By: Cheri Daniels, KAO Editor/KHS Head of Reference Services & Deana Thomas, KHS Archivist In 1995, the Carpenter Family Papers were donated to the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS). The scope of the collection runs from 1788 to 1928, and includes documents from several members of this family as well as …
By: Louise Jones, KHS Director of Research Experience Editor’s Note: The following report comes to us through the research that was conducted for the first Kentucky Ancestors Town Hall event in 2017. As we get deeper into our family histories, it is not uncommon to find an ancestor or related …
By: Michael M. Wood “Our Company saw two Indians in the wilderness; but we all got through safe” William L. Farrow in a letter to his wife Betsy, September 22, 1794 Kentucky in 1794 was still in the midst of war. The bloody defeat of the Kentucky Militia at the Battle …
By: Linda Colston, KHS Library Technician and Genealogist Editor’s Note: The following report comes to us through the research that was conducted for the first Kentucky Ancestors Town Hall event in 2017. The information the family had indicated that General May had been a Deputy Sheriff in Laurel County, Kentucky …
By: Mildred Leedy Armao Daniel Boone is iconized as the man who blazed the trail across the Cumberland Mountains from Virginia to Kentucky. This important route, then, opened the door for tens of thousands of pioneers to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. Initially, the trace was simply that; a …
Editor’s Note: The research presented in this report was featured in a recent episode of Finding Your Roots on PBS as it followed the ancestry of actress Maya Rudolph. By Kandie Adkinson, Administrative Specialist, Land Office Division, Office of the Secretary of State As Researched by The Harrodsburg-Mercer County Oral …
By: Martha Ann Atkins, Ph.D Col. James Smith (1737-1813) was a frontiersman, pioneer, explorer, Indian captive, ‘Indian fighter’, Revolutionary War soldier, Pennsylvania State Assemblyman, Kentucky State Assemblyman, Presbyterian preacher, published author and my 4th Great Grandfather. The major events of his life are well-known.[i] However, the date and location of his …
By: Michael J. Denis and Kelli Weaver-Miner Often in history, places play a secondary role to the people who are associated with that place. Harlan’s Station, “The Old Stone House” and the Elijah Harlan house may well be an exception. These three historic sites, located about 5 miles west of …
By: Julie Maio Kemper, Curator, Museum Collections & Exhibitions, Kentucky Historical Society Around a corner in the Kentucky Historical Society’s permanent exhibit, “A Kentucky Journey,” two portraits sit enclosed in a large glass case. These are the images of Dennis and Diadamia Doram, dated 1839. Like many prosperous 19th century Kentuckians, the Dorams …
By Neil E. Mellen Mary Ann (Moore) Rains married Jacob Hudson on 21 November 1818 in Clark County, Kentucky.[1] Almost exactly five years later, on 24 November 1823, Mary Ann filed for a divorce in the Clark County circuit court. She alleged that, “during the two years last past and …