John Wilson Townsend Papers, 1898-1965 | Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

By Jonathan Stokdyk

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Collection Overview

Title: John Wilson Townsend Papers, 1898-1965

Predominant Dates:1903-1940

Primary Creator: Townsend, John Wilson (1885-1968)

Extent: 6.47 Cubic Feet

Date Acquired: 04/09/2003

Subjects: African American poets., American literature--Kentucky., American poetry. - Kentucky, Authors, American--Kentucky., Horses--Breeding--Kentucky., Poets, American - Kentucky, Thoroughbred horse. - Kentucky, Women authors, American--Kentucky, Women poets, American--Kentucky

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The John Wilson Townsend Papers consist of letters received by Townsend which reflect literary, business, and personal concerns. The bulk of the materials consist of letters received by Townsend, as well as photographs, book reviews, manuscripts and various other items about Kentucky literary figures. These include, but are not limited to, James Lane Allen, Madison Cawein, Irvin S. Cobb, Willard R. Jillson, Harriette Simpson Arnow, Samuel M. Wilson, Paul Sawyier, Otto A. Rothert, and Jesse Stuart. The letters offer insights into authors that might not otherwise be found, as well as discussions of their works and biographical information. Many letters simply talk about sending or receiving autographed copies of books. Some letters were not written to Townsend, but seem to have been collected by him instead.

In addition there are also letters concerning horses, as Townsend raised Thoroughbreds for years while living at Graceland Farm.

The collection is generally arranged alphabetically by the author of the letter, but in cases where Townsend is not the recipient, the letter was alphabetized by the recipient's name, with a notation in this finding aid of who the letter was from. Letters about a single person are filed by that person's name rather than the author of the letter. All photographs, book reviews, news clippings and other items are filed with the subject making the arrangement a collection of subject files.

There are multiple subjects per folder and because of this the folders have been numbered with a dash to maintain the subject integrity of the arrangement.

Biographical Note

John Wilson Townsend, Kentucky author and historian was born November 2, 1885. His parents were Charles Wesley Townsend, Lexington journalist and lawyer, and Jeannie Dillon Townsend. Townsend had three sisters, two of whom died in infancy and the third, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Morrison who died in 1931 in West Virginia.

Townsend received his early education in the Johnson and Dudley Grammar Schools of Lexington. Following grammar school, he attended the Preparatory School of Kentucky University. After graduating from Kentucky University, now Transylvania College, in 1906, he enrolled in Harvard University where he continued his study of history and literature.

It was at Kentucky University where he first made the acquaintance of James Lane Allen, who later became his personal friend, and about whom he has written much. This friendship began when Allen made a large contribution to the Periclean Literary Society of which Townsend was the member in charge of fund-raising.

His first book, "The Life of Richard Hickman Menefee," was published when he was only 19 years old. Several others followed during his years as a student at Harvard. After leaving Harvard he taught at the Fishburne Military Academy in Virginia before returning to Kentucky as an assistant librarian at the Lexington Public Library in 1909. He subsequently worked at the Kentucky Historical Society, Lexington Herald (1910 to 1916), the Kentucky Geological Survey (1928-1932), WPA (1936-1942), and the Lexington Signal Depot in the 1940s. Throughout this period Townsend was actively engaged in literary and historical research and published numerous books and pamphlets on prominent Kentucky historical and literary figures.

Townsend's best known work is "Kentucky in American Letters," which was the first anthology of Kentucky literature ever published. This work probably produced most of the letters contained in this collection. In addition, he was good friends with many literary figures that he regularly corresponded with. These include Irvin S. Cobb, James Lane Allen, James H. Mulligan, John Fox Jr., and others.

In 1930, Townsend's finest collection of Kentuckiana, consisting of over 1500 books, numerous pamphlets, letters and pictures, was sold to Eastern State Teachers College Library (now Eastern Kentucky University) where it remains to this day. Townsend continued to collect books until his death in 1968.

