Kentucky History: Difference between revisions

''[[United States|United States]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[Kentucky Genealogy|Kentucky]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]'' '''Kentucky History''' {{KY-sidebar}}

Effective family history research requires some understanding of the historical events that affected your family and the records about them. Learning about wars, governments, laws, migrations, and religious trends may help you understand political boundaries, family movements, and settlement patterns. State, county, and town histories often include biographical sketches of local residents, including important genealogical information. This may be one of the best sources of information for some families.  

*'''1964–1972:''' Over 8.7 million American men and women served in the [http://www.vietnamwar.com/ Vietnam War].

Histories are great sources of genealogical information. Many contain biographical information about individuals who lived in the area, including:  

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Some of the most valuable sources for family history research are local histories. Published histories of towns, counties, and states usually contain accounts of families. They describe the settlement of the area and the founding of churches, schools, and businesses. You can also find lists of pioneers, soldiers, and civil officials. Even if your ancestor is not listed, information on other relatives may be included that will provide important clues for locating your ancestor. A local history may also suggest other records to search. Local histories are extensively collected by the <ref>[[Family History Library]]</ref> Family History Library public and university libraries, and state and local historical societies. An index of the pioneer histories and genealogies of Kentucky is: *''Calendar of The Kentucky Papers of the Draper Collection of Manuscripts. 1925'' &lt;ref&gt;State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Library. Calendar of The Kentucky Papers of the Draper Collection of Manuscripts. 1925 Reprint, Utica, KY: McDowell Publications, 1983. &lt;/ref&gt; This work lists documents in date order, giving the author, an abstract of the document, and the reference to the series, with volume and page number. A name index gives the book page number where the document is abstracted. Series CC (the code used by the Draper Collection for the Kentucky Papers)  

*[http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=22757 Report of the Daniel Boone Bicentennial Commission to the 1936 General Assembly of Kentucky and appendix&nbsp;: addresses, "Daniel B] at Ancestry.com (Free<ref name="fhc"/>/$)

Good genealogists strive to understand the life and times of their ancestors. In this sense, any history is useful. But certain kinds of state, county, and local histories, especially older histories published between 1845 and 1945, often include biographical sketches of prominent individuals. The sketches usually tend toward the laudatory, but may include some genealogical details. If these histories are indexed or alphabetical, check for an ancestor's name. Some examples for the State of Kentucky:  

*[http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=26482 The Kentuckie country&nbsp;: an historical exposition of land interest in Kentucky prior to 1790, coupled with facsimile reproductio] at Ancestry.com (Free<ref name="fhc"/>/$)

Much historical information about early settlers in Indiana is found in the following collection:  

*''The George M. Bedinger papers volume 1A of the Draper Manuscript Collection.''<ref>Craig L. Heath and George Michael Bedinger,  The George M. Bedinger papers volume 1A of the Draper Manuscript Collection (Bowie, Maryland  Heritage Books, 2002).</ref>

The following are only a few of the many sources that are available: