The Land of the Little Colonel, like "all Gaul," is divided into three parts. One lies in the State of Kentucky, one in the Country of Imagination, and one in the dear demesne of Memory.
                         --- Annie Fellows Johnston,
                                       Land of the Little Colonel, 1929

Annie Fellows Johnston, a celebrated author of children's and juvenile fiction from the 1890's until her death in 1931, is best known for her "Little Colonel" series, a semi biographical opus of 13 novels dealing with the aristocracy of old Kentucky, particularly the story of a young girl, who came to be known as "The Little Colonel." Her works sold millions of copies, and were translated into over 40 languages, including Japanese.  

Annie first met "The Little Colonel"  in the early 1890s, a five year old child  whose bully mannerisms seemed to echo the military traits of her grandfather, a former confederate colonel.  This inspired a Annie to write the now classic tale first published in 1895.  Its popularity was such that soon another story followed, then another and another.  Johnston planned to complete the series several times, once after The Little Colonel's House Party, again after The Little Colonel's Knight Comes Riding.  Always, public demand compelled Johnston to continue.   The last work of the series, The Little Colonel Stories, Part 2, was published only a few months before her passing and over 35 years after the original Little Colonel story.  The fame of The Little Colonel peaked in 1935 with the film of the same name starring Shirley Temple & Lionel Barrymore.

In the latter half of the 20th Century, Annie Fellows Johnston began to pass into relative obscurity.  There has been little demand in the last few years for the romantic and sentimental wholesomeness portrayed in her works.  Modern critics often dismissed her as unimportant and too moralizing, not stopping to consider the tremendous impact she had on the shaping of young minds, and therefore the national mores of a century ago.  Furthermore, the the auto- and biographical nature of her works gives tremendous insight into the lifestyle and thought of the Victorian and post-Victorian era among the gentry of the American heartland.  There can be no doubt that Johnston's strong belief in education relayed in her novels, especially for women and girls, had a lasting and important influence for generations of young Americans. 

 

 
May!  The Locusts abloom in Lloydsboro Valley
The fragrant black locust, or robinia pseudoacacia has a normal bloom time early to mid May in Kentucky                   

What's  New? (for regular visitors to this site, a listing of the most recent updates)

Winds nearly destroy the Little Colonel Playhouse
(storm of January 29, 2008 wreaks havoc on old Lloydsboro Valley)

The Little Colonel Books On-Line (click here for our summary)

Links to individual volumes of the Complete Original Little Colonel Books Series:
At the University of Pennsylvania Digital Library:
The Little Colonel (1895)
On this site,  and illustrated:
The Giant Scissors   (1898)
Two Little Knights of Kentucky  (1899)
The Little Colonel's House Party  (1900)
The Little Colonel's Holidays   (1901)
The Little Colonel's Hero  (1902)
The Little Colonel at Boarding-School  (1903)
The Little Colonel in Arizona (1904)
The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation  (1905)
The Little Colonel, Maid of Honor   (1906)
The Little Colonel's Knight Comes Riding  (1907)
Mary Ware, The Little Colonel's Chum   (1908)
Mary Ware in Texas  (1910)
Mary Ware's Promised Land  (1912)

At Project Gutenberg, other Annie Fellows Johnston books:
Big Brother (1894 illustrated)
The Little Colonel (1895 illustrated)
The Story of Dago (1900 illustrated)
Ole Mammy's Torment (1897 illustrated)
Cicely, and Other Stories (1903 illustrated)
The Quilt that Jack Built (1904 illustrated)
Mildred's Inheritance (1906 illustrated)
The Legend of the Bleeding Heart (1907 illustrated)
The Rescue of the Princess Winsome (1908 illustrated)
Georgina of the Rainbows (1918 illustrated)
The Story of the Red Cross (1918 illustrated)
Main link to Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.net  
  and the Annie Fellows Johnston listings.
At Google Books:
Songs Ysame (1897) - one of the rarest of AFJ's works.

