Research Help

Contents

Collection Access

LOGO_University of Chicago
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, 1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637

Research services, access and contact information for Special Collections at the University of Chicago.

Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Broadsides, Broadsheets, Pamphlets, and Leaflets

Descriptive Summary

Title
Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Broadsides, Broadsheets, Pamphlets, and Leaflets
Dates
1788-1938
Language
Documents in English
Size
13.25 linear feet (8 boxes)
Repository
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.
Abstract
Reuben Thomas Durrett (1824-1913), lawyer, manuscript and book collector, and Kentucky historian. The Reuben T. Durrett Collection of Broadsides, Broadsheets, and Circulars consist primarily of broadsides relating to political issues, national and local elections, and meetings. Also contains business advertisements; announcements for the sale of lands and slaves; and posters relating to church matters, opposition to slavery, speeches, stagecoach fares, and other topics intended for public posting. Much of the material refers to events in Kentucky and Alabama.

Information on Use

Access

The collection is open for research.

Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Broadsides, Broadsheets, Pamphlets, and Leaflets, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Acquisition Information

The existence of the Durrett library first came to the attention of the University of Chicago through William E. Dodd, a professor of American history at the University who had consulted the library as a student. Like other faculty members of the Division of the Social Sciences early in the century, Dodd was concerned about the University's lack of extensive research materials for history and related subjects, and since he was aware of Durrett's advanced age, he persuaded A. C. McLaughlin, also of the history department, to accompany him to Louisville in June, 1910, to see the collection and to make discreet inquiries about plans for its disposition. The two found Durrett himself uncertain about his plans, but learned that the Durrett family opposed making a donation of the collection, and that they were in communication with Princeton University and the University of Illinois about selling the library.

Dodd himself was very enthusiastic about the research potential which Durrett's library represented, and won the support of many of his colleagues on the social science faculties in his efforts to persuade President Judson to consider the purchase by the University of the entire library, numbering some 30,000 volumes. Convinced that the collection would be a valuable addition to the University's holdings, but wary of the expense involved, Judson agreed cautiously to investigate the idea. Although Dodd and his colleagues were anxious to conclude the agreement quickly, fearing competition from other would-be purchasers or the dispersal of the collection upon Durrett's apparently imminent death, the task of deciding upon a fair offer was made difficult by the fact that the collection had never been adequately catalogued.

Durrett's own suggestion made in December, 1912 of $45,000 seemed high, so in February, 1913 the University engaged Walter Lichtenstein, a Northwestern University librarian who had previously acted as purchasing agent for the University of Chicago libraries, to assess the value of the Durrett collection. Lichtenstein's report was submitted to President Judson on February 21, 1913, following a trip to Louisville to sample the collection.

The assessment, made on terms of commercial market value rather than scholarly significance, divided Durrett's library into four parts. Some 20,000 bound volumes (including 500 volumes of Kentuckiana) he estimated at $7,200. Two hundred fifty file folders of pamphlet material had no apparent commercial value. Numerous manuscripts and newspapers were difficult to assess but Lichtenstein thought they could be fairly purchased for $15,000. A collection of maps was estimated to have a value around $50. Lichtenstein's estimate, therefore, totaled $22,000-$22,500, considerably less than Durrett's own. When the University authorized Lichtenstein to make this offer to the Durrett family, however, they accepted it, apparently favoring Chicago as the repository of their collection. The purchase sum, which was too high to be taken from the University's ordinary budget, was raised among outside donors, and under Lichtenstein's supervision, the library was dismantled and shipped to Chicago by early May. It filled 287 large packing crates. Its arrival provoked considerable comment in the Louisville and Chicago press, and almost immediately the University began to receive research inquiries from scholars and requests from several libraries for copies of some of the Durrett material to add to their own collections.

By the end of the 1915-16 academic year, about 9,000 of the Durrett and Boggs-Lyle volumes had been processed and distributed to the departmental libraries. It was then that Henry and his staff turned some of their attention to the manuscripts--that is, to the material comprising the Durrett Collection as described in this guide. At that time the Durrett manuscripts were apparently divided into four large groups--the Joel Tanner Hart Papers, the Joshua Lacy Wilson Papers, miscellaneous manuscripts, and miscellaneous separately bound items--either mounted in scrapbooks or bound together. A card catalog was compiled for at least the first three of these groups.

The Durrett Collection remained in this state until the mid-1950s. By then it had been incorporated within the holdings of the Department of Special Collections (1951), and it became clear that reorganization of the manuscripts was necessary. Paul Angle, a member of the staff of the Chicago Historical Society, who had surveyed the University of Chicago's manuscript collection as a consultant in 1944, had pointed out that the Durrett miscellaneous bound manuscripts in particular were of little use to scholars as they were then arranged and described. Moreover, the Special Collections staff had observed that the mountings and bindings done by Henry's staff were detrimental to the lives of the manuscripts, and that the existing catalog and descriptions provided inadequate access to the documents. The manuscripts, therefore, were removed from their bindings and divided into smaller and more coherent sub-collections.

In the 1970s, an effort was undertaken to edit the 1956 guide, to enhance the descriptions of the Durrett codices for greater detail and accuracy, and to differentiate between transcripts and original manuscript material bound together in the codices. Manuscript material also received conservation treatment. In 1983, another attempt was made to write a comprehensive guide to the entire collection. This guide remained in use until 2015. The current guide was completed in 2016.

