311 S. Upper St.,
Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Built 1832
Source: Old Houses of Lexington, C. Frank Dunn, typescript, n.d., copy located in the Kentucky Room, Lexington (Kentucky) Public Library.
Among the fashionable homes in this smart residential section of Lexington a century ago was this expansive brick house. Its first occupant of deed record was Alfred Boyer.
Dr. Thomas P. Satterwhite purchased from Dr. Wm. H. Richardson and wife, Judith S., in August, 1832, "a lot of ground on the (south-west) corner of High and Upper Sts. opposite the residence of said Satterwhite." The lot faced 68 feet on High Street and ran back 224 feet on Upper (Dr. Richardson had purchased the lot from the heirs of Jos. C. Breckinridge in April, 1825).
Dr. Satterwhite began erecting houses on his property, and he and his wife, Mary C., on February 19, 1835, sold "the upper part of the lot-105 feet so as to include the brick house now occupied by Alfred Boyer and built by said Satterwhite," to Richard Higgins and David Castleman.
(Boyer's son, Alfred Z. Boyer, born the next year, was an officer in General John H. Morgan's command and badly wounded at Cynthiana, Ky. He was later captured in Louisville, KY., court martialed and condemned to death by General Burnsides. However, President Lincoln pardoned him and he lived until 1892.)
A few months later (August, 1835) Higgins and his wife, Nancy, and Castleman and his wife, Virginia, sold the property to Alfred Warner, "so as to include the brick house now occupied by George Norton and built by said Satterwhite."
In November, 1837, Mrs. Adeline W. Vaughn, grandmother of Mrs. H.H. Gratz, bought the house and 72 feet front from Warner. The frontage extended from "the corner of a frame house, the property of Dr. Thos. Satterwhite now occupied by ___________" 72 feet "so as to include the brick house now occupied by John Figg and built by said Satterwhite." Of course, Boyer, Norton and Figg rented the new mansion--christened it as it were.
(1838 Directory: "Mrs. Vaughn, r.s. Upper St. bet. High and Maxwell Sts. William Chew, of Jos. Chew & Co., Dry Goods Merchants res. at Mrs. Vaughn's, S. Upper St.")
William McConnell next purchased it and adjoining deeds referred to Mrs. McConnell living here for several years.
The various conveyances stated that the lot extended back 68 feet "to the Dutch Church graveyard." One of the early churches of Lexington--the German Lutheran--stood back of this property, with its graveyard in the rear of the church.
(Miss Pratt attended private school here by Mrs. Bullock. ... She had a teacher, Miss Smythe, from the East. Betty Beck climbed out of the window and went home).
A.Z. Boyer was conducting a boot and shoe store November 26, 1836, when he deeded his stock and household furniture to Ann Mary Boyer.
Mrs. McConnell, after nearly 20 years (October, 1856), sold "the present residence of Adeline W. McConnell, conveyed Nov. 18, 1837, by Alfred Warner," to Paul T. Maccoun.
Maccoun, bookkeeper at J.T. Edge's wholesale and retail shoe store on Main Street, was listed as residing here for several years. Maccoun and wife, Catherine, sold the house in September, 1863, to Genevieve Shepppard, and bought the Elisha Allen house in this block.
The next deed was in March, 1869, to Agnes A. Roberts, wife of Dr. John E. Roberts. It was from Martin L. Todd and wife, Genevieve (formerly Shepperd), of Ohio County, W. Va.
The property was conveyed by Agnes A. and John E. Roberts, by Commissioner, in February, 1872, to R.A. Gibney, Trustee.
Transcribed by pb February 2003