Local history: Giron’s Confectionary
A French confectionery in frontier Lexington.
In the early 1800s, Mathurin Giron emigrated from France to America. For reasons unknown, he crossed the Appalachians and came to Lexington circa 1810. Keep in mind that Kentucky had been a state for barely 18 years and had little to offer other than hardship, hard work, opportunity, and possibility. While the 1810 census showed Lexington's population standing at 4,326, still it was a rough and tumble village with many having fought in the French and Indian War of 1754-1763 and during the American revolutionary war of 1775-1783; for perspective, Daniel Boone was still alive.
And how was this Frenchman to earn a living in the wilderness? He started a French confectionery business – candies, cakes, cookies -- all the good stuff. Let's stop on that note and try to imagine frontiersmen and fur traders, backwoods settlers, trappers, and homespun-wearing soldiers standing in line to buy high-end French pastries such as dacquoise, tarte tatin, mille-feuille, and macarons. But buy them they did; things were going so well such that in 1812 he advertised in the Kentucky Gazette (the local newspaper) for an apprentice. His business seems to have been wildly popular and evolved through several partnerships, one with John Darrac (sp?), who made his living by teaching French language classes and formal dancing lessons. By 1820, Mr. Darrac was hosting cotillion parties on the weekends and teaching dances such as hornpipes, allemands, Russian waltzes, gavottes, the shawl dance, and reels.
In 1824, and at the personal invitation of President James Monroe, Monsieur Gilbert du Motier, better known to us as General Lafayette or the Marquis de Lafayette (yes, he of Lafayette High School), who among other things played an enormous role in helping the American colonies win their independence, and who was a very close friend of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and pretty much everyone who was anyone in the colonies, came to America to do something of a victory tour. And tour he did -- visiting all 24 states and getting a huge hero's welcome every place he stopped. And where did the Marquis de Lafayette stop in Lexington? You guessed it -- he visited Giron's Confectionery, where he stuffed his face with the very finest in high-calorie treats while chatting with a fellow countryman.
Also, among other famous patrons was Mary Todd (who lived in Lexington at 578 W. Main from 1832-39) and with her husband, Abraham Lincoln, returned to visit several times. It was said that she adored Giron's Confectionery and never met a cake, cookie, or candy that she wouldn't eat.
Mr. Giron reinvested in his business, and in 1829, he bought a somewhat larger brick building, with the confectionery shop on the first floor, and a 50' ballroom on the second. Alcohol was served, most probably our famous local drink, bourbon whiskey, although bourbon wasn't called that until decades later. The second floor was used not just for dancing, but for public gatherings, lectures on all topics, parties, club meetings, and the like.
The author James Lane Allen (yes, the elementary school on Appomattox Rd is named after him; yes, Lane Allen Road is named after him) wrote about Giron's desserts: "...that M. Giron who made the tall pyramids of meringues and macaroons for wedding suppers, and spun around them a cloud of candied webbing as white and misty as the veil of a bride."
Mathurin Giron retired in 1844. But in 1907, the Lexington Herald printed an essay about Mr. Giron, and concluded with the following: "Years passed on, as they must, and M. Giron grew old. His daughter had since married and moved away. The life of a confectionery was a hard one and he must soon give it up. He was not wealthy, neither was he poor. Active and unceasing labour had built for him a comfortable fortune. He was independent of charity; his child was provided for; and he and his wife could now await their summons in happy, untiring love, at peace with the world and all men. Their graves in the old Baptist burying ground have long since been erased; but happily the old Confectionery stands today, a fitting and lasting monument to the memory of M. Giron--him who strewed the sweets of life along his way."
Giron's Confectionery was at 125 N. Mill Street. The building still stands and it is now home to Silk's Lounge. You can go in, order a drink, and think about innumerable frontier persons, General Lafayette, Mary Todd Lincoln, and so many, many others who walked through the door just as you did.
(Many thanks to the Special Collections section, Transylvania University Library for helping to preserve irreplaceable images and documents pertaining to our vanishing past)