KYGenWeb: Home
Member of USGenWeb® Project

Enslaved People in Kentucky: A Document Collection

This collection brings together references to enslaved individuals found in Kentucky wills, deeds, court books, inventories, and other legal documents. The material was originally compiled by Jo Thiessen, who requested that it be preserved for future researchers. Because these entries span many counties and do not belong exclusively to any single site, they are presented here as a statewide resource. Each item reflects the language and structure of the original record and may offer essential clues for tracing family connections, ownership history, manumissions, and community networks during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Records

Presented by county.

Bath County

Bath County Will Book B, p. 420
Will of James Armstrong (1830), including extensive provisions regarding manumission and the hiring-out of enslaved individuals Jerry, Fanny, Jacob, Mariah, Cinthey, and Nanny.

Fayette County

Fayette Co., KY Grantee Book 31; Circuit Book F, p. 523
May 25, 1812 — To Anne Jouitt from Joice Falconer, gift of enslaved people.

Clark County

Clark County Will Book B, p. 28 — January 16, 1808
Inventory of the estate of Jacob Crosthwait, deceased, listing enslaved people: Dina, Vilotte, Michael, Joel, Lancaster, Caroline, Baylor, Walker.

Clark County Will Book 5, pp. 198–199
Last will and testament of Samuel Stephenson (1822) naming enslaved individuals Loiza, Jackson, Henry, Lett, and others.

Harrison County

Harrison Co. Deed Book 34, pp. 613–614
Deed (1866–1868) transferring land to Silas Henry, "a man of color," from the heirs of James Henry, acknowledging his longstanding labor and fulfillment of contractual obligations.

Harrison County Registration, January 2, 1816
Edmund Pollard registers enslaved people Delphia, Lewisy, Nancy, and Rozanna upon relocating from Orange Co., VA.

Harrison County Will Book A, pp. 76–77
Will of Mary Hutcherson (1807), naming enslaved individuals Frederick, Charlotte, Creener, Levi, Lucinda (and child), and directing manumission for Margaret.

Mercer County

Mercer Co. Deed Book 12, pp. 159–160 — May 7, 1821
Tobias Wilhite frees Sucky (age 30–31) and her children Benjamin (age 4) and May (age 2).

Woodford County

Woodford Co., KY Circuit Book C., p. 65
(See Fayette Co. Clerk’s Office) December 14, 1807 — Original record burned. “I give my daughter, Joyce Falkner, present wife of John Falkner, of the county of Fayette and State of Virginia, a negro girl by the name of Gemima otherwise called Mima...”

Postmarked Versailles, KY (Woodford Co.) Letter dated Jan. 21, 1836, from Ann M. Watkins to Waltus L. Watkins, published in Woodford Heritage News: Mentions the death of five enslaved people in the household of “Uncle Jamy” — Molly, Prissy, Greenap, and two children under age four.