Capt. Daniel Weisiger III & Weisiger House
Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
Captain Daniel Weisiger III. Capt. Daniel Weisiger III, 1763-1829- Early Frankfort merchant, farmer, county clerk, city trustee, first postmaster, and host of Weisiger House. 1st Master of Hiram Masonic Lodge. He married Lucy Price and fathered 10 children, including Dr. Joseph Weisiger, first white male born in Frankfort. Grandfather of 3 Civil War generals. (Reverse) Weisiger House, “at the Sign of the Golden Eagle”- Tunstall’s Tavern was enlarged to become Weisiger House, ca. 1790s. Social & political gathering place in Frankfort. On May 9, 1825, a grand ball was held to honor Gen. Lafayette. After Daniel’s death, Lucy managed inn & stage stop for over a decade. City bought it in 1852 & built Capital Hotel here.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
Daniel Weisiger III (1763–1829) was a pillar of early Frankfort—merchant, farmer, county clerk, city trustee, and the town's first postmaster—as well as the first Master of the Hiram Masonic Lodge. Around the 1790s he enlarged Tunstall's Tavern into the Weisiger House, "at the Sign of the Golden Eagle," which became a leading social and political gathering place; a grand ball was held there in 1825 to honor the Marquis de Lafayette. After Daniel's death his widow Lucy managed the inn and stage stop for over a decade before the city bought it in 1852.
Why it matters
Weisiger's tavern was the kind of frontier gathering place where the civic and political life of a new state capital took shape, hosting everything from local business to a Revolutionary War hero's homecoming tour.
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Related people
- · Daniel Weisiger III
- · Lucy Price Weisiger
- · Marquis de Lafayette
Related events
- · Lafayette's tour of the United States (1825)
Themes & tags
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