Subject/Index Terms

African American poets.
American literature--Kentucky.
American poetry. - Kentucky
Authors, American--Kentucky.
Horses--Breeding--Kentucky.
Poets, American - Kentucky
Thoroughbred horse. - Kentucky
Women authors, American--Kentucky
Women poets, American--Kentucky

Administrative Information

Repository: Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

Acquisition Source: Townsend, Dorothy

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[Box 4],
[Box 5],
[Box 6],
[Box 7],
[Box 8],
[Box 9],
[Box 10],
[Box 11],
[Box 12],
[Box 13],
[Box 14],
[Box 15],
[Box 16],
[Box 17: John W. Townsend Plaster Mask, 1937],
[Folder OS 1],
[Folder OS 2],
[Folder OS 3],
[Folder OS 4],
[All]

Box 5

Barcode: 31234013791098

Folder 1-1: Durrett, Reuben Thomas, 1897 - 1909: 36 items. 30 letters to JWT. 3 Letters to Mrs. Genevieve Morgan Mulligan from Durrett, 1897, Wollstonecraft, Imlay. Filson Club membership. News clipping about Durrett's estate. 2 Photographs, 1 signed.
Folder 1-2: Dutton, 1922 - 1930: 2 items. Letters to JWT. E.P. Dutton & Company, Duttons, Inc. Booksellers. Smith. Grant. James Lane Allen. Swanston Stevenson.
Folder 2-1: Eads, James Harrison, n.d.: 1 item. News clipping "Crossing the Divide".
Folder 2-2: Eberhardt, Frederick William, 02 December, 1940: 3 items. Letter to JWT. John Taylor. 2 photographs, F. W. and lady typing.
Folder 2-3: Eckenfelder, L. C., 08 January, 1921: 1 item. Letter to JWT. Horses. Latour.
Folder 2-4: Edwards, Mrs. George W., 1923: 1 item. Letter to JWT. "Irvin Cobb".
Folder 2-5: Edwards, R. A., 24 July, 1930: 1 item. Letter to JWT. Townsend Collection [aka Kentucky Collection], Kentucky Room, Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College.
Folder 2-6: Elbel, Fred, 05 December, 1939: 1 item. Letter to JWT. "The Tragic Career of Mary Todd Lincoln".
Folder 2-7: Elder, N. L., n.d.: 1 item. Letter to JWT. The Queen's Daughters. "A Man I Once Knew".
Folder 2-8: Eleadder, J., 1913 - 1918: 2 items. Letter to JWT. Letter to Grace Cole. Hamburg place horses. Ogden, James Donnelly.
Folder 2-9: Elkin, M. F., 1931 - 1941: 2 items. Letters to JWT. Menefee. Breckenridge.
Folder 2-10: Elliot, Samuel Carpenter, 20 December, 1928: 1 item. Letter to Elliot from JWT. "A Tale of Kentucky".
Folder 2-11: Ellis, Alston, 03 May, 1913: 1 item. Letter to JWT.
Folder 2-12: Ellis, James Tandy, 1913 - 1931: 4 items. Letter to JWT. Butler. Riley. "Tang of the South".
Folder 2-13: Ellison, Lewis, 1935 - 1936: 3 items. Postcards to JWT.
Folder 2-14: Elliston, George, 1927 - 1934: 33 items. 22 letters to JWT. 10 News clippings. 1 telegram.
Folder 3-1: Elliston, Robert H., 1929: 3 items. Letter to JWT from Warren Elliston about his brother's book. Letter from William C. Elliston, son of Robert, with biographical sketch. George Elliston. A History of Grant County, KY.
Folder 3-2: Ellwanger, Ella Hutchinson, 1908 - 1928: 6 items. Letters to JWT. Captain Vandergraef. James Leonard. Mrs. Morehead.
Folder 3-3: Elsey, E. W., 10 April, 1937: 1 item. Letter to JWT. "Journeying With Jesus"
Folder 3-4: Ely, William, 05 June, 1930: 1 item. Letter to JWT. Collecting books.
Folder 3-5: Embree, Edwin R., 1941: 2 items. Letters to JWT. Brown America, Berea College, Edwin's grandfather, John G. Fee, Cassius Clay.
