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Fayette County History and Information |
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Fayette is one of the three original counties
formed by Virginia on June 30, 1780. With a land area of
280 square miles, the central Bluegrass County is bordered by Scott County (north), Bourbon County (northeast), Clark County (east), Madison County (south), Jessamine County (south), Woodford County (west). Cities, Towns and Communities include Lexington, Athens, Clays Ferry, Little Texas, South Elkhorn, Spears (split between Jessamine and Fayette Counties.
It was named for General Lafayette, who served
in the Revolutionary War. The county's seat is LEXINGTON,
created by Virginia on May 5, 1782.
The topography of the uplands is gently rolling
until the three-hundred-foot limestone palisades of the
Kentucky River are reached. Eighty-five percent of the
land area is in farms, with 64 percent of farmland in cultivation.
Fayette County is the center of the nation's thoroughbred
industry. Equine sales in 1989 were $389 million, which
represented 75 percent of all North American sales. The
county ranks first in the state in agricultural receipts,
derived from horses, tobacco, nursery and greenhouse crops,
hay, and corn.
Fayette County was first inhabited by prehistoric
Native Americans. Burial mounds were found in the vicinity
of Hickman and Elkhorn creeks. Early pioneers arrived in
1774, when Jacob Baughman settled a claim on what was later
known as Boone's Creek. Hancock Taylor, James Douglas,
and John Floyd surveyed in the area in 1774. A party of
explorers led by William McConnell arrived in 1775 and
built one of the early stations. McConnell is credited
with selecting the name for the settlement, Lexington,
referring to the Massachusetts town's Revolutionary War
activity. The Bryant family settled their station in 1776.
Other early stations were those of Levi Todd, 1779, and
William McGee, 1780.
The settlers brought horses with them and racing
was both an occupation and recreation. The 1789 Fayette
County tax rolls listed 9,607 horses and 56 stallions.
By 1791 annual three-day race meetings were held in October
over the Lexington course, and in 1797 Kentucky's first
Jockey Club was organized at John Postlethwaite's Tavern.
When wealthy Fayette Countians were not racing their horses,
they were establishing farms and businesses, building fine
homes, and constructing roads. Flatboats carried corn,
oats, potatoes, whiskey, and tobacco down the Kentucky,
Ohio, and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. Many of these
goods were produced by slave labor. The tax rolls in 1789
listed 2,522 slaves.
As early as 1785, farmers began importing shorthorn
cattle to improve their herds. After the War of 1812, Spanish
merino sheep were imported. Fairs and livestock shows were
organized. The first fair was held in 1814 at Fowler's
Garden near Lexington; the first cattle show at Sandersville
on June 25,1815. In 1870 there were 12,260 head of cattle
and 7,843 hogs over six months of age. In the early 1900s
the county was the site of the major livestock auction
for central Kentucky. In 1990 Blue Grass Stockyards operated
two sales rings, one on Lisle Road and the other on Angliana
Avenue.
By the early 1780s, Fayette
Countians were converting corn, wheat, and rye into whiskey.
The business thrived for well over a hundred years. Among
the early distilleries were the Ashland Distillery and
Henry Clay Distillery, both on the Frankfort Turnpike;
Stoll, Clay and Company at Sandersville; the Silver Springs
Distillery on Yarnell Pike; Headley and Peck on Harrodsburg
Pike; and Robert F. Johnson on Russell Pike where "Old Fashioned
Hand-made Sour Mash Fire Copper Whiskey" was made. Manufacturing
firms such as General Electric began operating plants in
the county in 1947 and were followed by International Business
Machines in 1956 and the Trane Company, manufacturers of
air conditioning equipment, in 1963. In 1990 the county
had more than fifty manufacturing plants.
Hemp was introduced at an early date. Nathan
Burrowes, a county resident, invented a machine for cleaning
it. The soil produced fine hemp and in 1870 the county
grew 4.3 million pounds. The crop declined in the 1890s
because of increased demand for tobacco and competition
from imported hemp from the Philippines. In 1941, when
the federal government saw a possible shortage of manila
rope from the Philippines, farmers were encouraged to grow
hemp once again for use in World War II. The crop declined
again in 1945.
Tobacco, grown since the 1780s, replaced hemp
as the major money crop in 1915. The amount of burley grown
in Fayette and other central Kentucky counties led to the
establishment of marketing facilities, and the first loose-leaf
burley tobacco sale was held on January 9, 1905. By the
1940s the loose leaf burley market, with numerous warehouses,
was among the world's largest. The demand for tobacco products
has decreased, but the county is still the headquarters
of the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association,
an auction market, and tobacco plants such as Southwestern
Tobacco Company, Inc., a processing plant since 1926, and
C.F. Vaughn Company, Inc., since 1963 a stemming and redrying
operation.
