African-American Resources for Kentucky

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Surnames/tags: Kentucky black_heritage

US Black Heritage Project Home Page

African-American Genealogy Resources

African-American Resources by State

US Black Heritage Kentucky Team Page

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Welcome to the Resources page for African American Genealogy in Kentucky. The purpose of this page is to provide links to resources that help with African American Genealogy in Kentucky.

If you know of something that should be on here, please let us know.

NOTICE: a work in progress, editing for clarity bit by bit.

Contents 1 WikiTree USBH Pages 2 History and General Resources 2.1 Kentucky Colonization Society 2.2 US Colored Troops 2.3 Kentucky Slave Narratives 3 Resources by Location 3.1 Ohio River Borderlands 3.2 Central Kentucky Cemeteries 3.3 Anderson County 3.4 Ballard County 3.5 Boone County 3.6 Boyd County 3.7 Boyle County 3.7.1 WikiTree Pages Boyle County 3.7.2 Boyle County Resources on the Web 3.7.2.1 Danville Boyle County African American Historical Society 3.7.2.2 Boyle County African American Communities 3.7.2.3 Other Boyle County African American Resources Online 3.8 Boone, Bourbon, Boyd and Boyle 3.9 Caldwell County 3.10 Christian County 3.11 Clark County 3.12 Crittenden 3.13 Estill County 3.14 Fleming County 3.15 Franklin County 3.16 Fulton 3.17 Harrison County 3.18 Hickman County 3.19 Jefferson County and Louisville, KY 3.20 Leslie County 3.21 Livingston County 3.22 Logan County 3.23 Madison County 3.24 Mason County 3.25 McCracken 3.26 Mercer County 3.27 Trigg 3.28 Union County 3.29 Webster County 3.30 Woodford County 4 Kentucky Slavery Resources

WikiTree USBH Pages

• MAP images for historical Kentucky
• Kentucky Project
• African American Resources
• African American Family History
• African American Cemeteries of Kentucky
• African Americans of Horse Racing
• A Comprehensive Name Index for the American Slave
• Black Churches of Kentucky
• Finding Slaves in Family Search Records
• Kentucky, United States Civil War Lists the USCT units that were mustered from Kentucky and the county they mustered from.
• Kentucky Free People of Color
  • Free Black Community in Louisville
• Kentucky Plantations
• Slavery Laws in Kentucky
• Kentucky Slave Narratives]
• Slave Owners of Kentucky
  • Black Slave Owners of Kentucky, 1830

History and General Resources

• ​African-American Genealogy Group of Kentucky Monthly membership meetings with presentations by expert genealogists focused on Kentucky. Listing of live and zoom events of interest to genealogists. And many other resources.
• Book Notes – The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia A review of a book that may be available through a library near you.
• Emily, Charles, and Joe the Graham Jones Davis Surname provides a detailed analysis of the author Mary E. Clay's ancestors transition from slavery to freedom and the mysteries around the surnames taken.
• Kentucky African American Heritage Commission
• Kentucky Center for African American Heritage
• Kentucky Ancestors: African Americans Section on African Americans.
• Kentucky Ancestors; Kentucky Historical Society has a searchable collection of online articles that may reference slave owners and enslaved ancestors.
• Kentucky Kindred Genealogy
• Kentucky US Colored Troops
• Notable Kentucky African American Data Base Created by the University of Kentucky.

Kentucky Colonization Society

A number of African Americans from Kentucky emigrated to Liberia

• Kentucky Colonization Society
• Thirty-fifth annual report of the American Colonization Society… January 20, 1852… and a table of emigrants
• Thirty-fifth annual report of the American Colonization Society - January 20, 1852 : which includes a table of emigrants.
• * Brig Ajax in May 1833 took 99 emigrants from Kentucky to Liberia.
  • • Slaves of Richard Bibb, Kentucky who were on the Brig Ajax.
• * Ship Saluda in February 1840 to 12 emigrants from Kentucky to Liberia.
• * Barque Union in October 1841 took 20
• * Brig Lime Rock in May 1844 took 14 - not in the report, but in Vol XX of The African Repository The Brig Lime Rock, arrived May 1844
• * Brig Chipola in November 1844 took 21
• * Barque Rothschild in January 1846 to 24
• * Sch. Mary Wiles in January 1847 took 3
• * Barq Nehemiah Rich. In January 1848 took 28
• * Clinton Wright in April 1849 took 19
• * Sc. D. C. Foster in March 1850 took 19
• * Brig Alida in February 1851 took 42
• Kentucky 297 (report number) 301 (this list)
• William Tubman, president of Liberia, descendant of Lexington, KY emigrants

US Colored Troops

• US Colored Troops from Kentucky
• USCT in the Civil War Family Search

List of the USCT 1st through 39th Do a page search for the word Kentucky to find the KY Troops

• Military Records of USCT Troops at Fort Nelson, KY of troops from the 7th congressional district.
  
