LILAC
HILL
One of the old landmarks of the period before the
Civil War still stands in Hardinsburg. It is the
home where Mr. Paul
Pace now lives. Lilac Hill is the name of this
old house. It was originally known as Ivy Hill;
but because of the cemetery having
the same name Mrs. Pace changed it to Lilac Hill.
This house was built by Peter Daniel, who came to
Hardinsburg in 1801, when our county was only two
years old. Mr. Daniel operated a mercantile
business on the corner where the Methodist Church
now stands.
In 1839 he built this beautiful brick home
wherehis log house had previously stood. The
house was made from brick that were burned there
on the ground. It is a two story building and the
walls are fourteen inches thick; and after having
stood one hundred thirty-seven years it would
take a real Jimmy-Cane to blow it down.There are
three stairways and five fireplaces. There are
eight large rooms in the home and the floors are
made
of ash boards that are ten inches wide and one
and one quarter inches thick. These ash planks
are as solid and free from wear as when they were
first laid. Time has only tended to render them
Mrs. Pace has the house furnished with antique
furniture; and, with the pictures and dishes on
display,
one can get a first hand look at the pre-Civil
War period. The home is virtually as it was when
Vivian Daniels built it with one exception. Mrs.
Pace acquired a beautiful antique corner cupboard
and had no more corners where she could place it.
Something had to give; so another corner was made
in the dining room.
Prior to the Civil War, Mr. Daniels was classed
as the wealthiest man in the county. He owned
several farms and twenty-six slaves. His oldest
son, Peter,
was a graduate of Yale University, and a lawyer.
When the Civil War broke out, he helped recruit a
company of men from Kentucky and joined the
Confederate Army. On September 24, 1863 he was
killed at Chickamaugua. He is buried in the old
cemetery here in Hardinsburg. The last heir
of the
Daniels' family was Miss Tula, a Methodist
missionary
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