Transportation development began
in 1797, when the legislature appointed Joseph Crockett
to build a turnpike. The first stage route ran from Lexington
to Olympian Springs in Bath County in 1803. Among the
early turnpikes was the Lexington-Maysville, chartered
in 1818 for sixty-four miles. It cost $426,400 to construct
the macadamized road, thirteen tollhouses, and six covered
bridges. Other turnpikes included the Lexington-Danville-Lancaster
(1818), covering forty-two miles; and the Lexington-
Harrodsburg-Perryville (1818), also covering forty-two
miles. In 1817 Col. James Johnson established a stagecoach
line from Lexington to Louisville, and Abner Gaines had
a stagecoach running between Lexington and Cincinnati.
In 1895, Fayette County purchased the turnpikes. The
state's first railroad, the Lexington & Ohio, extending
from Lexington to Portland on the Ohio River, was chartered
in 1830. In the 1850s, railroads connected the county both
to adjoining counties and other areas of the state such
as the Lexington-Big Sandy Railroad.
In the early nineteenth century Fayette County
became a center of culture and learning in the West. Its
location and rich soil generated the wealth necessary to
develop a landed aristocracy modeled after the Virginia
Tidewater plantations. In 1784, Robert Boggs built a substantial
stone house on the Athens-Walnut Hill Road. In 1787, Levi
Todd built a twelve-room two-story brick home, Ellerslie,
on the Richmond Pike. Other noteworthy early homes were
Stoney Point, built in the 1790s on Parkers Mill Road;
Hurricane Hall, still standing on the Georgetown Road,
built before 1800 and known for its clothes presses and
French wallpaper; Fairfield, John Bradford's home at the
intersection of Iron Works Road and Russell Cave Pike;
Winton, a brick residence built in 1823 for Samuel Meredith
on Newtown Pike; Grasslands, between Walnut Hill and Jack's
Creek roads, built in 1823 for Maj. Thomas Hart Shelby;
and the Meadows, a sister house to Grasslands, built in
the early 1830s for Dr. Elisha Warfield on Winchester Pike.
By the 1850s Italianate style had replaced
the classical in home designs. Thomas LEWINSKI designed
one of the nation's finest Italianate villas, Cane Run
(later known as Glengarry), for Alexander Brand on Newtown
Pike; it was completed in 1854. Five famous residences
have been restored and are open to visitors: Ashland, Henry
Clay's home on Richmond Road; the Mary Todd Lincoln House
on West Main, the girlhood home of Abraham Lincoln's wife;
the Hunt Morgan House in Gratz Park, built by John W. Hunt,
Kentucky's first millionaire; Waveland, home of the Bryant
family on Higbee Mill Road, and the Bodley-Bullock House
in Gratz Park.
In 1988, tourism spending in the county was
$372,330,211. Popular with tourists are the 1,030 acre
Kentucky Horse Park on Iron Works Pike; the Red Mile, a
historic standardbred track on South Broadway; Keeneland
Race Course on Versailles Road; the Headley-Whitley Museum,
a collection of jeweled bibelots on Old Frankfort Pike;
and Raven Run Nature Sanctuary, off Old Richmond Road.
A number of federal installations are located
in Fayette County. The Lexington Bluegrass Army Depot,
established in 1942, covers 780 acres. The Federal Correctional
Institute, on Leestown Road, is a medium-security prison
with 519 inmates. The complex was built in 1934 as one
of two federal narcotics hospitals in the nation and became
a federal prison in 1974.
In 1974, the governments of the city of Lexington
and the county of Fayette merged to form the Lexington-
Fayette Urban County Government. The population of the
county was 174,323 in 1970; 204,165 in 1980; and 225,366
in 1990. The Official County Website is located at http://www.lfucg.com/ .
Most records for before 31 Jan 1803 were destroyed by fire. A second fire on 14 May 1897 also destroyed some early records.
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See Also Kentucky Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records
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PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information. Most records for before 31 Jan 1803 were destroyed by fire. A second fire on 14 May 1897 also destroyed some early records. |
Fayette County Clerk has Marriage
Records from 1785 and Land Records from 1782 and is located at 162
E Main Str, Rm
131, Lexington, KY 40507-1334;
Phone: (859) 253-3344,
FAX: (859) 255-0561,
[EMAIL].