Biographical Note

Born in Henry County, Kentucky, on January 22, 1824, Reuben Thomas Durrett took pride in his descent from a family with an early history of intellectual achievement. The family was of French background (the surname was originally Duret) and counted among its members the authors of several mid-sixteenth and early seventeenth century French treatises on various scientific subjects. The Saint Bartholomew religious persecutions in France forced one branch of the family to emigrate to England. From there three brothers, John, Richard, and Bartholomew Durrett, migrated to Spotsylvania County, Virginia, early in the nineteenth century. Francis Durrett, the grandfather of Reuben, was born there and he returned after serving in the Illinois campaign of George Rogers Clark in 1778-79. Soon after the turn of the century, however, Francis moved to the western country, settling with his family in Henry County, Kentucky.

The son of William and Elizabeth Rawlings Durrett, Reuben Durrett received his primary education in the Henry County schools, and studied at Georgetown College, Georgetown, Kentucky, from 1844 until 1846. He received the degree of A.B. from Brown University in 1849 and returned to Kentucky where he enrolled as a law student at the University of Louisville. Upon receiving the LL.B. in 1850, he began a practice that was to continue for some thirty years. He served a term in 1853 as a member of the Louisville city council, and from 1857 until 1859, edited the Louisville Courier, of which he was a half-owner. In 1852 Durrett married Elizabeth H. Bates, daughter of Caleb and Elizabeth Humphreys Bates of Cincinnati. The couple had four children, of whom only one, William T. Durrett, lived to adulthood.

The success of his legal practice enabled Durrett to retire in 1880, and for the remainder of his life he devoted himself to his historical and literary interests. Earlier (about 1856) he had begun systematically to build an extensive library on a wide variety of subjects, and now he dedicated his resources particularly to enriching his collection of materials on Kentucky. Having initially “made it an object to secure every book about Kentucky or Kentuckians or that was written by a Kentuckian or even printed in Kentucky,” Durrett expanded his goals and seems in the end to have hoped to acquire every conceivable kind of source material on the history of Kentucky and much of the surrounding region. His Library grew to include not only printed but also manuscript works (including many brief genealogical or anecdotal sketches written in answer to Durrett's queries by descendants of prominent Kentuckians), transcripts of manuscript material on Kentucky located in private collections or in archives outside the state, and sundry books and manuscripts which, whatever their subject, Durrett deemed historically significant because they had once been owned by prominent Kentuckians.

Not content with simply amassing historical source materials, Durrett also made an effort to publish the results of his own researches into his collections. Moreover, in 1884 he persuaded nine other historically-minded Kentuckians to join him in founding the Filson Club, an organization dedicated to collecting primary source materials on Kentucky, encouraging historical study, and publishing literature on historical topics. The club was named after John Filson, who published in 1784 The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke, a promotional tract that was later recognized as the first history of the state. From 1884 until his death, Durrett served as president of the society. Durrett also established the Louisville Public Library in 1871, and throughout his life made his own collection available to scholars interested in Kentucky affairs.

Durrett was an active member of his community in many other ways. He served on the Board of Park Commissioners and the Board of Councilmen. He was President of the Children's Free Hospital and the Episcopal Orphans' Home. At various points in his life he directed the Kentucky Title Company, the Kentucky Title Savings Bank, the First National Bank, the Kentucky Heating and Lighting Company, and the Louisville Lighting Company.

To assure that his library would remain accessible to scholars after his death, Durrett began in the last years of his life to make tentative plans to donate his collection to the city of Louisville. His family, however, thought it unwise to make an outright gift of such a valuable collection, and encouraged him to consider offers from would-be purchasers. A stroke in July, 1912, left Durrett unable to take a very active role in the disposition of his library, and after some consideration of other offers, the family concluded a purchase agreement with the University of Chicago early in 1913. Durrett died in Louisville on September 16, 1913.

Scope Note

The collection contains broadsides, broadsheets, pamphlets, and leaflets that form a part of the Durrett collection. The series is divided into two series. Series 1 contains broadsheets and broadsides. Series 2 contains pamphlets and leaflets.

Broadsides denote large format single pages that have printing on one side only. Broadsheets indicate large format single sheets printed on both sides. Pamphlets are defined as short, non-serial, bound works of more than one sheet and may include a soft cover. Leaflets refer to a single printed sheet, which may be folded.

Each series is organized chronologically, and materials span from 1788 to 1938. Series 1 contains a broadside that has been bound individually and is labelled ‘Broadsheet 85’ in accordance with a former system of organization. Materials in the collection generally relate to political issues, national and local elections, and meetings. The collection includes a number of records and transcripts of speeches leading up to the Civil War. These documents touch on the legal and political complexities of preserving the institution of slavery in the south in the face of increasing pressure to abolish the practice. Also represented in the collection are business advertisements; announcements for the sale of lands and slaves; and posters relating to church matters, speeches, stagecoach fares, and other topics intended for public posting. There is also much that refer to events in Kentucky and Alabama.

Contained within both series of the collection are a number of carrier’s addresses. Carriers’ addresses refer to printed greetings, often rendered in verse, circulated by newspapers to customers usually on New Year’s Day. The addresses regularly referenced notable events of the previous year as well as the diligence and hardships endured by carriers in carrying out their task of distributing news. Customers were expected to tip newsboys for delivering these annual New Year’s greetings.

Related Resources

The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:

Browse finding aids by topic.

