On Site Data Records

Freedmen's Bureau

• Freedmen's Bureau Letters

Freedmen's Savings and Trust

• Branch Depositors

Military

• African American Union Sailors in Kentucky

• 8^th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery - Selected Muster Records of Soldiers from Western Kentucky

• Draft Registration Cards - Misc. draft registration cards

• COLORED MEN on board of the U.S.S. Maine at the time of the disaster

Miscellaneous

• PennyTown - The founding of Pennytown in Saline Co., MO.  by Joe Penny an ex-slave from Kentucky.

Off Site Links

KYGenWeb Collections

• Bullitt Co. KyGenWeb - Given Name Index to records found in Bullitt and neighboring counties of Nelson, Hardin, Spencer and Shelby.

Miscellaneous

• Souvenir History of  The Colored Cumberland Presbyterian Church

• Hangings in Kentucky 1792 - 1900

KY African American Coal Miners

• Report Of The Inspector Of Mines Of Kentucky For The Year 1899 - Deaths of miners listed in Bell & Henderson Counties

• African American Miners in Lynch, KY

Military

• Camp Nelson

• Kentucky Union Sailors of African Descent 

• Civil War Sailors & Soldiers System

Slavery

• Slave Narratives

  • A narrative of the three escapes of a runaway slave, J. D. Green from Kentucky

  • Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project 1936 - 1938

• Runaway Slaves Mentioned in Fayette Co. Newspapers - Fayette KYGenWeb,  includes names of slaves from several counties in KY.

• Dorchester County Slave Purchases 1823 - 1836 - Lists purchases from  Allen, Bourbon, Rockcastle, Scott, and Woodford Counties in KY.

Will & Estate Records:

• Will of James Withers, Stafford Co., VA, whose descendants came to KY - lists names of slaves.

National Resources with Kentucky Data

Military

• Civil War Slave Compensation Claims: 5^th and 6^th US Colored Calvary - Includes names of slaves who served from several KY counties, along with the names of their owners.

Slavery

• Slave Narratives

  • North American Slave Narratives

  • An American Slave Narratives, An Online Anthology

  • HBO Slave Narratives & Documentaries

• The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 - Sandi Gorin's Research Tip #567

• History of Slavery Kentucky

  • A Condensed History of Kentucky Slavery

  • Slaves in the Hemp Industry

  • Afrigeneas - Kentucky Slaves on the Vincent Farm

• The Underground Railroad

  • Kentucky's Underground Railroad - Passage to Freedom

  • Footsteps to Freedom - retracing the Underground Railroad

  • Follow the Drinking Gourd - Exploring KY Article - Following the Underground Railroad in Northern KY

Searchable Databases

• The USF Africana Heritage Project

• Afrigeneas -Inward Slave Manifests – Partial Transcription

•  Slave Era Insurance Registry pdf format – A list of Slaves and Owners registered with the New York Life Insurance Company

• The 16 largest American Slaveholders from the 1860 Slave Schedules

• Illinois - Slavery Era Insurance Policies Registry - Illinois Division of Insurance - Listings include Kentucky

• California - Slavery Era Insurance Policies Registry pdf format- California Department of insurance - Listings include Kentucky

Special Collections

• University of VA, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

  • Jackson Davis Collection - Collection of photographs by Jackson Davis, who photographed African American schools, teachers and students throughout the Southeastern United States and included several schools in KY.

• American Memory Collection

• From Slavery to Freedom – The African American Pamphlet Collection 1822-1909

• Slaves and the Courts – 1740 -1860

• African American Odyssey – A collection of links to some of the library’s many AA sites

Links of Interest

• Notable Kentucky African Americans

KY African American Message Board

KY AfricaAmer Mailing List

Slaves in Kentucky Message Board

KY Slaves Mailing List

Underground Railroad Message Board

KY Freedmen Mailing List

Index to KY County Message Boards

African American - General

Sandi Gorin's Research Tips

Slave Owners Mailing List