By Julia Gabbard, Tour Guide
Throughout her nearly twenty-year tenure there, the Frances Coleman who took the photo, reported several mysterious incidents, which she herself witnessed or were experienced by visitors to the site. There were the common tropes of haunting, such as rocking chairs rocking on their own, doors opening or closing without assistance, and the sounds of other people in the house when there was no one else there.
By Julia Gabbard, Tour Guide
Gray Lady sightings continued into the 20th century. Some believe that participating in such occult activities, as the last resident of Liberty Hall, Mary Mason Scott (Mame), was known to do, can open doors to the spiritual realms, and create portals through which the dead may come and go. Perhaps this could explain the ongoing, occasional encounters that so many claim to have had over the years.
By Julia Gabbard, Tour Guide
If asked what they know about Liberty Hall, most people will say “The Gray Lady.” Humans are very interested in what lies beyond the grave, so it is no surprise that stories of the Gray Lady continue even now. This is part one of a four-part series on Liberty Hall’s Gray Lady. However, to enjoy the stories of the Gray Lady, one needs to understand a bit about the Brown family while they lived, so I’ll start with a brief history.
By Sara Elliott, Director
A Distinguished Foreigner print, painted by E. Caldwell, etched by E. Wallace Hester, 1889, Liberty Hall Historic Site Collections
-Margaret Wise Brown, The Friendly Book
By Kate Hesseldenz, Curator
Laura Clay and group marching for the Madison, Fayette, and Franklin Kentucky Equal Rights Association, at Democratic National Convention in St. Louis Date, ca. 1916, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center
Founded in 1888, the Kentucky Equal Rights Association (K.E.R.A.), was the first women’s rights organization in the South. Names such as Laura Clay and Madeline McDowell Breckinridge come to mind as leaders of Kentucky’s suffrage movement. Although not as well known, there were many other women who were involved.
By Tommy Hines, Executive Director, South Union Shaker Village
Pantry boxes, Liberty Hall Historic Site Collections
From frontier times through the early days of the 20th century, wooden boxes were used in great abundance in the kitchens of Kentuckians. There are seven such boxes in the Liberty Hall Historic Site collection. The boxes were produced in a variety of sizes to hold everything from large cheeses to tiny pills.
By Sharon Cox
Figure 1: Penitentiary table, mid-19th century, Liberty Hall Historic Site Collections, photograph by Mack Cox
The Liberty Hall Historic Site (LHHS) Collections Committee believes that this table was made by inmates of the first Kentucky Penitentiary in Frankfort. (Fig. 1). While antebellum Kentucky Penitentiary chairs are uncommon (Fig. 2-left), post-Civil War examples (Fig. 2-right) are plentiful. Yet, this table is the only non-chair form known to the collections committee that might have been a standard product of the prison’s furniture industry, making it an important example of Kentucky furniture.
By Becky Shipp
Mount Vernon, 1850s and Liberty Hall, 1934
Ann Pamela Cunningham of South Carolina established the Mount Vernon Ladies Association (MVLA) in 1853. Her work and legacy of rescuing and restoring Mount Vernon, the former home of George Washington in Virginia, is recognized as the beginning of the historic preservation movement in the United States and the inspiration for many women to become involved in this work in their own communities.
By Vicky Middleswarth, Educator
Spanish bluebells in the Liberty Hall Historic Site gardens
When spring arrives at Liberty Hall Historic Site, the daffodils and bluebells make it easy to forget that the grounds once served a different purpose. Margaretta Brown may have brought New York roses to her Kentucky home, but her letters reflect a more practical use of the land.
By Sara Elliott, Director
Portraits of Benjamin Gratz Brown by Oliver Frazer, oil on canvas, ca. 1835 (left) and ca. 1845 (right), Liberty Hall Historic Site Collections
“Called Ben Gratz!!!” exclaimed John Brown on the name of his first grandchild[i]. Benjamin Gratz Brown was the only child of Mason and Judith Ann Bledsoe Brown and therefore the first grandchild of John and Margaretta Brown. Born on May 28, 1826 at the home of his namesake and great-great-uncle, Lexington businessman Benjamin Gratz, the infant would soon take up residence in the heart and home of his paternal grandparents in Frankfort.