Slave Narrative of Belle Robinson

Interviewer: Eliza Ison Person Interviewed: Belle Robinson Location: Garrard County, Kentucky Place of Birth: Garrard County, Kentucky Date of Birth: June 3rd, 1853 I found Aunt Belle sitting on the porch, dressed nice and clean with a white handkerchief pinned on her neck. When I went to her and told her who I was and the reason for my visit her face beamed with smiles and she said “Lawdy, it has been so long that I have forgot nearly everything I knew”. Further investigation soon proved that she had not forgotten, for her statements were very intelligent. She was working … Read more

Slave Narrative of Harriet Mason

Interviewer: Sue Higgins Person Interviewed: Harriet Mason Location: Garrard County, Kentucky Age: 100 Story of Aunt Harriet Mason age 100-a slave girl: “When I was seven years old my missis took me to Bourbon County, when we got to Lexington I tried to run off and go back to Bryantsville to see my mammy. Mas’r Gano told me if I didn’t come the sheriff would git me. I never liked to go to Lexington since. “One Sunday we was going to a big meetin’ we heared som’in rattling in the weeds. It was a big snake, it made a track … Read more

Garrard County, Kentucky Census Records

1790 Garrard County, Kentucky Census Records Free 1790 Census Form for your Research Hosted at Ancestry.com – 14 Days Free Hosted at Census Guide 1800 U.S. Census Guide 1800 Garrard County, Kentucky Census Records Free 1800 Census Form for your Research Hosted at Ancestry.com – 14 Days Free Hosted at Census Guide 1800 U.S. Census Guide 1810 Garrard County, Kentucky Census Records Free 1810 Census Form for your Research Hosted at Ancestry.com – 14 Days Free Hosted at Census Guide 1810 U.S. Census Guide 1820 Garrard County, Kentucky Census Records Free 1820 Census Form for your Research Hosted at Ancestry.com … Read more

Slave Narrative of Wes Woods

Interviewer: Eliza Ison Person Interviewed: Wes Woods Location: Duncantown, Kentucky Place of Birth: Garrard County, KY Date of Birth: May 21, 1864 Interview with Ex-Slave Uncle Wes Woods: My first visit to Uncle Wes Wood, and his wife Aunt Lizzie Wood, found them in their own comfortable little home in Duncantown, a nice urban section of the town, where most of the inhabitants are of the better class of colored people. A small yard with a picket fence and gate surround the yard, which had tall hollyhocks, rearing their heads high above the fence. A knock on the front door … Read more

Slave Narrative of Aunt Harriet Mason

Interviewer: Eliza Ison Person Interviewed: Harriet Mason Location: Lancaster, Kentucky Place of Birth: Garrard County KY Date of Birth: April 14, 1847 Garrard County. Ex-Slave Stories. (Eliza Ison) [HW: Ky 11] Aunt Harriet Mason-Ex-Slave: She was born one mile below Bryantsville on the Lexington Pike in Garrard County, and was owned by B.M. Jones. She gives the date of her birth as April 14, 1847. Aunt Harriet’s father was Daniel Scott, a slave out of Mote Scott’s slave family. Aunt Harriet’s mother’s name was Amy Jones, slave of Marse Briar Jones, who came from Harrodsburg, Ky. The names of her … Read more

Garrard County, Kentucky Cemetery Records

Garrard County Garrard County, Kentucky Cemetery Records Hosted at Garrard County USGenWeb Archives Project Archelus Anderson Cemetery Clouse Burials Pleasant Run Church Cemetery Fork of Dix River Baptist Church Cemetery Garrard County Cemetery House Family Burial Records John Bryant/Davis/Gardener/Hilary Gibbs/Samuel Gill/Harmony Presbyterian Church Cemetery Partial Garrard County, Kentucky Cemetery Records Hosted at Garrard County USGenWeb Archives Project Adams Family Cemetery Andrew S. Adams Cemetery Walter Adams Cemetery Allen Cemetery Alverson Family Cemetery Anderson Cemetery William Anderson Cemetery Humphrey Arnold Cemetery John Arnold Cemetery Reuben Arnold Cemetery Barlow Cemetery Baugh Cemetery Hiram Beasley Cemetery John Beasley Cemetery Royal Beasley Cemetery Beaumont … Read more

