Celebrate Women’s History Month in Oldham County

Many accomplished women have called Oldham County home over its 200-year existence. From writers, to photographers, sports stars and even a ghost or two, women have been instrumental in establishing the rich culture of the county that we enjoy today in many ways. Visit for a day or weekend to learn more about the fascinating women who can be found ONLY in Oldham!

Annie Fellows Johnston (1863-1931) was a celebrated author of children’s fiction best known for her Little Colonel novels, the first published in 1895. Centered on the old Kentucky aristocracy of Pewee Valley, her central character, Lloyd Sherman (Hattie Cochran), nicknamed the “Little Colonel,” caught the attention of Hollywood. It came to the big screen staring Shirley Temple in 1935. Premiering in Louisville, its release spawned Little Colonel clothing, games, cards, paper dolls, handkerchiefs and other collectible merchandise. Johnston settled permanently in Pewee Valley where she lived at The Beeches with her stepdaughter, artist Mary Gardener Johnston.

Mary Gardener Johnston (1872-1966) studied at the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Her career as an artist began as a way to help support her stepmother (famed Annie Fellows Johnson) and two siblings. Known affectionately to many as Miss Mamie, she helped illustrate one of her stepmother’s early books, Ole Mammy’s Torment, published in 1897. Years later, she illustrated The Little Colonel’s Doll Book by designing and painting the costumes. She worked in a variety of media, including pencil, oils and watercolors. Her paintings were primarily portraits, still-lifes and landscapes.

Mary was friends with Kate Matthews (1870-1956), a pioneering female photographer. Born in New Albany, Indiana, she spent most of her life in Oldham County. Her parents purchased a home in Pewee Valley in the 1880s and Kate, who never married, lived at Clovercroft until her death. Her subject matter ranged from people and places in Pewee Valley and surrounding communities, to staged photographs of Annie Fellows Johnston’s storybook characters. She was the official photographer for the Little Colonel series and provided the photos for Johnston’s autobiography, The Land of the Little Colonel, published in 1929. She even became a character in Johnston’s novels – Katherine Marks. You can learn more about these famous Pewee Valley residents by visiting the Pewee Valley Museum or the Oldham County History Center Museum.

Virginia Creasey Mahan (1898-1975) was one half of the driving force behind Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve in Goshen. When she married her husband Howard in 1921, her family gave them Hill O’Content Farm. The Mahan’s special wedding present became a gift to the community for future generations to enjoy when they established the preserve in 1975. Today its 168 acres are filled with winding trails, woodlands, wetlands and meadows, songbirds, wildlife, their colonial home, and creek stone springhouse. Originally from Covington, KY, Virginia loved horses. One of them, Bob Boy, became an award-winning saddle horse, winning a total of twenty-five awards. Virginia was also an accomplished writer. Today the preserve is also known for its innovative Thrive Preschool.

Martha Lee Sageser Klein (1907-1996), along with her husband Theodore, was instrumental in laying the foundation for Yew Dell Botanical Gardens in Crestwood, KY. In 1941 she and her husband purchased 34 acres of farmland to build a home, start a farm/nursery, and raise their children. Before they married, Martha Lee attended Western State Teachers College in Bowling Green, KY where she received a teaching degree. Martha Lee was known for her cooking and family lore has it that when her husband would show up in the kitchen at lunch time with guests, Martha Lee always had just the right amount of food ready. Be sure to eat at Martha Lee’s Kitchen when you visit Yew Dell.

Philanthropist, entrepreneur and conservationist Laura Lee Brown owns historic Hermitage Farm, a working Thoroughbred farm in Goshen with her husband, Steve Wilson. The farm is open for tours and visitors flock to the popular Barn8 Restaurant, where you’ll find farm-to-table fare and a wide selection of bourbons. The couple are the founders of the 21c Museum Hotels, hotels they opened in 2006 when wanting to share their passion for contemporary art and help revitalize downtown Louisville. They also own the Kentucky Bison Co. and Woodland Farm in Goshen where tourists will see colorful art placed throughout the acreage.

