Question... does anyone out there know if free people of color in pre-Civil War Jefferson County were required to be registered in any way with the county? Farther South (VA and NC as examples) maintained registries at the county level.. Does anyone know if any records from the 1850s exist in Jefferson County whether as a registry or as individual court records ? Gary

Gary, I have some experience in researching free blacks in Jefferson County and am fairly familiar with available records. I could never locate a register, per se, but have found references to free blacks in a number of county records. Free people of color were required by Kentucky law to have their free papers on their person any time they were away from home. There were some instances when these papers were lost and the freed man or woman had to appear in court and seek new papers attesting to their free status. These court appearances were recorded in the Jefferson County Minute/Order Books. Dr. Blaine Hudson of the University of Louisville extracted all references to free blacks from the court order books and compiled them for others to use. He left a copy at the Louisville Metro/Jefferson County Archives (formerly Jefferson County Office of Historic Preservation and Archives) located on the 6th floor at 810 Barrett Ave. Contact David Morgan at [email protected] For my research project, I found information in: tax lists, census, probate, circuit court case files, deed books, minute/order books, cemetery records, mortuary records, vital statistics, city directories, local history volumes, and newspaper abstracts. I was able to tell the story of a family of free blacks who settled in the area from 1790 forward. The most detailed, personal information came from the minute/order records and the circuit court case files. Pen Bogert, a reference specialist for the Filson Historical Society, has much experience with researching African-Americans, particularly free blacks, and those who were musicians. You may want to contact him for information on what sources are available. His email is [email protected] Wishing you much success in your quest, Deborah Campisano [email protected] ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 10:50 AM Subject: [KYJEFFER] "Free People of Color" in Jefferson County > Question... does anyone out there know if free people of color in > pre-Civil War Jefferson County were required to be registered in any way > with the county? Farther South (VA and NC as examples) maintained > registries at the county level.. > > Does anyone know if any records from the 1850s exist in Jefferson County > whether as a registry or as individual court records ? Gary > > > ==== KYJEFFER Mailing List ==== > Submit your information to the Metro Louisville-Jefferson County KY > History and Genealogy project. See http://www.rootsweb.com/~kyjeffer/ for > information on how to submit. > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. > Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx >