“The Home of a Hero”
In 1900, Mrs. Lawton took this home at 1511 South Fourth Street in Old Louisville on her return from the Philippines after her husband, General Henry Ware Lawton, fell at the battle of San Mateo in December 1899. Mrs. Lawton and her children were the models for “the Waltons” in the Little Colonel Series. We think that this home was the setting portrayed in “The Little Colonel’s Holidays” as ‘The Home of a Hero.’
Mrs. Lawton moved to “The Beeches” in 1901 and lived there for 10 years, when she sold it to her dear friend and Little Colonel series author, Annie Fellows Johnston.
To get an idea of the decor of this house that the Little Colonel describes in Chapter 12 of The Little Colonel’s Holidays, please read the article with photos: Mrs. Lawton at Home, Harper’s Bazar, April 28 1900
More on General Henry W. Lawton, “General Walton” mentioned throughout the Little Colonel Series
More on “the Waltons”