  • US Colored Troops Muster and Descriptive Roll, KY 7th Congressional District listing first and last names of men enlisting in the US Colored Troops, and if they were slaves, naming their owners.
  • Record of Musters made by Capt N C Kinney USA at Fort Nelson, KY
  • Slave Compensation Records - Kentucky, by Owner

Kentucky Slave Narratives

In the 1930's the Works Progress Administration conducted interviews with former slaves. These works have been published.

• A Comprehensive Name Index for the American Slave There are images here that are extracted from

A Comprehensive Name Index for the American Slave compiled by Howard E Potts, this page contains scans of the index pages for those interviewed who were enslaved in Kentucky, by County.

• Freedmen Narratives which has a section for some of the former slaves who were enslave in Kentucky, and their profiles.

Resources by Location

Counties in Kentucky evolved over time. In 1776 most of Kentucky was a county of the Virginia, the rest was Chickasaw lands. By 1779 Virginia had 9 counties in what is now geographically Kentucky. Kentucky became a state in 1792. Once a state, it seems that every few years they divided up bigger counties to create more numerous smaller counties. Today there are 120 Counties

THEREFORE! If you are doing work in a county, it pays to know when the county was formed. The inhabitants of Boyle County in 1842, had been the inhabitants of had either been in Lincoln or Mercer County. Knowing this can help with knowing where to look for records on the same person. Kentucky County Maps: Interactive History & Complete List can help you sort it all out. Wikipedia also has a chart of the counties and thier formation date.

Ohio River Borderlands

• Searching for Slavery: Fugitive Slaves in the Ohio River Valley Borderland, 1830–1860 by Matthew Salafia, Ohio Valley History, Volume 8, Number 4, Winter 2008, pp. 38-63

Central Kentucky Cemeteries

• Central Kentucky African American Cemetery Association, Inc Listing cemeteries that have been documented the the association: Boyle County; Marion County; Casey County; Garrard County; Mercer County; Lincoln County.

Anderson County

• A Hollywood star, a Supreme Court case and a profound story of courage; February 22, 2023

Ballard County

• Civil War Draft This ledger is incorrectly filed under Missouri, 1st, Vol 5 of 10 at Ancestry.com because the list was written in a ledger that was meant for St. Louis, Missouri. It contains a list of Kentucky slaves who were registered for the draft, their ages (some do not have ages) and the name of their slave owner. The men are grouped alphabetically by the first letter of their surname. Within that grouping, they are then grouped alphabetically by the county they lived in.

Boone County

Boone County Public Library, with records on the Underground Railroad and Slavery

Boyd County

• US 1880 Census of Boyd County This page provides links to records that can be used to make profiles. 1880 is the first census to name family relationships. Read about the USBH 1880 Census Project before proceeding: US Black Heritage 1880 Project

Boyle County

Formed in 1842 from Mercer County and Lincoln County, for dates prior to 1842, search those counties.

WikiTree Pages Boyle County

• African American Cemeteries of Boyle County Wikipage with current African American Cemetery Categories. If you create a profile in a Boyle African American Cemetery that is not here, please attach UB Black Heritage Needs Cemetery as a category.
• Boyle County KY The Kentucky Team Boyle County Page, providing historical context and references that may assist Boyle County researchers with their genealogy and family history endeavors.
• Boyle County KY WikiTree page of Boyle County Categories, Pages and Profiles.
• Danville, KY WikiTree Categories pertaining to Danville: Cemeteries, Villages, and Profiles.

Boyle County Resources on the Web

Danville Boyle County African American Historical Society

Boyle County African American Genealogy has an abundance of research and indexed records due to the work of the Danville Boyle County African American Historical Society, which has been working for decades on uncovering all available records.