Folder 3-6: Embry, Jacqueline, 1928 - 1929: 5 items. (Mrs. Raymond Embry, daughter of E. Hutchinson) Letters to JWT. Copies of poems by Jacqueline "Bewitched Baby", "To My Nose, With Love", "Hic Jacet - Petrel", . 1 photograph. Sarah Litsey. Isabel McMeekin. Barbara Tunnell. Braithwaite. Frances Fox. Copy of "O Pity Poets" from the New Yorker.
Folder 3-7: Emmons, T. F., n.d.: 1 item. Letter to JWT.
Folder 3-8: Ernst, Richard P., 09 February, 1927: 1 item. Letter to JWT. "Congressional Biographical Directory".
Folder 4-1: Etheridge, Wilie Snow, Jr, 22 August, 1944: 1 item. Letter to JWT. "As I Live and Breathe"
Folder 4-2: Eudy, Mary Cummins, 1933 - 1935: 11 items. 6 letters to JWT. Crane Calder, Barbara Maurel. 4 "Quarried Crystals and Other Poems" brochures. 1 photograph.
Folder 4-3: Evans, Charles, 18 April, 1930: 2 items. Letter to JWT. "Growing a Life" brochure.
Folder 4-4: Everett, Louella D., 1927 - 1932: 26 items. Letters to JWT. Lady Hildegarde. Preston "Warm Babies". Carty. Jewett, "The Choir Invisible". Seymour. Chivers. Mint Julep poem. Carpenter, Jillson, Fazakas. Virginia Stait. The Christmas Blessing. Edna Kenton.
Folder 5-1: Eversole, Mabel, 24 February, 1929: 1 item. Letter to JWT. Assistance with her thesis.
Folder 5-2: Farley, Gene Clark, 27 May, 1945: 1 item. Letter to Mary Floyd from Private First Class Gene C. Farley, "Clark". V-mail from Italy while deployed for war.
Folder 5-3: Farnum, J. L., 1922 - 1928: 4 items. Letters to JWT. Library of Congress. Crittendon Collection. Breckinridge. Innes. O'Hara. Grace Griffin.
Folder 5-4: Fasig-Tipton Company, 13 August, 1928: 1 item. Receipt for Mr. Gordon and Townsend. Horse sale and boarding, Big Stride. A. B. Gordon.
Folder 5-5: Fazakas, Chester A. S., 1926 - 1930: 17 items. 16 letters to JWT. Literary research. 1 postcard.
Folder 5-6: Field, Al G., 15 February, 1916: 1 item. Dated autograph
Folder 6-1: Filson Club, The, 1909 - 1938: 19 items. 8 letters to JWT. 4 postcards to JWT. List of submissions. Otto A. Rothert, secretary. Young E. Allison commemoration Committee's "Select Works of Young E. Allison". 2 News clippings.
Folder 6-2: Finck, Edward Bertrand, 1908 - 1927: 7 items. (Bert Finck) Letters to JWT. Biographical sketch.
Folder 6-3: Fisher, Dan G., 1929: 3 items. Letters to JWT. James Lane Allen. Robert Burns Wilson.
Folder 6-4: Fitzgerald, C. J., 07 February, 1924: 1 item. Letter to JWT. The Jockey Club.
Folder 6-5: Fitzgibbon, Rev. J. J., 07 December, 1928: 1 item. Letter to JWT. "Saint Thomas Seminary" by Father Howlett.
Folder 6-6: Flanagan, James, 1904 - 1906: 4 items. Letters to JWT. 1 postcard.
Folder 6-7: Fleming, Walter L., 1907 - 1915: 10 items. 9 letters to JWT. One brochure for Jefferson Davis biography.
Folder 7-1: Flexnor, Anna Crawford, 1908 - 1913: 2 items. Letters to JWT. Brief biographical sketch.
Folder 7-2: Flexnor, Hortense, 1921 - 1930: 3 items. (Hortense Flexnor King) Letters to JWT.
Folder 7-3: Flint, Charles R., 1923 - 1927: 3 items. Letter to JWT. "Memories of an Active Life". Cobb letter referring to Cocker Spaniel "Dot". Letter to Charles Townsend from Putnams, "Mr. Flint's Memories of an Active Life.
