By: Jeff Jones, Ph.D., Georgia Southern University “Here in Henry Clay’s apple orchard where a refugee from the French Revolution’s guillotines taught a young Mary Todd Lincoln, more than 900 ‘Kenwicked’ households continue to create new stories and cherish their own old Kentucky homes.” The lives of every Kentuckian take …
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 …
The Daniel Boone Connection & The Search for the Parents of Harvey Turner By: Francis E. Mudd, III I. Daniel Boone vs. Davy Crockett One evening, in the mid-to-late 1950s, my maternal aunt, Mary Lee Kelly (Weibel) Littlefield, while visiting my family, informed us that we were related the famous frontiersman, Daniel …
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: Clifford W. Lanham Thomas Lanham most likely was a typical young man of his time. Like many young men of 1776, he felt he had a calling to serve his colony, Maryland. There was an air of English resentment throughout the colonies. A strong desire to be free from …
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: Patricia Craig Johnson John Storms and Hannah Collard have been in the back of my mind for years. Since finding that Simon Pryor Jr. married Margaret Storms 20 May 1813[1] I have wanted to prove the identity of her parents. I felt the logical prospects were John Storm and his …
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 …
Using Historical Newspapers to Solve a Genealogical Mystery By Kathy Reed My grandmother was secretive. Ask her how old she was. No definitive answer. What is your wedding anniversary? No answer for that, either. I remember one whispered conversation among older members of my family questioning whether or not my …