To any person looking for roots of early Kentucky families. As a possible source for EARLY residents of Kentucky, one might try to find three valuable (to genealogists and social historians) volumes of the so-called 1787 Census of Virginia. The compilers are Netti Schreiner-Yantis and Florine S. Love. These are expensive books, requiring lots of transcribing, assembling, on the part of the compilers, and worth every penny. Enlist the help of your local librarian to locate copies of this valuable work. Why should Kentuckians be interested in a census of Virginia? Because many of the early residents of Kentucky came principally from three colonies [states], and until ca 1792, Kentucky was a part of Virginia. The three principal contributors to settlers of early Kentucky were 1) Virginia which claimed Kentucky in 1787. Kentucky did not become a state [commonwealth?] until 1792. and later 2) North Carolina - North Carolinians were instrumental in the establishment of Boonesborough 3) some Pennsylvanians, many of whom had come from Pennsylvania via the Shenandoah Valley or else had gone to western North Carolina and then came to Kentucky. If you think your people were instead of Tennessee, sorry--you have to look in North Carolina which claimed Tennessee until ca 1796 or so. I understand many of the early records of Tennessee are found in Franklin Co. TN records. [Correction, anyone?] This is how I have used this 1787 Census of Virginia - almost every time I go to my local Family History Center [Mormon] Not every FHC has these expensive books, but perhaps a community college near your home may have copies. That's why you need to talk to your local reference librarian. Those people are trained to find unusual sources!!! I search the third volume which is an index to the two preceding volumes. I look for my surnames, and the variant spellings, even Harris having strange spellings. I photocopy the pages of the index which pertain to my surnames. Then I turn to the pages which are indexed and photocopy those pages--PLUS the chart in the first volume [maybe the second also] which explains what the numbers mean. Oh, yes and photocopy the Title Page and copy the copyright material, as you need this for your documentation. [Remember, you must answer the question for others: Where did you get that material?] This is NOT a true census, but is instead tax lists of personal property, not Real property. Thus, if a male age 16 and over but not yet a land-owner, owned a horse, he is probably listed. A horse was personal property. Look around that same county for others whose names you recognize--the wife's maiden name, if you are so lucky to know that. It wouldn't hurt to photocopy all the tax lists for that county. Remember, these residents intermarried, either previously or later. So keep an eye on those folks!!!! Do NOT overlook the fact that some persons may have owned personal property--horses, cattle, slaves in SEVERAL counties. One of my ancestors owned personal property in Albemarle Co. VA as well as Madison Co., which later became Kentucky. He was already making his move to Kentucky, in other words. At his death, I discovered he still owned property in Albemarle Co., as his widow gave power of attorney to one of the sons to finalize plans for that Virginia property. There are no guarantees that this single work will solve your problem of determining the origins of your families, but it is a good start, and you should know about this valuable resource. I hope this helps find your early Kentuckians (who may be from Virginia--which was a huge place in 1787, including what is now West Virginia.) E.W.Wallace who has many Kentucky ancestors-- who went to Texas beginning 1835 [when it was part of Mexico]