In the past few years, processing and cataloging genealogy collections has been a focus for the staff & volunteers of the Martin F. Schmidt Research Library. Our goal is to make these collections accessible, treat them with the same respect and care as we do other manuscript collections, and provide...
In the summer of 2012, KHS acquired letters that made a few headlines. The reason the Watson-Robinson letters garnered such attention was due to the fact that most of the authors were from the African American community prior to the Civil War. While scholars and historians will spend years dissecting...
As many of you know, November is Native American Heritage Month. For those of Kentucky lineage, this can be quite important due to the many lines of family impacted by this portion of our population. Despite the many stories we have heard about Native American heritage in our genealogy, documenting...
The early Kentucky landscape was often painted as a wild frontier, full of colorful characters that had enough eccentricity and determination to successfully settle this new land. While record keeping might have taken a back seat, or even been overlooked as a necessity in this “wilderness”, the ultimate goal of...
Thank You, Kentucky Genealogical Society (KGS)! The Kentucky Genealogical Society recently gave a donation of $1500 to the KHS Martin F. Schmidt Research Library for the purchase of library books, particularly focusing on county publications. With budget cuts in recent years, the library’s acquisitions have mainly been donations of books and...
When hunting for immigrant ancestors, naturalization records, or those records created by individuals wanting to become U.S. citizens, can be immensely helpful. KHS recently received a donation of 10 rolls of microfilm containing naturalization records, specifically Petitions for Citizenship books, for 23 Kentucky counties. While the earliest records in this...
Visitors to the Martin F. Schmidt Research Library now have free access to two new databases for researching their family history: American Periodicals (1740-1940): “This database contains 1509 periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children’s and women’s magazines and many...
“The Navigator Containing Directions for Navigating Main and South Licking Rivers together with the Distances from one place of Notoriety to another…” Picture it: 1818, traveling along the Licking River in your flatboat. Unlike the Ohio River, the Licking is more narrow, with many twists, turns, and “ripples” to navigate....
As we approach primary election season in Kentucky, one can’t help but wonder how our ancestors viewed election season and their right to vote. Rarely do we get a chance to sneak a peek at what they thought, let alone, how they voted. For those with white adult male ancestors...
Let me introduce you to Martinette (Nettie) Viley Witherspoon of Woodford County. Mrs. Witherspoon left behind a wonderful collection that not only gives us a glimpse into her world during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but also provides us with an exemplary representation of family history research in...