Slave Narrative of George Henderson

Interviewer: Eliza Ison Person Interviewed: George Henderson Location: Kentucky Place of Birth: Woodford County, Kentucky Date of Birth: May 10, 1860 Garrard County. Ex-Slave Stories. (Eliza Ison) [HW: Ky 13] Interview with George Henderson: Uncle George tells me that he was born May 10, 1860 near Versailles, in Woodford County, Kentucky. His father’s name was Bradford Henderson, who was a slave of Milford Twiman who belonged to the Cleveland family. He does not know where his family came from. There were 21 children including two or three sets of twins. All died while young, except his brothers: Milford, Sam, and … Read more

Slave Narrative of Bert Mayfield

Interviewer: Eliza Ison Person Interviewed: Bert Mayfield Location: Lancaster, Kentucky Place of Birth: Garrard County KY Date of Birth: May 29, 1852 Garrard County. Ex-Slave Stories. (Eliza Ison) Interview with Bert Mayfield: Bert Mayfield was born in Garrard County, May 29, 1852, two miles south of Bryantsville on Smith Stone’s place. His father and mother were Ped and Matilda Stone Mayfield, who were slaves of Smith Stone who came from Virginia. His brothers were John, Harrison, Jerry, and Laurence, who died at an early age. He lived on a large plantation with a large old farm house, built of logs … Read more

Biography of Stephen Best

Stephen Best, of Ireland, emigrated to America many years before the revolution, and settled in Pennsylvania. His children were Isaac, Humphrey, Stephen, Jr., and Ebenezer. He also had several daughters, but their names are lost. Ebenezer never married, but he educated sixty children that claimed him for their father. He was one of the celebrated horse racers of Madison Co., Ky., and also indulged in chicken fighting. He once fought ten times with his chickens in one day, and gained seven of the fights, winning $1,000 each. Isaac Best and his wife came to Missouri in 1808, from Garrard Co., … Read more

Biographical Sketch of J. S. Garner, M. D.

J. S. Garner, M. D., Salisbury; was born in Russell Co., Ky., Oct. 14, 1831; at the age of 18, he went to Lancaster, Garrard Co., Ky., where he studied medicine in the office of J. S. Pierce, M. D., for three years; after which, he attended a course of lectures in Louisville, Ky., and commenced the practice of medicine in Wayne Co., Ky., and continued there up to the year 1863, when, having recruited. Co. K, 48th Regt. Ky. Vols., was elected its First Lieutenant, and, having served for eighteen months in our late civil war, moved to Salisbury, … Read more

Biography of John R. Tercy

John R. Tercy, present prohate judge of Ellsworth County, possesses in a distinguishing degree that fine balance of qualities and faculties which enables a probate judge to handle the many delicate problems of administration in a manner that means the approximation of justice to them all. Judge Tercy is not so much a lawyer as a man of affairs. He had had a long and active experience and for many years was a prominent minister of the Presbyterian Church both in Kansas and other weetern states. Judge Tercy was born at Indianapolis, Indiana, September 19, 1858, and is of English … Read more

Myth at Uncle Tom’s Cabin

GARRARD CO. (Sue Higgins) Myth: Notions about nature when the stars fell in 1833. At the Old Thomas Kennedy farm (Uncle Tom’s Cabin), young Tom and some more boys were playing cards in one of the negro cabins. One of the slaves went to the cabin door and called loudly, “Mas’r Tom! Come quick, the whole heavens is falling.” He continued to call. After much persuasion and repeated calls from the old negro, young Tom said, “I’ll go and see what the D—- old negro wants”. Young Tom went to the door and saw the stars raining down. He ran … Read more

Slave Narrative of Dan Bogie

Interviewer: Eliza Ison Person Interviewed: Dan Bogie Location: Garrard County, Kentucky Date of Interview: May 5, 1858 Garrard County. Ex-Slave Stories. (Eliza Ison) [HW: Ky 9] Uncle Dan tells me “he was born May 5, 1858 at the Abe Wheeler place near Spoonsville, now known as Nina, about nine miles due east from Lancaster. Mother, whose name was Lucinda Wheeler, belonged to the Wheeler family. My father was a slave of Dan Bogie’s, at Kirksville, in Madison County, and I was named for him. My mother’s people were born in Garrard County as far as I know. I had one … Read more