Lists of All Books by Annie Fellows Johnston
             There are more than just the Little Colonel books

A list of the holdings here at the Samuel Culbertson Mansion  (we think this may be nearly the complete list of Annie Fellows Johnston's books)
A list of the holdings at the University of Louisville Ekstrom Library (includes dates, call numbers, locations)

The Little Colonel as Literature

The Little Colonel: A Phenomenon in Popular Literary Culture  (1991) by Sue Lynn McDaniel  Special thanks to Willard Library, The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society and Department of Library Special Collections for their permissions for the article to be added to Western Kentucky University's digital commons.
 

The People who became models for the characters of the Little Colonel stories:

• The Little Colonel   Hattie Cochran
• "Mrs. Sherman" and "Papa Jack", the Little Colonel's parents Amelia & John HoadleyCochran
• The Old Colonel and Amanthis  George Washington Weissinger, and Amelia Neville Pearce Weissinger
• Mom Beck  Rebecca Porter,  Aunt Cindy Aunt Lucinda, May Lily May Lily
• Walker   Walker Hardin, Unc' Henry Henry ?
• Annie Fellows Johnston, author of the Two Little Knights of Kentucky
• The Two Little Knights of Kentucky Craig and William Culbertson
• Uncle Sidney & Aunt Elise, parents of the Two Little Knights of Kentucky Sam & Louise Culbertson
• Grandmother McIntyre Annie Craig
• Miss/Aunt Allison Fannie Craig
• The Walton's The Lawton's
  General Walton Maj. Gen. Henry Ware Lawton, Mrs. Walton Mamie Craig Lawton Allison Frances, Kitty Catherine, Elise Louise, Ranald Manly, "the Little Captain"
• The Moore's The Muir's
  Judge Moore Judge Peter Browne Muir,  Rob Moore Muir Semple, Anna Moore Anna Burge Muir
• Betty Elizabeth Matthews
• Mary Ware, Albion Fellows Bacon, Annie Fellows Johnston's sister
• Joyce Ware Mary G. Johnston, Annie Fellows Johnston's daughter
• Jack Ware John Johnston (JJ), Annie Fellows Johnston's son
• Katherine Marks  Kate Matthews the photographer
• Gay Melville Leal McAffee
• The Lee's of Arizona Sarah (mother), George & Hazel
• Small Parts
• Their Final Resting Places

The Places:

Map of Pewee Valley  in 1879 with Little Colonel Places highlighted
Map of "Lloydsboro" Valley (Pewee Valley, KY) ca 1930, done by local residents to assist in the movie production...
     and its offshoot, the Little Colonel Board Game

• Delacoosha, where it all began in Pewee Valley
• The Locust - Home of the Old Colonel and later The Little Colonel,  (Pewee Valley)
• The Beeches - Home of "The Waltons" and later, Annie Fellows Johnston, (Pewee Valley)
• Edgewood - Home of "The McIntyres," (Pewee Valley) and the Villa Ridge School
• The Little Colonel's Cottage Home of the Shermans before they moved to The Locust (Pewee Valley)
• Oaklea Home of "The Moores" (Pewee Valley)
• The Railroad Station and the Interurban  (Pewee Valley)
• Lloydsboro Valley (Pewee Valley)
• Churches of Lloydsboro Valley (Pewee Valley)
• Kentucky College for Young Ladies "Lloydsboro Seminary" (Pewee Valley)
• Clovercroft Home of Katie Marks (Kate Matthews in real life) (Pewee Valley)
• The Post Office,  (Pewee Valley)
• Tanglewood,   (Pewee Valley)
• Undulata, The Haunted House at Hartwell Hollow,  (Pewee Valley)
• Villa Ridge Inn, later The Confederate Home - Villa Ridge Inn and School (Pewee Valley)
• Rollington (near Pewee Valley)
• The Culbertson Mansion  Home of the Two Little Knights of Kentucky, (Old Louisville)
• The" Home of a Hero" Home of "The Waltons" in The Little Colonel's Holidays, (Old Louisville)
• The Cuckoo's Nest really Annie's childhood home (McCutchanville, Indiana)
• Lee's Ranch (Arizona)
• Camelback Mountain and Hole-in-Rock (Arizona)
• San Antonio and The Little Town of Bauer (Boerne), Texas
• Gate of the Giant Scissors (St. Symphorien, France)
• Mme Gréville's Villa (St. Symphorien, France)
• Warwick Hall (??)
• Minor Places mentioned in the stories (from all around)