  • Researchers interested in topics represented in the Durrett Collection should check the author, title, or subject headings relevant to their interests in the Library catalog for potentially useful books and pamphlets from the Durrett Library, which were dispersed among the existing departmental libraries at the time of acquisition. Some of these items have since been transferred to the Rare Books collection and to the Reuben T. Durrett Collection of Broadsides, Pamphlets, and Leaflets, in the Special Collections Research Center.
  • The Durrett rare book collections include works of literature, travel and description, early histories of Kentucky such as Mann Butler's, biographies, legislative acts, and other legal documents.
  • Examples include Henry McMurtrie's Sketches of Louisville and Its Environs (1819); a collection of humorous verses, The Kentucky Miscellany, by Thomas Johnson, Jr. (1821), one of two known copies of the fourth edition, the first known to survive; and The Confession of Jereboam O. Beauchamp ... (1826).
  • Among the newspapers are 135 titles published in Kentucky, beginning in 1788 with the Kentucky Gazette, the first newspaper established in the state. Other important titles include the Mirror, the Palladium, the Guardian of Freedom, the Farmer's Library or Ohio Intelligencer, and numerous campaign newspapers such as The Patriot and The Spirit of '76 from 1826.
  • Included in the American Paper Currency Collection in the Special Collections Research Center is Durrett's collection of confederate currency, among which are many examples of notes issued by the Bank of Commonwealth of Kentucky.
  • Correspondence, reports, and clippings concerning the acquisition of the Reuben T. Durrett Collection for the University of Chicago are found in the University of Chicago Library Records Addenda.
  • In addition, the following collections contain material related in subject matter to various portions of the Durrett Collection:
  • Codex MS 798 Lettres de Mr. Cahusac, Américain, juge de paix à Fleurance, 1806-1836
  • Church History Documents Collection
  • Codex MS 790, Letters to Virgil David, 1828-1838
  • Douglas, Stephan A. Papers
  • English, William H. Papers
  • Ethno-History Collection
  • Lafayette Manuscripts
  • Lafayette-Bonaventure. Collection
  • Lane, Ebenezer, Family. Papers
  • Lewis, Fielding. Papers
  • Robertson, Wyndham. Papers
  • All Durrett sub-collections are as follows:
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Boggs Family. Papers
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Boone Family. Papers
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Broadsides, Broadsheets, Pamphlets, and Leaflets
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Christopher Columbus Graham. Papers
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. George and William Croghan. Papers
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. George Nicholas. Papers
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. George Rogers Clark. Papers
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Government Records
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Edmund Lyne Estate. Records
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. James Wilkinson. Papers
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Joel Tanner Hart. Papers
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Joshua Lacey Wilson. Papers
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Lewis Family. Papers
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Louisville, Kentucky Board of Trustees. Records
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Mann Butler. Papers
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Michael Walsh Cluskey. Papers
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Miscellaneous Manuscripts and Codices
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Portraits, Illustrations, and Cartographic Material
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Reuben T. Durrett. Papers
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Richard H. Collins. Papers
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Richard Jouett Menefee Collection on Matthew Harris Jouett
  • Durrett, Reuben T. Collection. Shelby Family. Papers

Processing Information note

This collection was surveyed as part of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium's Survey Initiative on 2010 February 8 by Lisa Calahan and Andrew Steadham.

