The Red River Gorge
Even before the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Shawnee and Yuchi were removed from Kentucky, there were European settlers. Counties were not formed until after the American Revolutionary War. Thus, in wilderness regions, the genealogist must really dig to locate old colonial forts and militia records. My personal procedure is to read every page of the tax digest in the county where my ancestor resided, recording the description of acreage, number of acres, names of neighbors, waterways, district, etc. (whatever the tax digest provides) for each year, then trace that same acreage forward. This information provides a time-line for when he resided in the county. When his name no longer appears, I search the default list. A sensible place to search next is the adjoining counties because the old parent county lines changed with the ascent of the formation of new counties and even States. For example, Hampton County Virginia went to West Virginia. The boundary lines frequently changed. Next, I look at marriages with that surname. This also gives me a time-line of the marriages of the sons and daughters as well as an idea of whether or not any members of the family were still around. If there was a ten or twenty year gap, say, that means that the older generation has either died or moved away. Of course, a thorough search of the deed records tells a better story, but there may be little or nothing there.
Genealogy Records in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia
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