The Peculiar Institution - Slavery in the KYOHVA Region

Greenup County was formed by an act of the General Assembly of Kentucky on December 12, 1803, from Mason County. One of the earliest court cases involving an enslaved person took place in the summer of 1806 when Robert "Robin" Johnson (1745-1815), a well-known pioneer who was prominent in social and political circles in Kentucky, filed suit against one Adam Kline for mistreating Reuben, one of his slaves. Anderson Munsell Map (1818) On August 7, 1806, Robert Johnson, the plaintiff, went to the office of John Hockaday, clerk of the Greenup Circuit Court, and filed a writ of capias ad respondendum   "against the body of Adam Kline." A writ of capias ad respondum was typically filed when a defendant failed to appear in court to answer a civil action against them.  The writ stated, "The Commonwealth of Kentucky to the Sheriff of Greenup County,  Greeting and command you to take Adam Kline if he be found within your bailwick and him safely keep so that you have his...

In the latter part of January 1852, the Ohio River Valley experienced a severe cold spell. As a result, the Ohio River froze solid which suspended river traffic between Louisville and Pittsburg. The steamer Hermann became trapped in the icy waters of the Ohio at Guyandotte, Virginia. On board where 80 to 90 slaves who had been bought up at Charleston, Virginia and were destined for the southern slave markets. The steamer belonged to the Kanawha Salt Company and was piloted by Captain Snelling C. Farley (1806-1888). It is very likely that these slaves had formerly worked in the Kanawha Salines, which relied heavily on enslaved labor. As a result, between 1810 to 1820, the number of slaves in Kanawha County tripled, from 352 to 1073. The slave population was 1,717 in 1830 and reached its highest census-recorded number at 3,140 slaves in 1850. Nearly half of them were locally owned while the rest were leased in Kentucky or Eastern Virginia.  The Great South; A Record of Journeys in L...

On July 1, 1852, the Ironton Register reported the kidnapping of an unnamed free black man from Ice Creek in Lawrence County, Ohio. According to the report, "kidnappings take place altogether too frequently in Lawrence county - we understand that some dozen blacks have been kidnapped from the county within a few years..."   One of the more infamous incidents was the abduction of seven children and one grandchild of Peyton Polly, which occurred on January 6, 1850, at the head of Little Ice Creek.   Kidnapping of a free Black man, in the U.S. free states, to be sold into Southern slavery From an 1834 Boston abolitionist anti-slavery almanac (LOC) Kidnapping was perhaps the greatest fear of free blacks in pre-Civil War America. It was a common occurrence but yet it is seldom talked about. Even Frederick Douglas was, by his own admission, plagued by the thought of losing his freedom at any given moment. In his work "My Bondage and Freedom" he wrote in 1855, "I was...

Most U. S. Slave Schedules only mention the slave holder and list the enslaved person by age, sex, and color only but otherwise they remain anonymous. The 1860 Boyd County, Kentucky Slave Schedule is a wonderful exception. On August 15, 1860, Oliver W. Martin in his capacity as Assistant Marshal, enumerated all Boyd County slave holders including the names of all enslaved persons. Four pages of genealogical gold for researchers who are tracing their African-American ancestry.  Please note that Boyd County was created on February 16, 1860, from Greenup, Carter and Lawrence Counties. Slave holders enumerated in the 1860 Boyd County Slave Schedule will most likely appear on the 1850 Slave Schedules of these counties.  Image Source:   Family Search