• Danville Boyle County African American Historical Society, Inc Which has everything you can imagine about African American History and public records.
• African American Genealogies of Boyle County, KY; Compiled by Mike Denis A list of all African American Families found in the public records of Boyle County, with listings of available documents. If you work on an African American profile, look here to make your work easy. It may be downloaded, and is periodically updated.
• Boyle County African-American Deaths 1911-1964, with selected records before and after
  *Doram Family - Free Black Family that Prospered
• 100th Anniversary Program of the Doric Lodge
• Funeral Programs- including bios and photographs
• Registration of Free Blacks in Boyle County, Kentucky, 1852 is a list of all free blacks required to register in Boyle County in 1852. Downloadable pdf.
• Historical Map of African American Communities
• Marriages
  • African American Marriages 1866 to 1945 in Boyle and Lincoln Counties
  • The Transcription of the Marriage Records in Boyle and Lincoln Counties
• Military Records of USCT Troops at Fort Nelson, KY
  

• • US Colored Troops Muster and Descriptive Roll, KY 7th Congressional District listing first and last names of men enlisting in the US Colored Troops, and if they were slaves, naming their owners.

• • Record of Musters made by Capt N C Kinney USA at Fort Nelson, KY

• • Slave Compensation Records - Kentucky, by Owner

• Schools - Bate School History and Students
• Urban Renewal: Oral Histories African Americans affected by "urban renewal," which demolished the African American community in West Danville, and a timeline exhibit of the process.
• We Were Here, History of African Americans in Boyle County
• Wills -- Boyle County Wills Listing Slaves is an 11 page extraction of Wills that mention slaves between 1842-1870.

Boyle County African American Communities

• African American Communities of Boyle County

  In Boyle County, at least five African-American communities were established during the post Civil War era, including Clifton, Stoney Point, Wilsonville, Needmore and Little Needmore

  • Little Needmore
  • Clifton
  • Sleetown
  • Category:Wilsonville, Boyle County, Kentucky

Other Boyle County African American Resources Online

• Dennis and Diadamia Doram: A View of the American Dream Biography of a married couple, free blacks, who prospered, and owned slaves. Source documents are in the KY Historical Society collections.
• The Free Blacks of Boyle County, Kentucky 1850-1860: A Research Note Richard C. Brown; The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society; Vol. 87, No. 4 (Autumn 1989), pp. 426-438 (13 pages) Published By: Kentucky Historical Society
• Harlan's Station Garret Buster was a slave owned by Gen. Joshua Buster and Sophia Cecil, also enslaved, and owned by James Granville Cecil, originally of Monticello, but of Boyle County by 1848. A research paper on the history of these families.
• Jackson Family Legacy
• United States Census 1880 US Census 1880 Records Boyle County This page provides links to records that can be used to make profiles. 1880 is the first census to name family relationships. Read about the USBH 1880 Census Project before proceeding: US Black Heritage 1880 Project

Boone, Bourbon, Boyd and Boyle

• Afro-American deaths of Boone -- Boyle County, Kentucky, 1852-1862 .pdf by Tippie, Gwendolyn Garrison. Please cite the author. Many of these individuals have had profiles made. At some point, checking the document (or even indexing it!) may prove useful. The list names the first name of the enslaved person, and the last name of the owner, or their last name if they were free, which is noted.

Caldwell County

• Civil War Draft This ledger is incorrectly filed under Missouri, 1st, Vol 5 of 10 at Ancestry.com because the list was written in a ledger that was meant for St. Louis, Missouri. It contains a list of Kentucky slaves who were registered for the draft, their ages (some do not have ages) and the name of their slave owner. The men are grouped alphabetically by the first letter of their surname. Within that grouping, they are then grouped alphabetically by the county they lived in.

Christian County

• Collections Corner: The Watson-Robinson Letters A summary of a collection of letters by African Americans in Christian County, that may be viewed online. Surnames include: Anderson, Barker, Bell, Black, Bryant, Buckner, Carter, Cross, Crump, Davis, Ewing, Faulkner, Garnett, Glass, Grey, Hanks, Harger, Hubbard, Kendall, Kimbrew, King, Lasham, McGaughan, Mack, Murrell, Phelps, Robertson, Robinson, Rowland, Slaughter, Steele, Taylor, Tegarden, Ware, Watson, Weir, and Wild.