Indexed Terms

Indexed Terms

INVENTORY

Series 1: Broadsides and Broadsheets
Box 1
Folder 1
Title
Broadside - A Friend to the Republican Character and Happiness of our Country. "To the Republicans of Fayette, Woodford and Jessamine," circa 1813
Note
  • John Pope's voting record as a Democrat-Republican is questioned.
Box 1
Folder 2
Title
Broadsheet - Robert Wickliffe. "For the People," August 3, 1816
Note
  • Lexington, Kentucky. The erstwhile friendship between Wickliffe and John Pope, and who Pope voted for the Alien and Sedition Law.
Box 1
Folder 3
Title
Broadside - Taylor & Foote. "Dry Goods, Hardware, Cutlery & Groceries," September 27, 1816
Note
  • Huntsville, Alabama. Advertisement for new store.
Box 1
Folder 4
Title
Broadside - Robert Wickliffe. "To the Public," August 5 [1817]
Note
  • A refutation of charges that he is a delinquent debtor made in a handbill circulated on Election Day.
Box 2
Folder 1
Title
Broadside - W.W. Bibb, Governor of Alabama Territory. "Message to the Alabama Legislature," January 20 1818
Box 3
Folder 1
Title
Broadsheet - Richard M. Johnson. "To the Electors of the Third Congressional District of the Kentucky," April 2, 1819
Note
  • Blue Spring, Scott County, Kentucky. Address on the state of the country and a farewell statement of appreciation for his twelve years of service in Congress.
Box 3
Folder 2
Title
Broadside - Gracchus. "To the people of Kentucky," 1820
Note
  • Calls on Republicans to support General Joseph Desha in the gubernatorial campaign of 1820 and oppose Anthony Butler.
Box 3
Folder 3
Title
Broadside - De Redern & Compagnie. "Compagnie de Colonisation Américaine. Action de 100 Acres de Terres dans les Etats de Virginie et de Kentucky," July 10, 1820
Note
  • A notice regarding the venture with a series of thirty coupon de dividende de I"Action attached.
Box 3
Folder 4
Title
Broadsheet - John J. Crittenden, President of the Bank of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. "To the Members of the Senate and House of Representatives," circa 1821
Note
  • Issuance of a report on the bank.
Box 3
Folder 5
Title
Broadside - Essay signed 'I, by itself', November, 1823
Note
  • Re: The Occupancy claimants law in the case of Greene vs. Biddle.
Box 3
Folder 6
Title
Broadside - Robert M'Afee, George Thompson, Samuel Daveiss. "To the People of Mercer County," January 8, 1824
Note
  • Re: Circular giving account of the acts passed by the last session of the General Assembly.
Box 3
Folder 7
Title
Broadside - James Snell. "To the Voters of Pendleton County, Ky." April 15, 1824
Note
  • Re: To give a true statement regarding the commonwealth's bank, to clear up misrepresentations about his opinion.
Box 3
Folder 8
Title
Broadside - Jesse Benton. "Supplement to the Public Advertiser," September, 1824
Note
  • On reverse in ink: "Times are squally. Your resolutions have produced such excitement here - you will burn this of course - Mor[?]n." In pencil on front: cf. Kentucky Reporter Vol. 21, no. 4, November 12, 1824.
Box 3
Folder 9
Title
Broadside - John Quincy Adams. "Inaugural Address," March 4, 1825
Note
  • In the National Intelligencer.
Box 3
Folder 10
Title
Broadside - Jereboam Beauchamp, alias Jerry Beach'em. "A History of the Origin and Passage of the Late Act of the Legislature Abolishing the Court of Appeals," [June 20, 1825]
Note
  • Contains marginal notes and part of a speech in handwriting.
Box 3
Folder 11
Title
Broadside - The Old Kentuckian, Lewis A. Tarascon. "Spirit of 76 and Spirit of 1824, or The Judiciary Question Brought to a Close," July 22, 1825
Box 3
Folder 12
Title
Broadside - R. Wickliffe. "To the People. How the Bank and Treasury 'pigeons' Flutter!" July 28, 1825
Note
  • Re: The Bank of the United States.
Box 3
Folder 13
Title
Broadside - John Payne, et. al. "Report of the Trustees of Augusta College" and John Payne, George Doniphan, G. W. Mackie. "Report of the Trustees of Bracken Academy," circa 1825
Box 3
Folder 14
Title
Broadsheet - Michael Doughtery. "Light. To the People of Kentucky. The Occupant Laws, the Federal court, and the old and new Court of Appeals," 1825
Note
  • Re: The False accusations of the enemies of the old judges and the appeals courts. Presents evidence in favor of the old judges and the courts.
Box 3
Folder 15
Title
Broadside - Porter Clay, Auditor of Public Accounts. "The Spirit of 76 ... Extra," July 1, 1826
Note
  • Frankfort, Kentucky. Re: List of lands to be forfeited to Commonwealth of Kentucky if taxes are not paid by the coming November.
Box 3
Folder 16
Title
Broadside - Carriers address – "The Carrier's Address of the Evening Gazette," January 1, 1827
Box 3
Folder 17
Title
Broadside - John W. Tibbatts. "Circular. To the People of Cambell County, Kentucky," [July 1828]
Note
  • Re: Tibbatts' defense against the personal attack of Captain Southgate.
Box 3
Folder 18
Title
Broadside - J. Harvie, Chairman of Central Committee at Frankfort. August 20, 1828
Note
  • Frankfort. Re: The Central Committee at Frankfort appointed by the Convention of Friends of the Administration urges attention to the approaching presidential election.
Box 3
Folder 19
Title
Broadsheet - Truth. "Shooting Militia Men by Command of General Jackson," before November 1828
Note
  • Commentaries by a writer in the National Journal. Anti-Jackson campaign circular.
Box 4
Folder 1
Title
Broadsheet - General Metcalfe. "Kentucky Reporter Extra. General Metcalfe's Circular Address to the People of Kentucky," circa 1828
Note
