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 LittleColonel.com  (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
Driving Tour Map of Pewee Valley  (Aobe Acrobat .pdf file, prints to 11 x 17 paper)
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

Pewee Valley

• Delacoosha, where it all began
• The Locust - Home of the Old Colonel and later The Little Colonel
• The Beeches - Home of "The Waltons" and later, Annie Fellows Johnston,
• Edgewood - Home of "The McIntyres,"and the Villa Ridge School
• The Little Colonel's Cottage Home of the Shermans before they moved to The Locust
• Oaklea Home of "The Moores"
• The Railroad Station and the Interurban
• Lloydsboro Valley
• Churches of Lloydsboro Valley
• Kentucky College for Young Ladies "Lloydsboro Seminary"
• Clovercroft Home of Katie Marks (Kate Matthews in real life)
• The Post Office, 
• Tanglewood,  
• Undulata, The Haunted House at Hartwell Hollow
• Villa Ridge Inn, later The Confederate Home - earlier Villa Ridge Inn and School
• Rollington (near Pewee Valley)

Louisville

• 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)

Indiana

• The Cuckoo's Nest really Annie's childhood home (McCutchanville, Indiana in real life, though placed in rural Kentucky for the stories)

Arizona

• Lee's Ranch (Arizona)
• Camelback Mountain and Hole-in-Rock (Arizona)

Texas

• San Antonio and the San Jacinto Day Fiesta
• The Little Town of Bauer (Boerne), Texas
• Penacres, Annie Fellows Johnston's Home in Texas (Boerne), Texas
• Post Oak Springs, or "The Barnaby Ranch" (Boerne), Texas

Other Places

• 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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