On a visit to Floydsburg Cemetery on the grounds of Duncan Memorial Chapel near Crestwood, you might encounter the Ghost of Floydsburg,-Emma Belle Wilson. She was a fashionable young woman who lived in the home across from the cemetery entrance. Having two suitors, she was engaged to be married to one of them, Joseph Vincent, at the beginning of the Civil War. Postponing her wedding due to the war, Emma was still torn as to whom she should marry. One presumably died during the war, although not confirmed, while the other returned to claim his fiancée. Emma mysteriously died the evening before their wedding. Had one suitor killed his true love? However she met her demise, the girl’s bright red blood stained her polished wooden bedroom floor in the upstairs of her home as she lay dying. Many have claimed to have seen her breathtakingly beautiful ghost, attired in her long white flowing wedding gown and holding a prayer book, roaming around town. Her spirit haunts the cemetery, as she carries a lantern, calling for her lover.

The murder of Verna Garr Taylor (1896-1936) is another unsolved mystery that haunts Oldham County. On November 6, 1936, her body was found in a ditch in a rural area of Kentucky. Known as a beautiful widow who came from a good family and ran a successful laundry and dry cleaning business in Oldham County, she had a reputation as “the most beautiful woman in three counties.” Most suspected her fiancé, Brigadier General Henry Denhardt. The case made national headlines as the public was riveted by the details of the death of a beautiful woman supposedly at the hands of a prominent political figure. Ian Punnett, a distant cousin of Verna, wrote a book about it, A Black Night for the Bluegrass Belle, as did Ann DAngelo, Dark Highway:  Love, Murder and Revenge in 1930’s Kentucky. You can learn more about Verna through the Kentucky After Dark Passport Trail that begins in Oldham County and takes you throughout the region.

Frances Eleanor “Fanny” Clark O’Fallon Thurston Fitzhugh (1773-1825) came from a prominent well-known family with deep roots in Kentucky. She was the sister of General George Rogers Clark and William Clark, one half of the famous Lewis & Clark Expedition. Family tradition recalls her being known as the “great black-eyed beauty of Kentucky.” Her second husband, Charles Mynn Thruston, was a merchant and they owned about 500 acres near Westport, KY. Charles’ untimely death at the hands of his manservant, Luke, caused quite a stir for Fanny and her family on the night of Dec. 8, 1800. Luke stabbed Thruston fatally in the chest and then escaped. Fanny and her life is just a piece of the exciting history of Westport, the site of the county’s first courthouse.

Sarah Elizabeth “Sally” Shallenberger Brown (1911-2011) is part of the legacy of Ashbourne Farms in La Grange, KY. Sally and her husband, W.L. Lyons Brown, were given a unique wedding gift in 1937 from her grandfather, Ashton Cokayne Shallenberger;- several Scottish Shorthorn cattle and a bull. The couple built the farm from the ground up and it is listed on the National Historic Register. The farm continues Sally’s vision of preservation and natural conservation. Known as a philanthropist, she was also a lecturer, artist, designer, and benefactor to many institutions. As a testament to her far-reaching conservation efforts, in 1998 a portion of the Pallisades of the Kentucky River near Shakertown was renamed the Sally Brown Nature Preserve. Sally’s husband was chairman and president of Brown Forman Corp.

Jenny Pfanenstiel is a Master Milliner and owner of Oldham County-based Judith M. Supply House. She has been a Featured Milliner for the Kentucky Derby and her one-of-a-kind pieces have been worn by some of the world’s most fashionable people including Former First Lady Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Madonna just to name a few. She has a passion for creating hats and often gives hat making workshops and tours at her La Grange business. Jenny is a 2019 Tory Burch Foundation Fellow and author of The Making of a Milliner. Her favorite saying is, “A hat can not only change your day, it can change your life!”

Kyra Elzy is an Oldham County native who has spent over a decade transforming the University of Kentucky women’s basketball program into a national powerhouse. She served as an assistant coach and an associate head coach for the Wildcats before being named the eighth head coach in the program history in 2020. Before coaching, she was a star herself at Oldham County High School as a two-time All-American and was inducted into the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. She had a basketball career at Tennessee where she was a member of two national championship teams in 1997 and 1998, and a national runner-up squad in 2000. Earning two degrees from Tennessee, she was the first Tennessee player to earn a master’s degree while still playing.

Book a stay in Oldham County to learn more about these women and additional exciting March events and programs. Plan your itinerary by contacting Kim Hydes, Executive Director of Oldham County KY Tourism & Conventions, at (502) 222-0056 or by email at Director@TourOldham.com, or visit TourOldham.com.