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Our Southern Silver Collection - Full Set
By
Curator of Collections, John Walker
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In late August of 1865, Mary Yoder Brown (granddaughter of John & Margaretta Brown) married Union Colonel William T. Scott, and one of the gifts they received was fine silver service set. The set was a gift from Scott’s siblings in Lexington, and they had the newlyweds’ initials and year of marriage engraved upon it. Sadly, William passed away just ten years later. This pivotal event brought his pregnant widow and their two children back to Liberty Hall under one condition: the original furniture had to stay in the home. We know Mary Yoder Brown Scott was content with this because years later she wrote about how impossible it would have been to furnish the 7,000 square foot mansion all by herself.

 

The last Brown family member to live in Liberty Hall was Mary Mason “Mame” Scott. When Mame died on Dec. 10, 1934, she left most of her estate to her brother John Mathew Scott. This included Liberty Hall, the furniture within, and many of their late mother’s personal belongings.  By the time John Matthew Scott wrote his own will, he made the provisions for Liberty Hall to become the historic site it is today. However, just below the Liberty Hall section of his will, he bequeathed his parents’ wedding silver to Dr. John W. Scott of Lexington, a cousin. Perhaps they thought the pieces were too contemporary for the interpretation plan, or maybe it was an act of good will to extended family… we may never know his reasoning, but the silver left Liberty Hall for a new home with the Scotts of Lexington. By the late 20th century, Dr. Scott’s descendants left Kentucky for the Northeast, generational names had changed, stories were forgotten, and old silver sets from the days of the Civil War had long been stored away.

 

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Silver Collection 2024

But history always finds a way to reveal itself. Just this summer, a 5th generation descendant of Dr. Scott remembered he inherited heirloom silver that had been in the family since the 19th century. For years, the silver was kept in a chest in his home in Maine, and he decided to start researching the ‘southern silver’ his family passed down. Luckily, there aren’t many Mary Yoder Browns who received a set of silver for a wedding present in 1865, so it wasn’t long before Liberty Hall Historic Site popped up in his internet research.  The family soon reached out and were very excited to learn about the Browns, their history, and their importance to the American story. They were delighted to learn their ancestral home is a National Historic Landmark that serves the public trust, telling the stories of the past. Best of all, they were compelled to return their pieces of the silver set on permanent loan to the Liberty Hall collection. The silver arrived just last week - back to the home it hadn’t seen in over 70 years. Back to the same rooms in which Colonel Scott and Mary Yoder Brown were wed, back to the place where her wedding dress still remains. It is back to once again share the stories of the lives that shone so brightly, reflected upon the silver’s soft sheen.