Clark County

Book Notes - Before Abolition African Americans in early Clark County

Crittenden

• Civil War Draft This ledger is incorrectly filed under Missouri, 1st, Vol 5 of 10 at Ancestry.com because the list was written in a ledger that was meant for St. Louis, Missouri. It contains a list of Kentucky slaves who were registered for the draft, their ages (some do not have ages) and the name of their slave owner. The men are grouped alphabetically by the first letter of their surname. Within that grouping, they are then grouped alphabetically by the county they lived in.

Estill County

Formed in 1808. Some families may be found in the following text:

• History and genealogies of the families of Miller, Woods, Harris, Wallace, Maupin, Oldham, Kavanaugh, and Brown ed. Miller, William Harris. (illustrated) : with interspersions of notes of the families of Dabney, Reid, Martin, Broaddus, Gentry, Jarman, Jameson, Ballard, Mullins, Michie, Moberley, Covington, Browning, Duncan, Yancey, and others. 1907. Richmond, KY.

Fleming County

Formed in 1798 out of Monroe County.

• Settlement to Monrovia of 14 slaves from Flemingsburg KY, liberated by the will of Thomas Wallace in the African Repository and Colonial Journal, Vol XX, No. 4, Apr 1844, p. 127. The African repository and colonial journal, created by the American Colonization Society, digital publisher - Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center

W. McLAIN
Washington City, 8th March, 1844.
EXPEDITION FOR LIBERIA.
The Brig " Lime Rock " sailed from New Orleans for Monrovia and Sinou, Liberia, on the lOth inst. She had on board ninety-two emigrants for the colony ; of whom seventy-two were sent out by Dr. S. Duncan and Rev. Z. Butler, of Mississippi; fourteen were from Flemingsburg, Ky., liberated by the will of the late Thomas Wallace ; and six were from the city of New Orleans.

They were well supplied with provisions and all the articles necessary for their comfort and happiness in the colony. A correspondent writing from New Orleans, under date 9th inst., says : "I have this day visited •the Lime Rock as she lies at anchor in the river just below the city, in [April, 1844."
company with three clergymen, each of whom performed part of some of the most interesting exercises I have had the pleasure of witnessing for some time past. The emigrants appeared very well, and seemed quite happy in anticipation of going. They are well furnished with births beloe, and a temporary house on deck, covering nearly the whole of the deck. They are well provided with water and provisions, and certainly, have every prospect of a safe and comfortable voyage."

Franklin County

• The Green Hill Cemetery Research Collection The Greenhill Cemetery Collection is comprised of death certificates, obituaries, and names from the Vital Statistics Death Index of those who were buried at the cemetery between, approximately, 1911 and 1977.

Fulton

• Civil War Draft This ledger is incorrectly filed under Missouri, 1st, Vol 5 of 10 at Ancestry.com because the list was written in a ledger that was meant for St. Louis, Missouri. It contains a list of Kentucky slaves who were registered for the draft, their ages (some do not have ages) and the name of their slave owner. The men are grouped alphabetically by the first letter of their surname. Within that grouping, they are then grouped alphabetically by the county they lived in.

Harrison County

Formed in 1793, and divided in 1795

• Harrison County, Kentucky Black Heritage

Hickman County

• Civil War Draft This ledger is incorrectly filed under Missouri, 1st, Vol 5 of 10 at Ancestry.com because the list was written in a ledger that was meant for St. Louis, Missouri. It contains a list of Kentucky slaves who were registered for the draft, their ages (some do not have ages) and the name of their slave owner. The men are grouped alphabetically by the first letter of their surname. Within that grouping, they are then grouped alphabetically by the county they lived in.

Jefferson County and Louisville, KY

Formed in 1780 as on of three KY Counties. Divided 1785, 1792, 1797, and 1824.

• Filson Historical Society African American History Initiative Includes arhival records of African Americans, as well as other resources.
• Index to the Filson Club History Quarterly , 1926-2002
• History of the Enslaved at Oxmoor Farm From 1787 to 1865 Oxmoor was home to the Bullitt family as well as enslaved men and women. The farm is now an historical museum. It has tours and this page on the history of the Bullitt family and the people they enslaved.
  • Oxmoor Farm Education and Outreach
• Free Black Community in Louisville
• After gaining freedom in Louisville, Kentucky, James Madison and Catherine “Kitty” Smith harbored Black fugitives on their farm in Southern Indiana
• Lewis & Harriet Hayden and Lexington’s Underground Railroad

Leslie County

US Census 1880 Leslie County This page provides links to records that can be used to make profiles. 1880 is the first census to name family relationships. There are only 16 profiles on this page, and it would make a nice small project for the right person.

