Peter Elliott's Lexington, Kentucky House
JOSEPH P. ELLIOTT HOUSE, S.W. Corner Short and Georgetown Sts., Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, Built Before 18??. Source: Old Houses of Lexington, C. Frank Dunn, typescript, n.d., copy located in the Kentucky Room, Lexington (Kentucky) Public Library. Peter Elliott, who had removed to Evansville, Ind., in 1853, conveyed the house here to Joseph P. Elliott, who was shown as operating a blacksmith shop on Main St. opposite Georgetown St. in 1838 (Directory.). The property back of it (north-west corner Main and Georgetown Sts.) had been "in the possession of Peter Elliott and used as a waggon-maker's shop" according to a deed in 1849. Joseph P. Elliott and wife, of Evansville, Ind., sold their house in 1855 to Joel Webster. (1859-60 Directory: "Joel Webster, sheep skin and morocco dresser, S.S. Vine bet. Mill and Broadway, house S.W. corner Georgetown and Short.") Alexander T. Parker purchased the house in January, 1863, and conveyed it to his wife, Mrs. Virginia Parker. She sold it in 1869 to Mrs. John M. Shepperd.
700 SHORT STREET WEST, "Built for Peter Elliott, who had a "waggon-maker's shop" behind (northwest corner Main and Georgetown) before 1853. Was 1 1/2 story, 3-bay, unbonded brick house. Original outline may be seen in brickwork on west end. Later gambrel roof and opening changes; modern porch." Again, on pages 243-4, Lancaster mentions the property "The original cottage outline may be seen on the heightened walls of the house on the southwest corner of Georgetown Street, No. 700." This really is the same property, despite the apparent address change. Source: Vestiges of the Venerable City: A Chronicle of Lexington, Kentucky, Its Architectural Development and Survey of Its Early Streets and Antiquities, Clay Lancaster, Lexington-Fayette County Historic Commission, 1978: p. 246.
A Peter Elliott first shows up in the Fayette County tax records in 1828 and is still there by 1839---probably don't have the last year of appearance yet--will keep chugging along. This Peter basically mortgaged a slave named Lewis in October 1828 soon after coming to town, which your Peter might not have needed to do. He apparently prospers in his first decade, although he continues to rely on others for lines of credit and finally pledges some of his property as security for his co-signer. Among other things, he purchased property at the same address occupied by James Elliott in 1838 and engaged in business as a "black smith and waggon maker." A wife does show up in the records by 1843. By 1854, he is a resident of Evansville, Indiana and, from that distance, sells part of his Lexington property to a Joseph P. Elliott and part to a Henry Brice (a free man of color), among others. His wife is no longer mentioned.
Provided by Pam Brinegar of Lexington, Kentucky
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