Tax Defaulters are Important Genealogy Resources #kentuckypioneers #genealogy

Tax Defaulters are Important Genealogy Resources

Tips by Jeannette Holland Austin

All tax digests lists persons who have defaulted on their taxes, usually enumerated as the last page of each district. The tax digests are not alphabetical, so we have to thumb through all of the pages to find anything. The default list does not necessarily reflect persons who refused to pay their property taxes. Rather, from the point of view of the genealogist it lends itself more as a report of those who have either died or removed to another county. If the date is close to a mortality census (every 10 years), you can look there. Otherwise, if the person is old enough to have died, then searching the local cemeteries in the area is indicated. People were on the go and we have to be detectives.  . . . more . . .

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Index to Kentucky Wills and Estates

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Tales Told by Old Cemeteries #kentuckypioneers #genealogy

The Tales Told inside Old Cemeteries

Tips by Jeannette Holland Austin

The tales told in old cemeteries are both written and unwritten. Relatives often erect an obelisks which defines the lives of their ancestors at the entrance of the cemetery and the DAR marks the burial location of Revolutionary War Soldiers. It is the result of a ton of research performed by interested persons. The unwritten part lies in the the graves themselves. I once found a concrete slab covering a sunken grave of an uncle born in 1795. This would not have occurred had I not first cleared away the thorny briars. Soil indentions inside the family plot could suggest the burial of an infant or small child. Everyone was buried inside the family plot except uncle Joe. His grave was discovered in a neglected wooden area. The old slate tombstones did not last long. They often broke and fell into the dirt. Did you search nearby sheds and wooded areas? I was surprised to find several slate tombstones stacked inside an old barn in the general vicinity of where the old family home once stood. 
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Index to Kentucky Wills and Estates

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How Lost are your Ancestors?

How Lost are your Ancestors?

Tips by Jeannette Holland Austin

It seems that finding some ancestors is only a dream. Let us face facts, everyone does not create records of themselves. They don't purchase land, pay taxes, register their marriages or file estate records. Some people avoided census takers, or were missed because they resided at a county border or near the frontier. So, what to do? Here are some suggestions. First search the tax digests for likely counties. These digests are never alphabetical. Do not forget to look for defaulters for this may be a clue of when they left the area. Another place to search is the Minutes of the Inferior Court where mention is made of road overseers, commissioners of various public offices, etc. Also, check the Superior Court records looking for law suits.

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Index to Kentucky Wills and Estates

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The Irish in Jefferson County KY #kentuckypioneers #kygenealogy

The Irish in Jefferson County

There were Irishmen in Kentucky long before the exploration of Daniel Boone. Colonel George Croghan, an Irishman, wrote in his journal June 1, 1765, "We arrived within a mile of the falls of the Ohio (Louisville) where we encamped after coming 50 miles this day." Colonel Croghan was a connected by marriage to General George Rogers Clark, who reduced the British possessions in the entire Northwest and made it first possible for the United States to acquire this territory. If General Clark was not an Irishman himself, his records show that he had many Irishmen with him as soldiers. His sister married William Croghan.

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General George Rogers Clark #kentuckypioneers #kygenealogy

General George Rogers Clark

With General Clark came to Louisville, in 1778, John Haggin and John Montgomery, and both were captains in his command. They landed at Corn Island, in the Ohio river, at the head of the falls, opposite where Louisville now stands. In 1782 there lived in Louisville, with their families: John MacManus, Hugh Cochran, John Doyle, John Caghey, John Cunningham, Michael Humble, John Handley, Andrew Hines, Thomas McCarty, Thomas Purcell, James Sullivan, James Brown and John McCarland, and most of these came with Clark. That was a pretty good Irish settlement for those days when a man who went out to plough corn was obliged to take his rifle along to defend himself against hostile Indians. Source: Conquest of the Northwest Territory by George Rogers Clark and his associates.