  • Re: Appeal for support as gubernatorial candidate.
Box 4
Folder 2
Title
Broadside - Richard French, an elector for Kentucky. "To the People of Kentucky," 1828
Note
  • Re: Election, he advocates Jackson, and Calhoun for Vice President.
Box 4
Folder 3
Title
Broadside - Paul Pry the 4th. "`Monsieur Tonson come Again' Turned Over. To All Honest Democrats," 1828
Note
  • Re: Pro-Jackson. Refers to Broadside in folder 41. Exposes Kincaid whiskey-buying in Chapline.
Box 4
Folder 4
Title
Broadside - A Republican. "Truth Told, and Falsehood and Intrigue Exposed," June 16, 1829
Note
  • Re: To expose the untruths of John Kincaid, in answer to a handbill published by the pro-Adams, Clay and Kincaid press at Danville
Box 4
Folder 5
Title
Broadside - From A Jacksonian. "To the Voters of the Seventh Congressional District. The Long Agony is Over, The Mountain has been in labor for a week, and the Mouse is out," July 4, 1829
Note
  • Richmond. Re: Mr. Tanner is in the pay of Van Buren, Barry & Co., pretends to be a Jacksonian but has renounced Jackson.
Box 4
Folder 6
Title
Broadside - Robert B. M'Afee. "Speech ... on Education", circa 1824-1829
Note
  • Delivered in the Senate of Kentucky on the bill providing a literary Fund for the establishment and support of Free Schools as amended by attaching thereto appropriations for the University, Centre and Southern Colleges. 4 copies.
Box 4
Folder 7
Title
Broadside - "Public Sale," October 22, 1830
Note
  • Re: Sale of tanyard of the Late J. Bell, and 800 acres adjoining land, a brick shop and spring house, 15 vats of leather, one Negro woman.
Box 4
Folder 8
Title
Broadside - Washingtonians. "The Revellie. To the People of Lincoln, Mercer and Jessamine," 1831
Note
  • Re: General Adair election paper.
Box 4
Folder 9
Title
Broadside - "Extracts from Mr. Webster's Speeches, in 1832," May 25, 1832
Note
  • On the passage of the Bill for rechartering the Bank, and on the Veto Message."
Box 4
Folder 10
Title
Broadside - "Gazette Extra. Bargain, Intrigue and Corruption!" October 25, 1832
Note
  • Re: Political circular, anti-Clay.
Box 4
Folder 11
Title
Broadside - "A Bill of Prices Adopted by the Journeyman Tailors," October 17, 1836
Note
  • Paris, Kentucky.
Box 4
Folder 12
Title
Broadside - S. Thomas Hauser. "To the Voters of the Senatorial District, composed of the counties of Campell and Pendleton," July 17, 1837
Note
  • Falmouth, Kentucky. Re: A pre-election campaign sheet expounding his views, appeal for support of his candidacy.
Box 4
Folder 13
Title
Broadside - "Kentucky Gazette Extra. Address of the Constitution Club to the People of Kentucky," January 10, 1843
Note
  • Lexington.
Box 4
Folder 14
Title
Broadside - J. R. Swan, President 12th Judicial Circuit. (recto) Personal letter and (verso) a printed list of "Rules for the Regulation and Government of the Jail of Franklin County," June, 1843
Note
  • Re: Letter is to Hon. E. Lance, Miami County. Swan is glad that Lane is interested in the humane cause of jail rules, complains that there are lice in Cincinnati jail.
Box 4
Folder 15
Title
Broadside - Two handbills, one from Maysville, Kentucky, the other from Washington, Kentucky, "To the Voters of Mason County" December, 1844
Note
  • Re: Each town argues for the location of the county seat and maligns the other town.
Box 4
Folder 16
Title
Broadside - C. M. Clay. "True American Extra. To a Just People," August 15, 1845
Note
  • Re: Attack upon his paper by 20 persons because of his anti-slavery stance.
Box 4
Folder 17
Title
Broadside - Thos. Nolin and P. Gosling acting by authority of the male members of the Maysville station. "To the Members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of the Maysville Station, Kentucky annual Conference," August 20, 1845
Note
  • Re: The secession of the Southern Methodists from the General conference in New York and the subsequent Louisville Convention.
Box 4
Folder 18
Title
Broadside - John Armstrong. "A Word from an old member of the M. E. Church," August 21, 1845
Note
  • Maysville. Re: Those who are leaving the organization have been heard and it remains for those loyal to the church to speak and advocate continued close union.
Box 4
Folder 19
Title
Broadside - F. K. Hunt and Henry Bell. "A Card," May 13, 1851
Note
  • Re: Arbitration and results in misunderstanding between Rev. John Brown and David S. Goodloe.
Box 5
Folder 1
Title
Broadside - William Preston. "Speech of Hon. William Preston of Kentucky," September 7, 1856
Box 5
Folder 2
Title
Broadside - Carriers address – "The Carrier's New Year's Address to the Patrons of the Cincinnati Enquirer," January 1, 1859
Box 5
Folder 3
Title
Broadside - John H. Morgan, Col. Commanding Brigade, C. S. A. "Proclamation. To the Inhabitants of Kentucky!" August 22, 1862
Note
  • Re: Gives information on progress of the Confederacy. Urges Kentuckians to shake off apathy. Urges joining in the sacred cause.
Box 5
Folder 4
Title
Broadsheet - "Senator Morton's Speech. The Political Issues clearly Defined," [1865-1866]
Note
  • Re: Critical of Congress for interfering with Presidential Reconstruction.
Box 5
Folder 5
Title
Broadside - Jno. Gwy. "Public Sale," October 17, 1867
Note
  • Re: Sale of all personal property
Box 5
Folder 6
Title
Broadside - R. T. Durrett, President, C. R. Peters, Manager. "Official report by the Public Library Association of Kentucky of the Gifts distributed at the Grant Gift Concert," December 16, 1871
Note
  • Louisville.
Box 5
Folder 7
Title
