Landrum Genealogy: Amanda Landrum WIlson

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  Amanda and Her Cousins: A Genealogy of the Landrum Family in Kentucky as collected by James A. Landrum (see separate post)
  
  
• Queen City Lady: The 1861 Journal of Amanda Wilson,
  by William T. Venner
  Amanda Landrum Wilson (1832-1926), a relative, was the daughter of a Methodist minister from Augusta, Ky. She married a wealthy publisher from Cincinnati, Obed Wilson; together, they left an important legacy. This book contains the transcript of her touching personal diary, with  the  story of her brother, a Union lieutenant killed in the Civil War, and many footnotes about local Cincinnati landmarks. She was a world traveler and a noted philanthropist. A more personal account of her story (also with her diary) is available in my brother's book, above. 
• A Daughter of the Samurai, by Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto
  Originally published in 1926, this is a fascinating autobiographical account of the life of a Japanese samurai family at the end of the feudal era. The book tells the story of "how a daughter of feudal Japan, living hundreds of years in one generation, became a modern American." Amanda Landrum Wilson befriended the author when, as young woman, she moved to America for an arranged marriage. A very good read; highly recommended! It may be hard to find... check with your local library.
  
  I recently had the luck to run across a 1936 edition of this book (published by Doubleday) in a library book sale. It has an illustration not included in the 1973 reprint (published by Charles E. Tuttle Company) I bought a couple of years ago... this drawing of the author, Etsu, meeting Amanda (Landrum) and Obed Wilson: 

  

  Amanda welcomes Etsu to "Sweet Home" in Cincinnati, Ohio

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  • Twin Towers: Methodist Home for the Aged, Cincinnati OH
    "[In 1903] Mr. and Mrs. Obed Wilson generously offered to donate 20 acres of land on the brow of College Hill, Cincinnati, for the building of the Home. The gift was accepted, and a fireproof building was designed that would serve 300 people. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson further donated funds for the erection of a Chapel and North Wing, and later gave an organ for the Chapel, built an Art Gallery, and donated their own private collection of art which graces the home today." Amanda also erected a flagpole with a marker dedicated to her brother, a Civil War soldier. I have toured the Chapel and Art Gallery... stunning. 

    • Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum
      Amanda and her family are buried here. Thanks to my brother
      James for "finding" their graves and getting the cemetery to
      maintain this old family section. 
      • Amanda's Interment Certificate
      • Obed's Interment Certificate
    • University of Cincinnati - Wilson Auditorium
      Amanda's bequest to the University of Cincinnati in memory of her husband. She also endowed a Chair for Ethics at this university, and donated precious art pieces to the University.