This letter is addressed to Thomas Noble Lindsey. As mentioned in my last post, Thomas was born 22 December 1807 in Newport, Kentucky and died 22 November 1877 in Louisville, Kentucky. He was the son of John B. Lindsey, an Irish immigrant, and Maria Noble. His father, John, served as both Sheriff of Campbell County and mayor of Newport. Thomas was a lawyer, president of the Farmer's Bank, member of the Legislature, and a representative of the Constitutional Convention of 1849. During the Civil War he served as the Confederate Mayor of Frankfort.
A transcription follows:
Frankfort, Ky
No. 326 Scott Street,
Covington, Ky October 18th 1876
Thos N Lindsay Esq
Dear Sir
At a meeting of “Simon Kenton” Pioneer Association held in this city on the 14th inst. you were unanimously elected an honorary member and the secretary instructed to forward you a certificate thereof, and invite you to attend their meetings, which are held on the 2nd Saturdays of July, October, January & April. Should it not be convenient to attend, the association would be pleased to hear from you.
??
N. B. Stephens, Scy
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A few things are especially worth noting from this document:
It does not appear that Peter and Maria had any children, which may explain why he created a trust for his grand-niece by marriage, Helen Talbot Lindsey, instead of his own descendants. However, there were a lot of children in the Garrand/ Dudley lines at this time, so the trust may indicate a particularly close relationship between Maria and Margaret Garrand and their descendants. At any rate, a marriage between the Garrands and Dudleys brought together two very prominent Kentucky families with plenty of funds to distribute to chosen heirs. In this case, Helen Talbot Lindsey appears to have been the beneficiary.
More Lindsey family documents to come!
N. B. Stephens, Scy
This next document is pretty fascinating. It's a statement regarding the management of a trust belonging to Helen Talbot Lindsey, but administered by her husband, John B. Lindsey. It's a full accounting of assets and investments, and it's signed by all surviving children of John B. and Helen T. Lindsey.
First of all, I love the original, rusty pin that secures this document. The fact that it's survived all these years is just fantastic.
A transcription follows below. Big shoutout to my friends at the Marin County Genealogical Society for helping to transcribe these Lindsey family documents!
****************
To the Judge of the
Franklin County Court
The
undersigned John B. Lindsey, Trustee for his wife Helen Lindsey and her
children, makes report and statement of account in settlement of said trust to
date.
All the
dividends and the income received from the said trust estate have been expended
for the benefit and to the satisfaction of the beneficiaries.
Under the
terms of Gen. Peter Dudley’s will creating the trust, my wife Helen Lindsey was
and is entitled for her life to the use of the entire fund or the income
thereof, as her separate estate, and at her death the principal is to go to her
children; but at her instance and with the consent of the family the share
which would be going to the oldest daughter, Helen Lindsey who died, was
expended for her benefit during her life time; and the share which would go to
the oldest son, W. T. Lindsey, has been advanced to him, he however to pay
interest thereon from this date at six percent per annum annually during his
mothers life time and he then to take the amount so advanced to wit: ($1353.81)
Thirteen hundred and fifty three and 81/100 dollars as in full of his share of
said trust fund.
With this
explanation, in anticipation of my possible death, I make this report and
settlement, to be filed as a complete settlement of the trust to this date.
The
investment in Northern Bank Stock, in subsequent years, decreased in value; at
the time the Bank liquidated producing only the amount set out in the account
and the investment in the Home Construction Company and the Kentucky Midland
Railway Company were a practical loss and the Bank of Kentucky Stock, now known
as the National Bank of Kentucky stock increased in value and I desire that the
present valuation should be made up to the same basis, on which the shares of
Helen and Will are respectively stated, I have added other stock of my own to
bring the present valuation to the proper amount, and so state my account, to
wit:
John B. Lindsey,
Trustee of Helen Lindsey and her children
In Account with said
Trust Estate.