Broadside - Sheet from the Citizens' League of Louisville, a non-political organization, [after 1882]
Note
  • Re: Aims and purposes of the League, a list of five men running for the Legislature and City Council supported by the League, including outside reference and sketches.
Box 5
Folder 8
Title
Broadside - Carriers Address – "Carrier's Address to the Patrons of The Louisville Post," January 1, 1884
Note
  • "Mercy's Child!" by Mrs. Nelly Marshal McAfee.
Box 5
Folder 9
Title
Broadside - Carriers Address – "Carrier's Address to the Patrons of The Evening Times," January 1, 1886
Note
  • "A New Leaf Turned." By Will S. Hays.
Box 5
Folder 10
Title
Broadside - Carriers Address – "Carrier's New Year's Address, The Louisville Commercial," January 1, 1886
Note
  • "The Maid We All Love Dearly." By I. M. Gregory.
Box 5
Folder 11
Title
Broadside - Carriers Address – "Carrier's Address, The Louisville Commercial," January 1, 1887
Note
  • Poem by Will S. Hays.
Box 5
Folder 12
Title
Broadside - William E. Russell, Candidate for Congress. "The Congressional Campaign. The Oppression of the People and the Remedy Proposed," September 13, 1890
Note
  • Merrimac.
Box 5
Folder 13
Title
Broadside - S. D: McCormick, Chairman of the Executive Committee. "Revocation of the call for conference upon the literary needs of the south. Some interesting reading upon the 'New South'," circa 1891
Box 5
Folder 14
Title
Broadside - Carriers Address – "Carrier's New Year's Greeting, The Evening Post, Louisville, Kentucky," January 1, 1894
Box 6
Title
Item 1: Auction Announcement for 63 lots at Duker's Addition adjoining the Louisville city limits, April 18, 1904
Box 7
Folder 1
Title
Broadside - "Bill to incorporate the town of Louisville," circa October 1924
Note
  • Town meeting to petition legislature and appoint a committee to draft articles of incorporation.
Box 7
Folder 2
Title
Broadside - George Nicholas. "To the People of Kentucky," undated (sometime after 1834)
Note
  • Re: A handbill circulated by George Bibb criticizing characters of constitutional judges of the Court of Appeals. It is slanderous untruth. Gives the true outcome of cases Bibb cited.
Box 7
Folder 3
Title
Broadside - Published by the American Tract Society. "The Wonderful Advantages of Drunkenness, stated in Maxims worth remembering", undated
Box 7
Folder 4
Title
Broadside - "A Bill to Incorporate an Insurance Company under the style of The Louisville Merchants Insurance Company'", undated
Note
  • Before the General Assembly of Kentucky.
Box 7
Folder 5
Title
Broadside - Rev. John Eyre, M.A. "Claude's Rules for the Composition of a Sermon," undated
Box 7
Folder 6
Title
Broadside - Advertisement for "True Stories of the Pioneers --- No Fiction! Indian Fights, Hair Breadth Escapes, Thrilling Adventures," undated
Note
  • Includes sketches from the book.
Series 2: Pamphlets and Leaflets
Box 8
Folder 1
Title
Leaflet - Edmund Randolph, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. "A Proclamation," May 14, 1788
Note
  • 23 June established for meeting of the General Assembly to review the act establishing District Courts.
Box 8
Folder 2
Title
Leaflet - George Muter, May 28, 1794
Note
  • Chairman. Meeting of the Citizens of the State of Kentucky assembled in Lexington to air grievances concerning the Spanish and the British, and to adopt resolutions to improve the country west of the Appalachians.
Box 8
Folder 3
Title
Leaflet - John M'Dowell, Chairman. "Fayette County Meeting," January 28, 1799
Note
  • Resolutions concerning election of representatives to the Constitutional Convention.
Box 8
Folder 4
Title
Leaflet - "Gen. Washington with some remarks on Jeffersonian Policy" (recto) and "A poem on Profane Cursing and Swearing," (verso) circa 1807
Note
  • Poem with references to the Louisiana Purchase and the Embargo Act. Printed by Nathaniel Coverly, Jr., Milk-Street, Boston
Box 8
Folder 5
Title
Leaflet - B. H. Latrobe, William & N. Carrol, Agents. "Cumberland Steam Boat," circa 1810
Note
  • Subscription for a Cumberland Line of steamboats to operate on the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers.
Box 8
Folder 6
Title
Leaflet - John Pope, U. S. Senator. "To the People of Kentucky," June 13, 1811
Note
  • Concerning Pope's support for renewing the charter of the Bank of the United States.
Box 8
Folder 7
Title
Leaflet - Carriers Address - "To the generous patrons of the Argus," January 1, 1813
Note
  • Patriotic poem on the War of 1812.
Box 8
Folder 8
Title
Leaflet - Robert B. McAfee, Captain, et. al. "Volunteers," July 14, [1813]
Note
  • An appeal for volunteers with reference to the deaths of Kentuckians at River Raisin. Issued at Camp Johnson on Lake Erie at the mouth of the Huron River.
Box 8
Folder 9
Title
Leaflet - Law & Wallach, Attorneys at Law, April 2, 1816
Note
  • Advertising circular noting that cases will be accepted against the government for loss of any property due to military action.
Box 8
Folder 10
Title
Leaflet - Hugh M'Vay. "To the People of Madison County," December 9, 1816
Note
  • Open letter expressing his pleasure at having served the people of the territory (Alabama Territory. Washington, Mississippi Territory) in the General Assembly. Includes a list of acts passed during the session.
Box 8
Folder 11
Title
Leaflet - Holden W. Prout. "Fellow citizens!", June 1, 1818
Note
  • Huntsville, Alabama. On his campaign for the Territorial Legislature, his policies and qualifications as both a farmer and a lawyer.
Box 8
Folder 12
Title
