Black Ancestor User Guide

Background

Charles Lemons, a retired curator of the Patton Museum at Ft. Knox, has assembled a database of Black enslaved and free people from research which started in Nelson County and has expanded into other Kentucky counties over time. It includes data from censuses, wills and other legal documents, tax records, religious records, and military sources. 

 

The information for each person can include their name, alternate names, family code, county of residence, race, sex, birth date and location, death date, spouse name, and general notes. There are up to five owner fields to record multiple transactions involving enslaved people.

Fields in the Black Ancestor Database
(Spelling and descriptions in the parentheses represent what is in the database)

LastName
FirstName
AKA                                   (Alternate first name(s))
AKALast                         (Alternate last name)
FamilyCode
Color
Sex
BirthYear
BirthDay
BornIn                              (State born in)
BICounty                        (County born in)
DiedYear
DiedDate
Occup                               (Occupation)
Owner1                            (Last Name of First Owner)
Owner1First                  (First Name of First Owner)
Owner Code #
State1
YearTransfered
TransferCode
Owner2                              (New Owner Last Name)
Owner2First                    (New Owner First Name)
Owner#2 Code              (W=White; X=Out of State Owner)
State2
County2
YearTransferred2
[same fields are repeated for Owner 3, 4, and 5]

MotherFirst                      (Mother’s First Name)

MotherLast                      (Mother’s Last Name)

MotherFamilyCode      (Mother’s Family Code)

FatherFirst                        (Father’s First Name)

FatherLast                        (Father’s Last Name)

FatherFamilyCode        (Father’s Family Code)

SpouseFirst

SpouseLast

Notes

Information about Specific Fields

FamilyCodes
The FamilyCode is a unique identifier for each Black person. The first member of a family that was found received a unique number, starting at 00001.

Subsequent generations are counted with letters after that number. Birth order is recorded by counting alphabetically from A. 

For example:

Rose Abell is identified as 00003. 

Her children Jerry, Mary, and an unidentified child are 00003A, 00003B, and 00003C. 

Though none are yet identified, Rose’s first grandchild fathered by Jerry would be 

00003AA, and the first grandchild born to Mary would be 00003BA.


Owner Codes
The Owner Code is a unique identifier for each enslaver. The OwnerCode highlights many generations as extended family networks repeatedly willed enslaved people between relatives.

W0000 designates free people.

Prefix codes:

W        White (but also applied to free people of color)

SD       Slave trader

X          Unknown

Z          Contraband (meaning someone who appeared at a Union Army outpost and was considered free if their enslaver was a Confederate soldier or sympathizer)


Suffix:

XX        Out of state


Kentucky County Codes

Spelling represents what is in the database.

AD          Adair
AL          Allen
AN         Anderson
BL          Ballard
BN         Barren
BA         Bath
BO         Boone
BB          Bourbon
BD          Boyd
BY          Boyle
BR          Bracken
BE          Breathitt
BK          Breckenridge
BU          Bullitt
BT          Butler
CD          Caldwell
CA          Calloway
CM         Campbell
CO          Carroll
CT          Carter
CS          Casey
CH          Christian
CK          Clark
CL          Clay
CI            Clinton
CR          Crittenden
CU          Cumberland
DV          Daviess
ED          Edmondson
ES          Estill
FA          Fayette
FM         Fleming
FL          Floyd
FR          Franklin
FU          Fulton
GA         Gallatin
GD         Garrard
GT          Grant

GV          Graves
GY          Grayson
GR          Green
GU          Greenup
HC          Hancock
HA          Hardin
HL          Harlan
HR          Harrison
HT          Hart
HN         Henderson
HE          Henry
HK          Hickman
HO          Hopkins
JA           Jackson
JE           Jefferson
JS           Jessamine
JO           Johnson
KE          Kenton
KN          Knox
LR          Larue
LA          Laural
LW         Lawrence
LT           Letcher
LE          Lewis
LI            Lincoln
LV          Livingston
LO          Logan
LY           Lyon
MD         Madison
MF          Magoffin
MR          Marion
MA          Marshall
MS          Mason
MK          McCracken
ML          McLean
ME          Meade
MC          Mercer
MT          Metcalfe

MO          Monroe
MN          Montgomery
MG          Morgan
MU          Muhlenberg
NE           Nelson
NI            Nicholas
OH          Ohio
OL           Oldham
ON          Owen
OW         Owsley
PE           Pendleton
PY           Perry
PI            Pike
PO          Powell
PU          Pulaski
RC          Rockcastle
RW        Rowan
RU          Russell
SC          Scott
SH          Shelby
SI            Simpson
SP          Spencer
TA          Taylor
TO          Todd
TR          Trigg
TB          Trimble
UN          Union
WR         Warren
WA         Washington
WN         Wayne
WE          Webster
WH          Whitley
WL           Wolfe
WO           Woodford

XX             Out of state


Transfer Codes

Spelling represents what is in the database.

TransferCode

Transfer

Explanation

AL

Alimony

Ownership transferred by court order of alimony

AP

Apprenticed

 

CO

Change of owner

Owner’s legal name changes as a result of marriage, or property transfers back to a woman’s ownership as a result of the death of her husband (property was originally willed or given to the woman prior to or during marriage)

DO

Dower

Title transferred by legally recorded act of Dower (for property a woman brought into a marriage)

DT

Deed of Trust

Transfer of ownership by a legal and recorded Deed of Trust

EM

Emancipated

Freed, either by will, declaration of an individual, or by court order.

EN

Enlisted

Slave enlisted or drafted into Federal Military Service

EX

Exchanged

Exchanged for property – no cash involved normally.

GD

Guardianship

Slaves held by a third person who is responsible for a minor child, to whom the enslaved person ultimately belongs.

GT

Gift

Transfer of ownership by gift

IN

Indentured

 

LN

Loan

Usually a family operation – long term loan of slaves to family members

LS

Lease

Long term lease with no actual transfer of ownership

MG

Marriage

Transfer of legal responsibility of a slave from wife to Husband under state law. Ownership normally returns to the wife upon the husband’s death by use of Dower rights.

PA

Public Auction

Any transfer of ownership by sale, either public or private

RA

Run Away

Ran away from owner

RT

Returned

Not common – a return of property to an estate in order to gain rights under a will

SZ

Siezed

Siezed by court order, or for debts, or arrested for a crime

TR

Transferred

Not common – results from a legal transfer from one government body to another

WI

Will

Ownership transferred as a result of a written or oral will.  This will also include divisions ordered by courts to comply with a last will and testemate

 

 

 

 

Can we count on your support?

This website is a service of Reckoning, Inc., a small non-profit organization that depends on grants and donations to continue our work. Up to this point, we have avoided putting any paid advertising on our website. If you would like to help us keep it that way, please consider making a donation to our organization.