1876
Feby To 25 shares of Northern Bank Stock devised
by
Peter Dudley’s will $3,250.00
" To share of Farm sold
by A. W. Dudley and paid
to
me in stock and cash 1,230.62
June To amount sale dwelling to Miles 6,000.00
“ To amount sale lot to Smith 2,100.00
__________
$12,586.62
Credit by State County & City taxes $82.50
Credit repairs on dwelling
319.85 402.35
$12,184.27
This fund was to the extent of $3,250.00 already
Invested in Northern Bank stock $3,250.00
Subsequently I invested in Northern Bank
& other stocks as follows
1876
May 31 5 shares Northern Bank stock $
661.50
June 4 4 shares “ “ “ 530.00
Sep/78 10 shares
“ “ “ 1270.00
Sep/78 12 shares Bank Kentucky stock 1560.00
1899 15 shares Home Construction stock 1500.00
5
shares Kentucky Midland Railway stock 500.00
5
shares Kentucky River Mills stock 500.00
1901 20 shares Nation Branch
Bank Kentucky stock 2,000.00
Which would leave an apparent balance on
hand 412.77
$12,184.27
As the Northern
Bank of Kentucky went into
Liquidation and I
received therefrom only
$4182.52
And as the Home Construction stock
and the Kentucky
Midland Railway company Stock
proved worthless;
and as I have expended for Helen
1/9 of $12184.27
and have advanced to Will an equal
amount, that
is to say $1353.81 for each; I now
desire to put
the seven shares of the other
children on practi-
cally the same basis, as the shares
advanced for Helen
and Will, at the present valuation
of stocks;
That is to make up 7 times $1353.81
or
$9,476.67
There
is on hand for that purpose the
12 shares National Bank Kentucky
stock worth $2,400.00
20 shares Nat’l Branch Bank Ky
stock worth $2,400.00
and 5 shares Kentucky Riber Mills
stock worth 476.67
And
on this 15th day of October 1905 I
Personally transfer 21 shares of
the National
Bank of Kentucky stock worth
$200.00 per share $4,200.00
_____________________________
$9,476.67 $9,476.67
John
B. Lindsey
We have examined the foregoing
report and settlement and approve
the same. Helen Lindsey
Maria
Lindsey
W.
T. Lindsey
Isabelle
Lindsey
Cordelia
Lindsey
Dudley
Lindsey
John
B. Lindsey Jr.
Lilian
Lindsey
Genevieve
Lindsey
A few things are especially worth noting from this document:
- At this time, both John B. Lindsey and his wife Helen T. Lindsey are still alive, although their daughter, Helen has died. The younger Helen died in 1887, at the age of 25. Her mother died in 1908. The last reported financial update on this document is 1901, which means that this document was produced sometime between 1901 and 1908.
- This is clearly a family of means. Their investments are also interesting, given the time period. They invested heavily in banks, construction companies, railroads and mills after the end of the Civil War, during a reconstruction period where those businesses must have been booming. These were surely the right instincts, but John B. testifies here that "the Home Construction stock and the Kentucky Midland Railway company Stock proved worthless." At the origination of the trust, in 1876, it was worth $12,586.62. In 1901, it is worth $9,476.67. That's a loss of $3,109.95. I looked up some inflation calculators that tell you what certain dollar amounts were worth in previous eras. These calculators only go back to 1914, likely more than a decade after this document was written, but in 1914, that $3,109.95 would have equaled roughly $81,755. So, it's a significant loss.
- Helen's trust includes assets that came from the will of Peter Dudley and the sale of a farm by A.W. Dudley. In fact, the entire trust was originally created by a General Peter Dudley. Who were the Dudleys and how are they connected to Helen? I'll try to connect those dots below.
The Dudley Family
Clearly, the Talbot and Dudley families were connected. Two Dudleys are mentioned in Helen Talbot Lindsey's trust documentation. One of Helen and John Lindsey's sons was named Dudley Lindsey. So, what was the link?
Helen Talbot was the daughter of William Garrand Talbot. William was the son of Senator Isham Talbot and Margaret Garrand. There are several instances of intermarriage between the Garrand and Dudley families, but the significant one for this branch of the family seems to be that Margaret's sister, Maria Garrand, married a man named Peter Dudley. The following information about Peter Dudley comes from the Kentucky Historical Society's website:
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General Peter Dudley (1787-1869) was from Frankfort, Kentucky. He was a hero from the War of 1812. He was the president of Frankfort Bridge Co. Dudley served on the committee that hired Gideon Shryock to design and build the Old State Capitol. He taught at the Kentucky Military War Institute and served as Adjutant General of the Kentucky State Militia. General Dudley married Maria Garrard, daughter of Kentucky Governor James Garrard.
It does not appear that Peter and Maria had any children, which may explain why he created a trust for his grand-niece by marriage, Helen Talbot Lindsey, instead of his own descendants. However, there were a lot of children in the Garrand/ Dudley lines at this time, so the trust may indicate a particularly close relationship between Maria and Margaret Garrand and their descendants. At any rate, a marriage between the Garrands and Dudleys brought together two very prominent Kentucky families with plenty of funds to distribute to chosen heirs. In this case, Helen Talbot Lindsey appears to have been the beneficiary.
More Lindsey family documents to come!
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