Leaflet - E. J. Bailey, et. al. "Town of Havannah," June 25, 1818
Note
  • Notice of the sale of lots in the proposed town in Lauderdale County, Alabama Territory.
Box 8
Folder 13
Title
Leaflet - Seth Stodder. "Florida," July 2, 1818
Note
  • Advertisement for the sale of lots lying on the Mobile River at the confluence of the Tombigby and the Alabama.
Box 8
Folder 14
Title
Leaflet - Dyer Burgess, Moderator. "A Pastoral Letter from the Presbytery of Miami [Ohio], to the churches under their care," April 9, 1819
Note
  • Open letter on the obligation of Christian parents to raise their children correctly.
Box 8
Folder 15
Title
Leaflet - George Newton, Moderator. "To the Moderator of the Presbytery of Miami," October 20, 1819
Note
  • Circular requesting aid and support for the establishment of a Theological Seminary west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Box 8
Folder 16
Title
Leaflet - Jeremiah Morrow, President of the Ohio State Colonization Society. "Circular," May 25, 1827
Note
  • Re: Explains goals of the society, solicits money for support of goals. Handwritten address to Rev. Joshua L. Wilson, Cincinnati.
Box 8
Folder 17
Title
Leaflet - Duval Payne, President. "Proceedings of the Administration Meeting of Mason County," November 17, 1827
Note
  • Re: Meeting of citizens friendly to re-election of J.Q. Adams.
Box 8
Folder 18
Title
Leaflet - "A Statement of votes for Governor of Kentucky, in 1828," 1828
Note
  • Re: Pre-election tabulation of votes for Jackson in Kentucky. The lead will be overwhelming.
Box 8
Folder 19
Title
Leaflet - Mailing brochure, pro-Jackson, October, 1828
Note
  • Urges Jacksonians to vote Monday, November 3, and lists Jacksonian electors. Caricatures of Jackson and J. Q. Adams, and quotations from notable sources on merits of Jackson and cowardice of Adams.
Box 8
Folder 20
Title
Leaflet - Brutus. "Supplement Demonstrative" from the Kentucky Gazette, circa 1828
Note
  • Re: Urging votes for Jackson in election. Publishes document showing alleged connection between Henry Clay and Aaron Burr.
Box 8
Folder 21
Title
Leaflet - Robert B. McAfee. "To the People of the Seventh Congressional District.", June 15, 1829
Note
  • Harrodsburg. Re: He is withdrawing from the Congressional race so as to produce peace and harmony.
Box 8
Folder 22
Title
Leaflet - Look Sharp & Co. "To the Citizens of Chapline," July 24, 1829
Note
  • Re: Exposing the untruths and false accusations of the Kincaid party against the late Capt. Hale. Proof that Kincaid bought votes with whiskey and bacon.
Box 8
Folder 23
Title
Leaflet - "Report of the Congregation of the First Presbyterian Church," March, 1832
Note
  • Lexington, Ky. Re: financial standing (not good).
Box 8
Folder 24
Title
Leaflet - Carriers Address - "The Carrier's new Year's Address for the Standard," January 1, 1834
Note
  • [Cincinnati].
Box 8
Folder 25
Title
Carriers Address - "The Close of the Year. Presented by the carrier of the Louisville Daily Journal, to his patrons," January 1, 1836
Note
  • Printed on cloth.
Box 8
Folder 26
Title
Leaflet - Circular - The Board of Directors of the Western Foreign Missionary Society. "Circular Letter," June 27, 1836
Note
  • Pittsburgh. Re: Need for zealous foreign missionaries. Addressed in handwriting to Rev. Joshua L. Wilson, Cincinnati.
Box 8
Folder 27
Title
Leaflet - W. S. Fraser. "Mr. Fraser's Statement," circa 1837
Note
  • Re: Slander of Rev. W. K. Stewart towards Rev. Fraser. Addressed to Rev. Joshua L. Wilson.
Box 8
Folder 28
Title
Pamphlet - Carriers Address - "Address of the carriers of the Observer & Reporter," January 1, 1839
Note
  • Lexington, Kentucky.
Box 8
Folder 29
Title
Leaflet - "The Juvenile Temperance Society of the Third Presbyterian Church Sabbath School, Cincinnati," July, 1839
Note
  • Re: Constitution, Officers of the Society, the Annual Report of the Society. Addressed to Rev. J. L. Wilson.
Box 8
Folder 30
Title
Leaflet - J. J. Sweeney. "To the Voters of Mercer County," December 8, 1840
Note
  • Re: Offers himself as candidate (a Democratic Republican) for the state legislature.
Box 8
Folder 31
Title
Pamphlet - Thomas F. Marshall. "Resolutions to Censure John Q. Adams," January 25 to 28, 1842
Box 8
Folder 32
Title
Pamphlet - Democratic Congress Committee. Political Tracts, circa 1843
Box 8
Folder 33
Title
Pamphlet - T.L. Clingman, North Carolina. "Principles of the Whig and Democratic Parties," March 7, 1844
Box 8
Folder 34
Title
Leaflet - Richard Collins, Francis T. Hord, Thos. Y. Payne. "To the Voters of Mason County," July 25, 1845
Note
  • Re: Defense of Maysville for the county seat.
Box 8
Folder 35
Title
Leaflet - William Dountain, Chairman. "To the Members of the Methodist E. Church in Kentucky and all concerned," [August 16, 1845]
Note
  • Harmony, Mason County. Re: A meeting held to reaffirm their position as Methodists and to remonstrate against the Southern organization. Chides a convention held in Louisville at which the Methodist Church was divided geographically into Southern and Northern factions. Reaffirms opposition to slavery.
Box 8
Folder 36
Title
Pamphlet - Francis M. Aldridge. "An Oration," 1846
Box 8
Folder 37
Title
Pamphlet - John A. Dix, New York. "California Claims," March 29, 1848
Box 8
Folder 38
Title
Pamphlet - M. Fillmore. "The Ovation to Mr. Fillmore," circa 1850
Box 8
Folder 39
Title
Pamphlet - J.R. Underwood. "National Politics," July 17, 1851
Box 8
Folder 40
Title
Pamphlet - John Perkins Jr., Louisiana. "The Results of Two Years of Democratic Rule in the Country," circa 1854
