Collection context
Summary
- Abstract:
- The Boone mss., 1791-1868, consists of the letters and papers of lawyer, teacher, merchant, and politician Benjamin Pennebaker Douglass, 1820-1904, and his second wife, Queen Victoria Boone, 1837-1885.
- Extent:
- 1 Box (1 standard) and 1 folio
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
[Item], Boone mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
Background
- Biographical / Historical:
Benjamin Pennebaker Douglass was born in Virginia on July 22, 1820. Queen Victoria Boone was born on July 11, 1837, at Sandy Farm, Meade County, Kentucky, to Hiram Cassel Boone and his second wife, Sarah Hairston Renfro. Both came from wealthy, educated, and politically-connected family backgrounds. Douglass' uncle was U.S. Senator Isaac Samuels Pennebaker, and Boone's wealthy father had close ties to Governor Jonathan Jennings, Senator John Tipton, Congressman Ratliff Boone, and Senator Henry Clay. By 1840, Douglass had moved to Harrison County, Indiana. In the 1840s, Douglass organized a military company to fight in the Mexican-American War, but it was never mustered into service. The 1850 federal census records him working as a store clerk. On July 27, 1855, he married his first wife, Annie Pope. In 1857, Douglass embarked on a political career by serving as a representative in the Indiana state legislature. Two years later, Annie Pope died, and around this time, Douglass was working as a merchant. He married Boone in June 1863 in Meade County, Kentucky. Douglass and Boone had three children: William Boone Douglass (1864-1947), Mary Maude Alice Douglass (1867-1960), and Annie Pope Douglass (1870-1870). In 1867, Douglass was the County Auditor for Harrison County and ran as a Democratic nominee for State Auditor. In the early 1870s, he served as Clerk of the Circuit Court of Harrison County. Other positions Douglass held include Judge of the Third Judicial District and U.S. Examiner of Surveys. Queen Victoria Boone died in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 30, 1885; Benjamin Pennebaker Douglass passed away on December 31, 1904, in Corydon, Indiana.
For additional biographical information on the Boone family, see Ella Hazel Atterbury Spraker, The Boone Family, Rutland, Vermont, The Tuttle Company, 1922.
- Scope and Content:
The collection includes 1) Letters from Benjamin Pennebaker Douglass and his wife, Queen Victoria (Boone) Douglass to each other, and letters of other persons to Benjamin Pennebaker Douglass, 1856-1868; 2) A monthly estimate book of the lower division of the New Albany, Lanesville and Corydon plank road, October 20, 1854-November 30, 1855, of which Benjamin Pennebaker Douglass was a director and president; contained in this are also writings of Benjamin Pennebaker Douglass on the Ladies' Washington monument society and on the weakening of the bonds of the American union; 3) Memorandum book of Strother Madison Stockslager, 1842-1930, soldier, lawyer, congressman, and law-partner of Benjamin Pennebaker Douglass. This book contains a diary, accounts, miscellaneous memoranda and newspaper clippings. Among the accounts is a record of expenses of a trip to Mauckport, Indiana to Columbus, Mississippi, August 15-20, 1865. The diary, January 1, 1866- July 28, 1867, covers Stockslager's work as a clerk for the General Court Martial and Military Commission at Columbus, Miss., January 1-February 12, 1866, as a clerk for the Quartermaster's office at Columbus, Miss., Meridian, Miss., and Vicksburg, Miss., February 13-May 7, 1866, as a teacher near Mauckport, Ind., January 1-March 1, 1867, as a helper on his father's farm and electioneering for the nomination as auditor of Harrison Co., Ind., March 2-June 30, 1867, and as a worker for Samuel Walter Douglass, 1832-1867, in the auditor's office of Harrison Co., Ind., July 1-28, 1867; 4) Deed, October 11, 1828, for land in Harrison Co., Ind., signed by George Washington Boone, 1777- , brother of Hiram Cassel Boone, and his wife Lucy (Green) Boone; 5) Account book, June 15-1791-April 3, 1839, of George Boone, 1759-1824, distant cousin of Hiram Cassel Boone, containing in the main, receipts for payments made by George Boone and by the executors of his estate; 6) Two deeds, September 22, 1817 and September 3, 1819, for land in Harrison Co., Ind., sold for debt by John Tipton, 1786-1839, soldier, U.S. senator and friend of Hiram Cassel Boone, while he was sheriff of Harrison Co., Ind.; 7) Other miscellaneous papers of the Boone family. Some of the mss. in this collection are in an oversize case.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchase: 1947
- Arrangement:
This collection is arranged following original order.
- Physical location:
- Lilly - Folio; Lilly - Stacks
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
This collection is open for research.
Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
[Item], Boone mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
-
1200 East Seventh StreetBloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- CONTACT:
-
(812) 855-2452liblilly@indiana.edu