The duties of the county clerk are numerous and varied, falling into the general categories of clerical duties of the fiscal court, issuing and registering, recording and keeping records of various legal instruments, election duties, tax duties, transfers, and titling, and issuance of marriage licenses and much more. One of the most important responsibilities of the County Clerk's office is the recording of land records. The most common documents recorded are deeds, mortgages, and assignments and mortgage releases. The other is Marriage Liscenses
Fayette County Clerk of the Circuit Court has
Probate Records 1793 and Court Records from 1782 and is located at 120 North Limestone, Lexington, KY 40507; 859-246-2242 .
The Circuit Clerk's office is responsible for maintaining the records of the circuit court. Divorces, civil litigation, criminal crimes, probate, wills , estates and various other functions.
Below is a list of online resources for Fayette County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Fayette County Court Records by clicking the link below:
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See Also Vital Records in Kentucky
Some documents are just too important to wait six weeks for. With VitalChek Express Certificate Service you won’t have to. Birth, Marriage, Divorce & Death Certificates Signed. Sealed. Delivered. Often in as few as three business days!
Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics is located at State
Dept of Human Resources, 275 E. Main St. 1EA, Frankfort, KY 40621; (502) 564-4212. They have the following records:
- Birth & Death Certificates:
The Vital Statistics Law of Kentucky, providing for and legalizing the registration of births and deaths, was enacted by the General Assembly of 1910 and became effective Jan. 1, 1911.
The Office of Vital Statistics has no records of births and deaths occurring prior to the above date except delayed records of births for those born before 1911, which have been established by affidavits and documentary evidence.Fees are listed below. You can download an application online for Birth Certificates or Death Certificates . You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates much quicker by ordering HERE
- Marriage & Divorce Certificates: Central registration of marriages and divorces began in Kentucky in June 1958. The Office of Vital Statistics has no records of marriages and divorces prior to that date. Copies of marriage certificates prior to June 1958 may be obtained from the county clerk in the county where the license was issued. Records of divorce proceedings are available from the Fayette County clerk of the circuit court that granted the decree.You can download an application online for Marriage Certificates or Divorce Certificates . You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates much quicker by ordering HERE
Cost of certificates: Birth: $10 per certificate;
Death, Marriage and Divorce are $6 per certificate
In Person: You can stop in the office at 275 E. Main St. in Frankfort and obtain a certified copy of a birth, death, marriage or divorce certificate by completing an application form between the hours of 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. EST, Monday-Friday. There is approximately a one-hour wait to receive the certificate.
Directions to Vital Statistics Office
By Mail: Mail a check or money order (no cash) payable to the "Kentucky State Treasurer" along with the necessary information to the following address: Office of Vital Statistics, 275 E. Main St. 1E-A, Frankfort, KY 40621. Please include return address on envelope and application form.
Processing Time: Please allow up to approximately 30 working days for processing of all type of certificates when ordered through the mail.
Birth Records: Expect longer delays during peak request periods from May through September. You should request certified copies of your birth certificate early enough to avoid delays if you are planning retirement, sporting events for the children, travel/passports, children entering school for the first time, etc.
Death Records: There may be delays in issuing new certified death certificates if the original certificate is not promptly filed in Frankfort by the funeral homes. Click Here to Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE
Phone, Fax, On-Line, or Credit Card: To obtain a certified copy of a vital record by phone, fax, on-line or purchase with a credit card, please link to VitalChek. There is an additional $10.50 fee for all credit card purchases. Discover, Visa, MasterCard and American Express are accepted. If faster delivery is required, you may wish to have the certified copy sent by Federal Express. Please state this when placing the order for the copy. There is an additional fee for this service.
Below is a list of online resources for Fayette County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Fayette County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
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See Also Research In Census Records
Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Fayette County, Kentucky are 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Earlier U.S. censuses for Kentucky were destroyed, but published tax lists serve as a replacements for the lost 1790 and 1800 censuses. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your family tree in Fayette County, Kentucky are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Union Veterans Schedules were conducted in 1890 but only returns for sixty-five Kentucky counties remain of the 1890 Union veterans and widows schedule of the federal census of Kentucky.
Statewide Records that exist for Kentucky are 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Earlier U.S. censuses for Kentucky were destroyed, but published tax lists serve as a replacements for the lost 1790 and 1800 censuses. Extracts and indexes for many of Kentucky's censuses have been compiled and published. Original or microfilm copies of the federal census returns are available at the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. Several Kentucky indexes to censuses predate those published by AISI.
