An 18th-century corner cupboard believed to have been made by Squire Boone, Jr., the younger brother of Daniel Boone, realized $35,000 during an auction conducted by Beckort Auctions, LLC on Sept. 3. The cupboard sold to representatives of the Old Goshen Church & Cemetery Memorial Foundation, which intends to display the piece in Corydon.
Having “Squire Boon 1799” carved on the inside panel of one lower door, the corner cupboard came from the estate of Frederick Porter Griffin, a historian, genealogist and businessman who died in 2008 at the age of 93. Griffin was given the corner cupboard in 1944 by descendants of Squire Boone.
More than 700 bidders attended the two-day auction, held Sept. 2-3 under a tent on the town square, adjacent to Indiana’s first capitol building. Another 153 participated online through Proxibid. The corner cupboard drew national interest. “We had a ton of calls,” said auctioneer Brian Beckort.
The historic nature of the cupboard made it unique. Prior to the sale, however, no one seemed to know what it might bring. “There’s no cupboard to compare this to, with a frontier family, so our expectations were up in the air on this one,” Beckort said. “We were very pleased with the end results.”
The cupboard wasn’t the only item having a Boone-family attribution. Two pieces were said to have been once owned by George Washington Boone, son of Samuel Boone. Samuel Boone who was a cousin of Daniel Boone and Squire Boone, Jr. Selling for $3,750 was a drop-leaf table that, according to extensive notes left by Griffin, was purchased in the 1930s from the great-granddaughter of Lucy and George Washington Boone.
Urban Art & Antiques 