Box 8
Folder 41
Title
Pamphlet - Gayarre. "To the Editor of the Washington Union," October 23, 1854
Box 8
Folder 42
Title
Pamphlet - Carriers Address - "Lays for the New Year," January 1, 1855
Note
  • Carrier of the Maysville Eagle
  • Also includes: "Dr. Shannon's Celebrated and Improved Vegetable Remedies for the Cure of Chronic Diseases."
Box 8
Folder 43
Title
Leaflet - "The Bourbon County Fair," September, 1855
Note
  • Paris, Kentucky. Re: A list of all the events for the four days and a list of officers of the Agricultural Society.
Box 8
Folder 44
Title
Pamphlet - S.A. Douglas, Washington, D.C. "Report on the Constitution of the Territory of Kansas," June 30, 1856
Box 8
Folder 45
Title
Pamphlet - James F. Simmons, Rhode Island. "Kansas – the Lecompton Constitution," March 20, 1858
Box 8
Folder 46
Title
Pamphlet - Edward Joy Morris, Pennsylvania. "Admission of Kansas," March 28, 1858
Box 8
Folder 47
Title
Pamphlet - S.A. Douglas. "The Invasion of the States," January 23, 1860
Box 8
Folder 48
Title
Pamphlet - "The Keystone Monthly," Millersville, Pennsylvania. March, 1860
Box 8
Folder 49
Title
Pamphlet - Carriers Address - "Carrier's Address to the Patrons of the Maysville Eagle," January 1, 1861
Box 8
Folder 50
Title
Leaflet - R. McKee, W. Preston Johnson, C. Q. Armstrong, Blanton Duncan, R. T. Durrett, W. C. Brooks. Political circular letter, March 5, 1861
Note
  • Louisville, Kentucky. Re: We, the undersigned, believing that the dissolution of the Union is a fact. . . agree to form an Association for the purpose of maintaining Southern Rights and placing Kentucky in her proper position with the South".
Box 8
Folder 51
Title
Leaflet - U. S. Grant, Brig. Gen. USA, Commanding. "Proclamation to the citizens of Paducah!" September 6, 1861
Note
  • Re: Presence of the Union Army in town is to protect and defend since the towns of Hickman and Columbus are already in Confederate hands. "I have nothing to do with opinions. I shall deal only with armed rebellion ..."
Box 8
Folder 52
Title
Leaflet - C. D. Carr. "To the Voters of Fayette County!" July 23, 1866
Note
  • Re: Emphatic denial that he was a delegate to the Union Convention held in Frankfort, January 1865.
Box 8
Folder 53
Title
Leaflet - "Resolution in relation to Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky," [after 1873]
Note
  • Re: Resolved: that it shall be unlawful for Collins to institute a suit in the Franklin circuit court against the State of Kentucky.
Box 8
Folder 54
Title
Leaflet - J. M. Bancroft. "Thomas Bancroft and His Descendants," May, 1876
Box 8
Folder 55
Title
Pamphlet - Carriers Address - "The Chicago Tribune Carrier's Greetings," January 1, 1879
Box 8
Folder 56
Title
Pamphlet - E.A. Grozier. "The Wreck of the Somerset: British Man of War," May 16, 1886
Box 8
Folder 57
Title
Leaflet - Carriers Address - "Compliments of Daily Journal," January 1, 1888
Note
  • Fold-out with title page, calendar and six short poems on the Seasons.
Box 8
Folder 58
Title
Pamphlet - Carriers Address - "Carrier's Holiday Greeting, The Louisville Times," January 1, 1890
Box 8
Folder 59
Title
Leaflet - Emma L. Tompkins. "Glimpses of Old Woodside. The Magazine House and the Decatur Powder Mill," April, 1892
Note
  • Reprint from Neward Daily Advertiser of article by Emma L. Tompkins, Newark, New Jersey.
Box 8
Folder 60
Title
Leaflet - Manufacturer. "A Dangerous Bill. A Bill pending at Frankfort That will Crush Competition and Create Monopolies." January 31, 1902
Note
  • Louisville, Kentucky.
Box 8
Folder 61
Title
Pamphlet - J. Edmestone Barnes, Reverend, London, England. "Glimpses of a New Age," circa 1916
Box 8
Folder 62
Title
Pamphlet - "Catalogue of Exhibits in Grand Army Memorial Hall," circa 1922
Box 8
Folder 63
Title
Pamphlet - John C. Pemberton. "Correspondence with Colonel Matthew F. Steele," 1937-1938
Box 8
Folder 64
Title
Leaflet - "The Yankee's Return from Camp," undated
Note
  • Verse to "Yankee Doodle." Sold by L. Deming. No. 62, Hanover Street, Boston.
Box 8
Folder 65
Title
Leaflet - Tenant. "To the Citizens of Fayette County," undated
Note
  • On the second Constitutional Convention and opposition to the Bryan's Station ticket. [1799] per Joan Wells Coward Rutgers, 5/20/62. With: A Tenant. "To the Poor and Indigent Citizens of Fayette." Regarding the attempt by some perspective convention representatives to tie suffrage to property ownership. (Extensive notes in margins in the hand of George Nicholas
Box 8
Folder 66
Title
Leaflet - Hampden. "The Universal Right of Suffrage is in Danger from the Bryan's Station Ticket," undated
Note
  • On the second Constitutional Convention and opposition to the Bryan's Station ticket who will not come forward to refute the charges made by the Tenant. [1799] Per Coward: Hampden.
Box 8
Folder 67
Title
Leaflet - Wm. Pawling. "To the Public," undated [after 1821]
Note
  • Re: Approaching election between General Adair and Mr. Kincaid. Advocates voting for Adair.
Box 8
Folder 68
Title
Leaflet - "Bardstown and Loretto Stage," undated [after 1834]
Note
  • Fares of the stage from Bardstown to Loretto, and vice versa. The conductors of the Loretto Female Academy purchased this stage solely for the accommodation of passengers between Bardstown and Loretto.
Box 8
Folder 69
Title
Pamphlet - Printed and sold by I. Goodman. "Sandy & Jen," "A Rosy Cheek," "Ballad: Oh Lady Fair," and "Love Sounds the [T]rum[pet] of Joy." undated [1800-1806?]
Note
  • Re: Popular music.