Folder 7-4: Floyd, Juanita Helm, 1929: 5 items. Letters to JWT. 1 signed photograph. "Women in the Life of Balzak". "Juego de Autores Espanoles" Bank Note
Folder 7-5: Fogarty, Thomas, n.d.: 1 item. Letter to JWT
Folder 7-6: Foley, John L., 03 March, 1930: 1 item. Letter to JWT
Folder 7-7: Foote, John T., 11 July, 1913: 1 item. Letter to JWT. "Salvation".
Folder 7-8: Foote, Ulysses Grant, 1910 - 1915: 9 items. 6 Letters to JWT. 2 poems, "Kentucky", "Thine Eyes". Brochure for lectures "Ascent of Fools' Hill", "People That Were Not".
Folder 7-9: Foreman, T. T., 20 June, 1919: 1 item. Letter to JWT from lawyers Foreman & Forman. Overdue note.
Folder 7-10: Forsely, Anne C., 03 July, 1929: 1 item. Letter to JWT. Arnold Bennett's "Fame and Fiction". St. Louis Public Library.
Folder 7-11: Fortune, A.W., 1940: Book review of Thinking Things Through with E.E. Snoddy.
Folder 7-12: Fosdick, Charles P., 1930: 2 items. Letters to JWT. "History of the Kentucky School for the Deaf".
Folder 8-1: Foster, Harrison Gardner, ca 1933: 3 items. Letter to Jane. Christmas card to JWT.
Folder 8-2: Foster, Stephen Collins, 1937-1943: 3 items. Program from the Dedication of Stephen Collins Foster Memorial Building at the University of Pittsburgh, response to a query about Foster and an invitation to the 16th Annual Foster Memorial Program at the University of Pittsburgh.
Folder 8-3: Fowler, George and Alyce, 1930 - 1931: 4 items. Letters to JWT. Mr. John Robert Shaw. Rafinesque portraits. "To Have and to Hold".
Folder 8-4: Fowler, Mattie, 23 June, 1920: 1 item. Handwritten notes "Irvin Cobb's First Play House".
Folder 8-5: Fox, Genevieve, ca 1934: 3 items. Letter to JWT. Brief biographical sketch. Copy of "Three Rides in the Kentucky Mountains". 1 photograph.
Folder 8-6: Fox, James W., 1913 - 1914: 3 items. 2 letters to JWT. Copy of a partial key to "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" by John Fox from a 1908 letter by James Fox.
Folder 8-7: Fox, John Jr., 1901- 1930: 5 items. Letter from Fox. 2 Books and printings lists. 2 photograph prints. 2 letters to JWT from Library of Congress about Fox's books; also about Henry Clay books.
Folder 8-8: Fox, Sister Columba, 1926: 2 items. Letters to JWT. "The Life of Bishop David".
Folder 8-9: Francis, Sadie M., 17 February, 1941: 1 item. Letter to JWT.
Folder 8-10: Franke, Wilhelmine, 30 July, 1935: 1 item. Letter to JWT.
Folder 8-11: Franklin, Robert B., 02 May, 1930: 1 item. Letter to JWT.
Folder 8-12: Frazee, L. J., 09 June, 1913: 1 item. Lewis Jacob Frazee. For J. B. Frazee.
Folder 8-13: Freewall, Marilla W., 14 June, 1929: 1 item. Letter to JWT. JWT's James Lane Allen.
Folder 8-14: Frost, William Goodell, 27 May, 1914: 1 item. Letter to Walter M. Parker form Goodell, Berea College President. Berea College, Prof. Penniman, Dr. Kephart.
Folder 8-15: Fruit, John Phelps, 1893 - 1912: 13 items. 1 letter to JWT. Letter to Roberts Brothers from Fruit. 11 programs from the William Jewell Reading Circle on Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Folder 8-16: Funkhouser, William Delbert, 06 December, 1927: 2 items. Letter to JWT. Order form for "Ancient Life in Kentucky".
Folder 8-17: Furman, Lucy, 1912 - 1929: 9 items. Letters to JWT. Biographical sketch.