Old records treasure for genealogists

Local News

Discussion

January 4, 2010

By GINA KINSLOW The Glasgow Daily Times Mon Jan 04, 2010, 12:11 PM CST

The discovery of old records by deputies in the Fayette County Clerk’s office recently will be a treasure trove of information for genealogists.

Land and census records from the late 1700s to the early 1900s were at government archives in Frankfort and several years’ worth of marriage licenses were in the Fayette County clerk’s storage area.

Deputy Fayette County Clerk Linda Potter found out about a large volume of applications for land patents from a magazine article, which referred to it as the “Doomsday Book,” and said it could be found at the Fayette County Clerk’s office. The book contains the names of the state’s earliest settlers, but Potter was unaware of the book.

After some research, Potter and deputy clerks Emily Gentry and Jennifer Tapia found that the Doomsday Book had been moved to the Kentucky Land Office in Frankfort in the early 1970s. It contains the names of settlers who applied for land patents from 1779 to 1780 when Kentucky was still part of Virginia.

In addition to the land and census records, the deputy clerks recovered the “Land Entry Book,” which contains similar information from 1783 to 1784.

“This discovery will be of great benefit to researchers — even here in southcentral Kentucky. Many of our earliest settlers came from Fayette County, Ky., which was one of the first three counties formed. It is a shame that it took people so long to find these records. But, it will hopefully fill in a lot of gaps such as when the settlers first came to what became Fayette County and marriages conducted there of which we had no record,” said Sandi Gorin, a Barren County genealogist. “I am thrilled with their discovery and am hoping that the records will be available soon for researchers to see — either online or in printed format.”

Dayton Birdwell, a Monroe County genealogist, said old records are important because of what they reveal.

Those researching family history can use old land records to trace how a parcel of land was passed down through a family and therefore it will reveal the names of a person’s heirs. Old marriage records are also helpful in tracing family histories, he said.

“Those are really important,” Birdwell said. “There weren’t very many counties (back then) so it would cover a large area.”

The Fayette County clerk’s office has a DVD copy of many of the records in the Doomsday Book and it can be viewed at the clerk’s office. However, the information has not been indexed so searching for a particular name could take awhile.

Associated Press information contributed tothis article.

Text Only

Local News

Tyson to give keynote talk for health conference
Donna Tyson’s enthusiasm for life is apparent with every word she speaks. A motivational speaker for the last 25 years, Tyson travels around the country sharing her story and encouraging others to find joy in their lives.

February 11, 2012
Senate approves redistricting map
The state legislature couldn’t agree on a plan to re-draw Kentucky’s six congressional districts, so the state’s congressional delegation stepped in and Friday the General Assembly finally passed a plan, although not without some angry dissent from a couple of central Kentucky Republican state senators.

February 11, 2012
MORNING UPDATE: GFD responds to car fire
February 10, 2012
Two arrested on criminal trespass, public intoxication charges
February 10, 2012
Tax reform suggestions coming by Nov. 15
Gov. Steve Beshear on Thursday announced the members of a Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform and said it will offer recommendations by Nov. 15 to make the state’s tax system more responsive to changes in the economy and fairer for taxpayers.

February 10, 2012
Released felon arrested again
It was what jail officials were afraid would happen, and in fact they anticipated.

February 10, 2012
More infected bats found in state
White-nose syndrome has been detected in another Kentucky county, but it has yet to be found at Mammoth Cave National Park.

February 10, 2012
Ambulance board OKs outsource billing
After a thorough discussion during Wednesday’s board meeting, the Barren-Metcalfe Emergency Medical Services decided to outsource its billing to AMB-MARS (Medical Accounts Receivable Systems doing business as AMBulance Medical Billing), contingent on AMB-MARS adding a guarantee clause on its work.

February 9, 2012
Teen named local youth of the year
Rayne Triplett has been practicing the speech she will give at the end of the month when she travels to Frankfort to compete for the Boys and Girls Club’s 2012 State Youth of the Year title.

February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Howard lauded for G/T work
Glasgow Superintendent Sean Howard was presented the Kentucky Association for Gifted Education’s Michael Caudill Educator Award on Monday at the annual KAGE conference in Lexington.

February 9, 2012
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

Discussion

Old records treasure for genealogists

Site Map