Gerald, just got home and looking at my daily mail; you said some Lincoln Co wills were recorded elsewhere before courts were established in Lincoln? Is that what you meant? I have found that wills were re-recorded in counties created out of Lincoln, in later years and when mention was made of land lying in the newer-created county. I have the filmed Lincoln Co Will Books and Deeds starting 1781 (do you want me to look for an early one?). It was a huge area, until Mercer and Madison were created and started their own courts in 1786. I have those will books, too. I think I told you of the first deed in Lincoln Co Deed Bk 1, which was the agreement between the surviving Kennedy sons and their father, and my Mary Anderson Kennedy, widow of John, giving her all that land on Silver Creek, which her second husband Samuel Campbell obtained thru their marriage. Elizabeth, I need to know your source for saying Garrard Co was created in 1776; will you give that to all of us, please? I have the Fincastle Co court books which begin 1773 and covering all the area (and people living in that wilderness) that was to be Kentucky; then Montgomery Co was created to cover the same area (Kentucky District), and about 1778 Kentucky County created (hardly any records survive; Jilson published a Bibliography of Kentucky Co and it is very interesting to see what he could never find); Lincoln, Fayette and Jefferson were created in 1780 and the beginning of their various courts of jurisdiction started 1781. Many old records for Fayette were lost, but there are many for earliest Lincoln Co. It is hard for me to think you have read deeds, probates, land records and county court books, and not found tons of genealogical information!! This is not information extracted by some old so-called genealogist who is trying to sell books. I have found inform! ation recorded in very old county and state documents, not turned up by others in 150 years of searching!! This is the only "truth", as far as I am concerned, but each of us has a specific research goal. Just today, I found a family group mentioned in a deed I need to investigate further - one heir's undivided moiety in land left to children (named) of their deceased father, Irvine Jones deceased. This tract was on waters of Calloway Creek. Gerald, since this deed was recorded 30 Sep 1828, and there had been court action for a couple of years before that, the father Irvine Jones had been dead for a while. I am still looking for connections to the old William Jones who married the widow Margaret Buchanan Drake. Now I know to go to the will of Irvine Jones to see what I can find there. Donal, I believe the easiest way to read these county records - deeds, probate, courts, etc, if by ordering the filmed originals from the local LDS (Mormon) Family History Centers, from their big library in Salt Lake. I have been using their great resources for many years now, since I prefer and am required to find primary source proof documents for family connections. I say required, because I approve and locate documents for an lineage organization. The cost of ordering these reels of film is very small - now $5.50 - but you are seeing the actual deeds, wills, surveys, land entries, courts, etc, hand-written records. I go to KY universities and Archives frequently to research, but my daily work is from reading these civil documents. You can find an LDS Center near you at www.familysearch.org and you have no need to be concerned about having to discuss religion with them; I am not a member of their religion, and have made many friends in the Family History Centers through the years. If you need any other information about films, please mail me personally. Some of the Central KY courthouses are good places to research, and some are definitely not good places to research. When you get to KY, go to the KY Department of Library Archives in Frankfort - they have all the records for all the counties - even before KY officially became a state in 1792. Lots of good stuff there under one roof. Mary Alice ________________________________________ PeoplePC Online A better way to Internet http://www.peoplepc.com

Mary Alice Thank you for this very educational piece! I learned a lot here. Pat (in Tucson) -----Original Message----- From: kygarrar-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:kygarrar-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of M. A. Farrell Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 7:41 PM To: kygarrar@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [KYGARRAR] County data