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Colonel John Campbell, Irish Presbyterian #kygenealogy #kentuckypioneers

Colonel John Campbell, Irish Presbyterian

During 1773, the first survey made of Louisville was made by Captain Thomas Bullitt; his associates were John Fitzpatrick, James, George and Robert McAfee. Dr. John Connolly owned two thousand acres of land in Louisville in 1773. Colonel John Campbell, a native of Ireland and a resident of Louisville about this time, was afterward a member of the first State Constitutional Convention, held in Danville in 1797. A proud full-blooded Irishman in this region was Colonel Campbell. He was Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives and after wards a member of Congress. He was often a delegate to the Presbyterian Synods in Kentucky and was always spoken of as an Irishman, without any prefix, though he was born in the province of Ulster. Colonel Campbell was a faithful patriot, and being a large landowner, sent for many of his countrymen to come to Louisville, which was another cause for swelling the early Irish immigration to Kentucky.

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Simon Kenton, Irishman #kygenealogy #kentuckypioneers

Simon Kenton, a Brave Irishman to Kentucky

Simon Kenton, the companion of Daniel Boone, came to Kentucky in 1771 and was of Irish parentage. His father was born in County Donegal. Another Irish companion was Michael Stoner. While still a minor, Kenton fled from his state because he believed he had killed a rival for the hand of a fair Virginia damsel. Simon Kenton record said that in 1775 he located in the Upper and Lower Blue Licks where there was an abundance of game, and he considered it a paradise. When in Kentucky, assumed the name of Simon Butler. He was known for his many deeds of personal bravery; indeed, it was asserted by many that he was the greatest Indian fighter the country ever produced. In 1782, upon hearing that the man he had struck down with his fist was still alive, he resumed his name, and in 1795 served as major under General Anthony Wayne. He founded the Kenton Station and Maysville, and planted the first corn raised in the state north of Kentucky river. Michael Stoner, one of his companions and Thomas Kennedy, another Irishman, built a cabin and made some improvements on Stoners fork of Licking river, in Bourbon county in 1774. Source: Early Irish Settlers in Kentucky by Edward Fitzpatrick, Louisville, Kentucky.
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Swapping Horses #kentuckypioneers #genealogy

Swapping Horses

Twentieth century observers of Kentucky noted the absence of paupers and beggars in the towns. Somehow misfortune and ill-fortune and old age save themselves here from the last hard necessity of asking alms on the highway. Also, that the appearance of Kentuckians could easily lead you to a wrong impression simply because their dress and speech and manners in the market-place are not their best equipment. The Kentucky farmer or horseman has always been hard-working.

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Auctioning A Jack #genealogy #kentuckypioneers

Auctioning A Jack

The Kentuckian nowadays does not come to county court to pick a quarrel or to settle one. He has no quarrel. His fist has reverted to its natural use and become a hand. Nor does he go armed. The gentlemen in this State no longer derive satisfaction with a fist fight in the market-place. Also, the three-cornered hat is no longer remembered. Something else has disappeared; the open use of the pioneer beverage. Merchants no longer set it out for their customers because it is no longer the law of hospitality to offer it to a guest. Also, the decanter is no longer found on the sideboard in the home and the barrel is not stored in the cellar. 

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A Good Fight in Front of the Court House #kentuckypioneers #genealogy

A Good Fight in Front of the Court House

A capital day in Lexington was described in The Blue Grass Region of Kentucky by James Lane Anderson as "a most admirable and serene day for fighting. Fights grew like a fresh-water polypeby being broken in two: each part produced a progeny." Thus, while the justices sat quietly on the bench inside, and the people fought quietly in the streets outside, a day of the month was set apart for the conservation of the peace for individual war. There is no evidence that either the justices or the constables ever interfered. "These pugilistic encounters had a certain law of beauty: they were affairs of equal combat and of courage. The fight over, animosity was gone, the feud ended. The men must shake hands, go and drink together, become friends." 

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