State School Census for Kentucky infrequently enumerated public school students beginning in 1888. Scattered records are at the office of the respective county Board of Health or Board of Education. Some are maintained by the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives and the Kentucky Historical Society.
See Also Statewide Records that exist for Kentucky
Below is a list of online resources for Fayette County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Fayette County Census Records by clicking the link below:
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Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Kentucky and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Kentucky showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Kentucky showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries . You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps. The Kentucky Department of Transportation has county maps the show the locations of churches, cemeteries, roads, ect...
Below is a list of online resources for Fayette County Maps. Email us with websites containing Fayette County Maps by clicking the link below:
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See Also Military Records in Kentucky
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design. A list of Wars fought on American.
Below is a list of online resources for Fayette County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Fayette County Military Records by clicking the link below:
- Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
- Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
- Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, from NARA publication M804.
- Southern Claims Commission from the State of Kentucky (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
- Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900 from the State of Kentucky (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Pension applications for service in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.
- Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the CSA (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from southern units, labeled with each soldier's name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier.
- Kentucky Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, 323 High Str, Paris, Ky, 40361;(859) 987- 1788
- National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution,
- Kentucky Society of Sons of the American Revolution,
- National Society of Sons of the American Revolution, 1000 South Fourth Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40203; (502) 589-1776
- Fayette County, Kentucky Military Books at Amazon.com
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See Also Research In Tax Records
One of the most valuable sources for early Kentucky until 1892 is its tax records. Most counties have yearly tax records from the date of organization. Some early tax schedules list watercourse, value and acreage of real estate, men over twenty-one, young men between sixteen and twenty-one, slaves, and horses. Extant county tax schedules from the date of organization of the county through 1892 have been microfilmed for most counties and are available from the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives and the FHL.
Numerous original tax records from 1892 are available at the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. The Kentucky Historical Society has tax records to 1875.
Kentucky tax lists are arranged by county and date. Within the counties, residents within its districts are grouped together and names usually arranged under the beginning letter of the surname, although these are not in strict alphabetical order. Some early tax records have been published and are available in research libraries.
Below is a list of online resources for Fayette County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Fayette County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
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See Also Other Kentucky Genealogical Addresses
The Repositories
in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical
and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical
Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly,
quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies
should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are
usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived
materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be
more generalized and over look the smaller details that local
societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to
look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy
section and may have some resources that are not located at
archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums
in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years
gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All
these places are vitally important to the family genealogist
and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Fayette County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Fayette County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
- Fayette
County Genealogical Society,
Post Office Box 8113,
Lexington, KY 40533
- Local Kentucky Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
- The Kentucky Historical Society, 100 W. Broadway, Frankfort, KY 40601; 877-444-7867,[EMAIL]
- The Kentucky Genealogical Society, PO Box 153, Frankfort, KY 40602-0153 [EMAIL]
- Kentucky Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
- Kentucky Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com
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See Also Church & Cemetery Records in Kentucky
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Click Here to Search Kentucky Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships. |
There are many churches and cemeteries in Fayette County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Fayette County Tombstone Transcription Project.
Church membership of early Kentuckians include Baptist, Church of Christ, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic. Some church records were published, others were microfilmed, some are housed in church repositories, but many remain in the local church. Church records and histories may be found in periodicals pertaining to Kentucky. Repositories include the DAR Library, the FHL, Kentucky Historical Society, University of Kentucky Library, and Filson Club Library.
Many
collections of cemetery records are available for Kentucky.
In 1977 the Kentucky Historical Society began computerizing
extant cemetery records for the state. Cemetery tombstone transcriptions
are included in the Ardery collection.
Kentucky regional libraries and some other large genealogical
libraries outside the state have collections of Kentucky cemetery
transcriptions. In addition, publications pertaining to Kentucky
and Kentuckians frequently contain cemetery records for the
state.
Below is a list of online resources for Fayette County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Fayette County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
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When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Fayette County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Fayette County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
- Search 60 Years Of Everton Data: For the first time ever you can get access to more than 150,000 pedigree files and family group sheets from Evertons. Learn More
- Search the Family Tree DNA Project- Use DNA testing to break through your genealogical barriers!
- Sites on USGenweb: [ Fayette County ] [ Kentucky ] [ Main Page ]
- [GenForum Message Boards] [Rootsweb Message Boards]
- Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
- Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
- Meet your ancestors. Learn their stories. Start your FREE family tree.
- Kentucky Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
- Fayette County, Kentucky Family Books at Amazon.com
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