Ridgeway(Handy House) Wooden Pens

The Ridgeway (Handy House) was torn down in Harrison County in 2018. Ridgeway, also know as the Handy House, was originally owned by US congressman and 1812 war veteran, Colonel William Brown. It was built in 1818 by Brown. He was also an attorney and close friend of Henry Clay. Colonel Brown's wife, Harriet Warfield, was the sister to Dr. Elisha Warfield who delivered Mary Todd Lincoln. The Brown family moved in the 1830's to Illinois, where they emancipated their slaves. (Slaves might have been kept in the basement of the Handy House.)  Brown's son, James N. Brown, fought alongside Lincoln in the same unit during the Black Hawk War, an 1832 conflict with Native Americans in Illinois.
 Dr. Joel Frazier bought the house in 1848, a Union Sympathizer, he allowed a federal army camp on the farm's western edge in 1861-62, known as Camp Frazier. In the 1880's, W.T. Handy owned the farm and named the house Chestnut Hall. He raised trotting horses on a portion of the farm. After his death, the house became known as the Handy House. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. 
The wood used to make these unique keepsake pens was salvaged from the flooring of the historic house.