Livingston County

• Civil War Draft This ledger is incorrectly filed under Missouri, 1st, Vol 5 of 10 at Ancestry.com because the list was written in a ledger that was meant for St. Louis, Missouri. It contains a list of Kentucky slaves who were registered for the draft, their ages (some do not have ages) and the name of their slave owner. The men are grouped alphabetically by the first letter of their surname. Within that grouping, they are then grouped alphabetically by the county they lived in.

Logan County

• Slaves of Richard Bibb, Kentucky Slaves who were emancipated by Richard Bibb, some of whom emigrated to Liberia.

Madison County

• Fort Boonesboro Living History, which recently added information about the African Americans and Natives at the fort.
• The Boone Society

Mason County

• New Years Day Slave Auction of 1846 Details the life history of a family of slaves owned by the Masters family.

McCracken

• Civil War Draft This ledger is incorrectly filed under Missouri, 1st, Vol 5 of 10 at Ancestry.com because the list was written in a ledger that was meant for St. Louis, Missouri. It contains a list of Kentucky slaves who were registered for the draft, their ages (some do not have ages) and the name of their slave owner. The men are grouped alphabetically by the first letter of their surname. Within that grouping, they are then grouped alphabetically by the county they lived in.

Mercer County

• the John Meaux Property Division John Meaux in his will freed sixty slaves. This page gives a biography of him.
• Kindred Genealogy Mercer County Documents
• John Meaux's 1826 will emanciapted his 61 slaves.

Trigg

• Civil War Draft This ledger is incorrectly filed under Missouri, 1st, Vol 5 of 10 at Ancestry.com because the list was written in a ledger that was meant for St. Louis, Missouri. It contains a list of Kentucky slaves who were registered for the draft, their ages (some do not have ages) and the name of their slave owner. The men are grouped alphabetically by the first letter of their surname. Within that grouping, they are then grouped alphabetically by the county they lived in.

Union County

• US Census 1880; Union County Profiles This page provides links to records that can be used to make profiles. 1880 is the first census to name family relationships. Read about the USBH 1880 Census Project before proceeding: US Black Heritage 1880 Project
• Civil War Draft This ledger is incorrectly filed under Missouri, 1st, Vol 5 of 10 at Ancestry.com because the list was written in a ledger that was meant for St. Louis, Missouri. It contains a list of Kentucky slaves who were registered for the draft, their ages (some do not have ages) and the name of their slave owner. The men are grouped alphabetically by the first letter of their surname. Within that grouping, they are then grouped alphabetically by the county they lived in.

Webster County

• Civil War Draft This ledger is incorrectly filed under Missouri, 1st, Vol 5 of 10 at Ancestry.com because the list was written in a ledger that was meant for St. Louis, Missouri. It contains a list of Kentucky slaves who were registered for the draft, their ages (some do not have ages) and the name of their slave owner. The men are grouped alphabetically by the first letter of their surname. Within that grouping, they are then grouped alphabetically by the county they lived in.

Woodford County

• Woodford County Huntertown Village, Woodford County, KY

Kentucky Slavery Resources

• African American Slave Owners listed by county and name, and number of slaves. Kentucky starts on image 27 ends on image 31.
• Adams County Record Book of slaves purchased in Lexington, KY and taken to Adams County 1859-1861
  • What the records books are
• Kentucky Enslaved Database Reckoning Radio: Facing the Legacy of Slavery in Kentucky
• History of slavery in Kentucky at Wikipedia
• Andrew Jackson, b. 1814 Narrative and Writings of Andrew Jackson, of Kentucky Containing an Account of His Birth, and Twenty-Six Years of His Life While a Slave; His Escape; Five Years of Freedom, Together with Anecdotes Relating to Slavery; Journal of One Year's Travels; Sketches, etc. Narrated by Himself; Written by a Friend.
• Slave Records Kentucky
• Eastern Kentucky University American Slavery Collection