The Ronald Morgan Postcard Collection (Graphic 5, Kentucky Historical Society) contains a postcard of this wonderfully moving memorial to the fallen soldiers of World War I. I was curious as to the sculptor and the story behind it but could find very little. I know somewhere in Johnson County someone …
Dragging Fact from Fiction: Harlan’s Station, “The Old Stone House” and The Elijah Harlan House
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 …
Attending National Genealogical Conferences: Tips & First Impressions
By: Jodi Roessler, Genealogy Blogger and KGS Board Member If you have ever even considered attending a genealogy conference, be it big or small; national, state, or regional; DO IT, if even just once! While I am still new to this particular side of the genealogy world, it is one …
History Mystery: 1790 Unknown Language
In the McDowell family papers (MSS 91), there’s a letter from John Stuart to Andrew Reid, written in 1790. The contents of the letter is fairly mundane – Stuart has enclosed some promissory notes from people living in the same county as Reid, and wants Reid to deliver the notes …
Collections Corner: 1851 Adair County Voter Record
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 …
Resource Gem: The E.E. Barton Papers of Northern Kentucky
By: Cheri Daniels, KAO Editor and KHS Head of Reference Services What if it were possible to go back in time 70+ years and ask your living relatives about their memories, known ancestors, and family origins? For many in the Northern part of the state, this could be a real possibility. …
Thomas Lanham, Pioneer at Fort Boonesborough, Kentucky
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 …
“15 Good Reasons” to Remember the Jones’ Kentucky Home Restaurant
“15 Good Reasons” to Remember the Jones’ Kentucky Home Restaurant Update: History Mystery Solved! By: Mary Annette (Jones) Wimsatt This story begins with three brothers, Robert, Tucker and Harry Hagan and William Edward “Bill” Jones who opened the first commercial dairy in Nelson County 1945: H and J Dairy. Prior to that …
Book Notes – Captives in Blue: The Civil War Prisons of the Confederacy
Captives in Blue: The Civil War Prisons of the Confederacy. By Roger Pickenpaugh. (2013. Pp. 320. $49.95. Hardcover. Lexington: University of Alabama Press. Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0380. http://www.uapress.ua.edu/) ISBN: 978-0817317836. A follow-up to Pickenpaugh’s earlier publication, Captives in Gray: The Civil War Prisons of the Union (2008), this book uses soldier diaries, newspaper …
A Solution for Comparing 1810-1840 Census Records
By: James Gill, KHS Volunteer Some genealogists avoid using the censuses prior to 1850 because these enumerations do not name all the members of the household. Despite this handicap, the censuses from 1790 to 1840 can be very useful for tracking a family’s movements, for getting a general picture of …