Robertson County, Kentucky

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Introduction

This page is intended to provide some historical context and references that may assist Robertson County researchers of genealogy and family history. It is still a work in progress: if your family research or genealogical interests lead you to Robertson County, your input and suggestions are appreciated. Volunteers are always welcome!

Robertson County is a part of the United States region known as Appalachia. Though generally speaking, the area surrounds the Appalchian Mountains, it has been primarily defined by culture and economics.

People

Early Residents

From an archaelogical perspective, the earliest residents associated with the area now known as Kentucky have been divided into 5 chronological groups, based on their technologies and social patterns: Paleoindian (10,500 - 8000 BCE), Archaic (8000 - 1000 BCE), Woodland (1000 BCE - 1000 CE), Late Prehistoric (1000 - 1750 CE), and Historic (after 1750 CE).^[1]

In the Late Prehistoric period, just prior to the influx of European colonial emigrants, the cultural group known as Fort Ancient (in the Algonquian language group) occupied the northeastern section of Kentucky (including the area of modern Robertson County). Fort Ancient peoples continued to occupy villages along the Ohio River to the north into the late 17th century. Current scholarship generally supports the conclusion that the tribal groups recognized by the mid-1700s as Shawnee were related in some way to the Fort Ancient societies.

While there is minimal written or archaeological evidence of permanent Native habitation in the Robertson area in the Historic period after 1750, pressures exerted by the slow disruption of the European peoples' exploration and expansion over the previous two centuries were among the primary causes of that circumstance.^[1]

Within a genealogical framework, tomorrow's science may afford more opportunity, but current levels of scholarship and technology offer few possibilities of connection to these early people. The degradation of potential research sites due to more than two centuries of agriculture has also limited the opportunites for study.

Currently, no known people of documented Native American heritage lived in Robertson County in the late 19th century and early 20th centuries.

Immigration & Early Settlement

1774 The Virginia Colony passed a law granting 400 acres of land in Kentucky (then the area in the western portion of Fincastle County of the colony), to any person making improvements including building cabins, clearing ground and raising corn there. [Perrin, p. 218]

31 Dec 1776 The Commonwealth of Virginia formed Kentucky County out of Fincastle County.

30 Jun 1780 The Commonwealth of Virginia abolished Kentucky County and created in its place Fayette, Jefferson and Lincoln Counties. The area now known as Robertson was within the newly formed Fayette County.

1792 Kentucky was admitted as the 15th state of the United States.

1867 Creation of Robertson County from Bracken, Harrison, Mason and Nicholas Counties. It was the 111th county in Kentucky by order of formation.

Slavery, Free People of Color, and Emancipation

Slaves accompanied early white explorers into the Kentucky area in the 1750s and 1760s, and they were among permanent residents in 1775 when Virginia began actively encouraging settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains.^[2]

Enslaved people in the state of Kentucky were primarily employed in agriculture, though they were also used in mining and manufacturing to some extent. Locally, even today Robertson County is mainly rural, agricultural land, but in addition to farming, early 19th century county residents employed slave labor in road building, mill work, wool factories and various tradecrafts.

Since Kentucky did not secede from the Union during the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 did not apply. Slavery ended in Kentucky in 1865 with the adoption of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Robertson County was not formed until two years later in 1867. Slavery records for area residents will be found in the four counties from which Robertson was formed. Research into residents listed as black or mulatto in the 1870 federal census in Robertson County is currently under development.

Interesting Citizens and Associates

• Namesake: George Robertson (1790-1874) (politician)
• Ernie Fletcher (living) (politician: governor of Kentucky)
• James Brenton (1741-1782) (soldier: died at the Battle of Blue Licks)
• Silas Harlan (1753-1782) (soldier: died at the Battle of Blue Licks; co-founder of Harrodsburg, KY. Needs WT profile.)
• Hugh McGary (1744-1806) (early Kentucky pioneer and soldier: fought at the Battle of Blue Licks. Needs WT profile.)
• Thomas Metcalfe (1780-1855) (politician)
• John Todd (1750-1782) (early pioneer and soldier: died at the Battle of Blue Licks)

Population Statistics

Historical Population Data^[3]

Census Year	Population	%±		Census Year	Population	%±
1870	5,399	—		1950	2,881	−15.7%
1880	5,814	7.70%		1960	2,443	−15.2%
1890	4,684	−19.4%		1970	2,163	−11.5%
1900	4,900	4.60%		1980	2,265	4.70%
1910	4,121	−15.9%		1990	2,124	−6.2%
1920	3,871	−6.1%		2000	2,266	6.70%
1930	3,344	−13.6%		2010	2,282	0.70%
1940	3,419	2.20%		2020	2,193	−3.9%

Military

• Battle of Blue Licks on WikiTree
  • Battle of Blue Licks on Wikipedia

Geography

Robertson County sits on the fringe of the Appalachian Plateau near the division of the Allegheny Plateau and the Cumberland Plateau. Lying in the Outer Bluegrass region of Kentucky, the county encompasses about 100 square miles of land at elevations between 550-1009 feet above sea level.^[4] It is the smallest of Kentucky's 120 counties.

Border counties include:

• Bracken County (created 1796)
• Fleming County (created 1798)
• Harrison County (created 1793)
• Mason County (created 1788)
• Nicholas County (created 1799)

Communities

• County seat: Mt. Olivet
• Kentontown (unincorporated)
• Piqua (unincorporated)

Genealogy and History Resources

• Robertson County Cemeteries
  • on WikiTree
  • on FindAGrave
• FamilySearch catalog for Robertson County (disaster record loss in 1871)
• FamilySearch wiki for Robertson County
• USGenweb Archives for Robertson County

Research Notes and Page Updates

• Research and compilation of page data begun 31 Jul 2022.
• Current work-in-progress/task list:
  • Checking WikiTree for existing county resident profiles and adding to Robertson County, Kentucky and appropriate Appalachia categories;
  • Compiling research on Blue Licks and other county military topics;
  • Expanding cemetery research and profiling;
  • Improving notable profiles;
  • Adding maps and photos.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Henderson, A. Gwynn and David Pollack, "A Native History Of Kentucky; Selections from Chapter 17: Kentucky in Native America: A State-by-State Historical Encyclopedia: edited by Daniel S. Murphree, Volume 1, pages 393-440, Greenwood Press (Santa Barbara, CA) 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20220729101229/https://heritage.ky.gov/Documents/Native_History_KyTeachers.pdf
2. ↑ Kleber, John E., editor-in-chief; and Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison, James C. Klotter, associate editors. The Kentucky Encyclopedia, University Press of Kentucky (Lexington, KY) 1992; pp. 494, 826-9.
3. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Robertson County, Kentucky," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robertson_County,_Kentucky&oldid=1096990516 (accessed July 31, 2022).
4. ↑ Elbon, David C., The Kentucky Atlas & Gazetteer, 2022: https://web.archive.org/web/20220731145721/https://www.kyatlas.com/21201.html; accessed 31 Jul 2022.