as documentation of the construction of that furnace.

Biography/History: In operation from 1869 through 1874, Fitchburg Furnace of Estill County, Kentucky was designed by Frank Fitch, constructed by Sam Worthley, and financed by a group of New England businessmen. Fitchburg's twin furnaces, Chandler and Blackstone, were named for two of the project's investors. One of three iron furnaces in Estill County, and one of dozens in the larger Hanging Rock region of northeast Kentucky and southeast Ohio, Fitchburg Furnace produced railroad wheels and rails. During its 1868 construction a town of 2,000 developed around Fitchburg Furnace, but when the Furnace ceased operations in 1874 the town slowly dissipated.

Scope and Content: The Frank Fitch Notebooks consist of seven notebooks spanning from 1867 through 1873. These document the construction of the furnace Frank Fitch built with his brother, Fred. They include rough sketches of the furnace, maps of the area around the furnace, lists of supplies, and financial information. The collection also contains several pieces of ephemera as well as materials from an exhibit about Frank Fitch and the furnace.

Extent: 0.25 cubic feet

 

Highlights from the Collection

The Mikada (play) "This is the picture of the play I was in - maybe you can get a better idea of what it was like by this." circa 1924
Ida Kenney Risque Harper scrapbook, 1921-1925

The Ida Kenney Risque Harper scrapbook, 1921-1925 includes items related to Harper's student life at the University of Kentucky during the years 1921-1925. It includes dance invitations and dance cards, theatre programs, some correspondence, newspaper clippings, and photographs. Many of the items relate to Ida Kenney Risque Harper's involvement in the Lambda Alpha chapter of Chi Omega Women's Fraternity. Of note, there are several citations from the Woman's Self Government Association indicating rules that Harper had broken. The photographs predominantly consist of plays during the 1920s.

A miserable death

At first glance, this 1923 photo in Abe Thompson’s scrapbook (1984ua004) may appear to record the funeral of a V.I.P. being given a military salute. It is, in fact, a mock funeral for Sewanee University, whose football team was beaten by the University of Kentucky 7-0 in a 1923 match. The tombstone reads “Here lies Sewanee – Died October [?], 1923 – Chewed up by the Wildcats – Died a miserable death”.

Mock funerals were a common prank in American colleges from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. In addition to “burying” opposing teams, students sometimes held funerals for their least favorite textbook, author, or class of the year. These were surprisingly complete with coffins, processions, dirges – and in the case of Sewanee’s funeral – military salutes. The more elaborate events were planned in advance by classes or social organizations and usually publicized in the form of flyers handed out to attendees the day of or before the “funeral”.

The 1912 Kentuckian (U.K. yearbook) shows a funeral procession for Willis E. Smith, who is immortalized in illustration and verse as “a young fellow of excellent pith” who chooses to leave U.K. abruptly and finds himself the subject of speculation and frenzied searching by the University, who thinks that he has come to harm. Unfortunately, the context for this prank has been lost, so whoever “Willis E. Smith” was or represents has also been lost. While the tombstones for Sewanee and Willis E. Smith can no longer be seen on campus, the spirit in which the mock funerals were conducted lives on in student scrapbooks and yearbooks.