Letters from Annie Fellows Johnston and Mrs. "Walton"  never before published letters reveal more clues on the Little Colonel books.

Scrapbook (newspaper clippings, etc.)

Cooking with The Little Colonel

Guest Book

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About LittleColonel.com (the web site and the people who helped to build it)

Links

 

    

BOOKS BY PEWEE VALLEY AUTHOR ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON ! (made famous by the movie starring Shirley Temple & Lionel Barrymore ) *** ”THE LITTLE COLONEL'S FRONT PORCH SALE”   WHEN: SUNDAY,  NOV 4,  Noon - 3:00  WHERE:  118 Maple Ave, Pewee Valley (at the former home of Hattie Cochran, the real life "Little Colonel" whom the books were based upon)   This will be the last “Little Colonel’s Front Porch Sale” for this year!  Offered will be a large assortment of Books by Annie Fellows Johnston: individual titles, as well as complete 12 - 13 Volume Sets.  Also, a 1930s Little Colonel Board Game, plus vintage Confederate Home & Rest Cottage Post Cards, Little Colonel sheet music, photos & posters from the movie, and many unusual, hard-to-find items (the rarer items don't last long)!   I hope to see you Sunday.  Look for my pink signs at the intersection of Maple Ave and LaGrange Rd.  Please tell your friends and neighbors!    Sally Tanselle      241-9240 shtanselle@yahoo.com      (send me an email and I’ll add you to my email list regarding future “Front Porch” Sales, Etc.)  (For out of town customers, I can email photos & detailed descriptions of books that you're interested in.  Shipping is available at a low cost.)

This web site is hosted by the Samuel Culbertson Mansion Historic Bed and Breakfast Inn in historic Old Louisville. We know that Annie Fellows Johnston was at least an occasional guest of the Culbertson's (the connection being Samuel's wife, Louise Craig,  who was the sister of Fannie Craig/Aunt Allison and Mamie Craig, Mrs. Henry Lawton, original owner of  "The Beeches",) and that she was quite fond of the Culbertson children, using them as models for her Two Little Knights of Kentucky. We also know now, to our surprise, that Mrs. Johnston and the Little Colonel seem to have quite a fan club as a look at our server logs reveal, as well as from emails, calls and visits.  Information on Annie Fellows Johnston and the Little Colonel on the internet (and elsewhere) is scant, so we will attempt to fill in some of that gap.  We have focused heavily on the historic connections of the Little Colonel Series and the real life models the stories were based upon (the books continue to provide an endless series of clues to the people who were well known at our home). Although we are not (yet) experts on Annie Fellows Johnston, we will continue to research anything relating to the Little Colonel series and the people associated with it, and we will share as much of the information with you as possible as we build this site.  We would also welcome any information and pictures thay you may be willing to share for inclusion in this site.  Please e-mail us at information@littlecolonel.com.

The Samuel Culbertson Mansion
Historic Inn 
in Historic Old Louisville
(your host for this web site)
Home Page   Rooms Page
Annie Fellows Johnston Room  The East Room  The President's Room
The Little Colonel Suite  The Knights of Kentucky Suite  The General Lawton Suite
History   Samuel Culbertson & the Kentucky Derby  General Henry W. Lawton

The Samuel Culbertson Mansion
"Home of the Two Little Knights of Kentucky"
1432 S. Third Street
Louisville, KY 40208
(502) 634-3100
inn@culbertsonmansion.com

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