County of the Month: Shelby County, Kentucky

Shelby County, formed from a portion of Jefferson County, was the twelfth county formed in Kentucky in 1792. The county and county seat, Shelbyville (est. 1846), were named in honor of Kentucky governor Isaac Shelby.

Squire Boone, brother of Daniel, founded the first settlement, known as Painted Stone Station in 1779. However, constant Indian attacks caused the settlement to become abandoned by 1781. After Kentucky gained statehood and a state militia to fight Indian attacks, settlements were established in Shelbyville, Pleasureville, and Simpsonville.

During the Civil War, Shelbyville was the site of a skirmish in 1862, as well as an attack by a band of Confederate guerrillas commanded by "Black Dave" Martin seeking stockaded horses and munitions.

Source: Kentucky Encyclopedia

Shelby County Trivia

• The first hemp crop in Kentucky was grown at what is now the junction of US-60 and KY-714, three and a half miles east of Shelbyville. Shelby County led Kentucky to prominence above all other hemp-producing states in the U.S.A before the Civil War.
• In 1825, Julia Tevis founded a "wilderness" school in Shelby County. She was determined to teach children not only reading, writing, and the social graces, but science, too. Julia's vision prompted her to name her new endeavor, "Science Hill School." Through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, famous and distinguished speakers, lecturers, poets, writers and educators spoke and performed at the school. Under the leadership of the Poynter family, Science Hill became one of the outstanding girls' preparatory institutions in America. At its close in 1939, it was the oldest Protestant female academy in the U.S.


"Elijiah P. Marrs" (Kentucky State Publications Collections, KDLA)

• In 1864, when Shelby County was threatened by Confederate soldiers, Elijah P. Marrs, then a slave, mustered a company of 27 men, armed them with clubs, and as their captain marched his company to Louisville to enlist in the Union Army. He served as sergeant of Company L, 12th U.S. Heavy Artillery during the Civil War.
  
  After Emancipation, Marrs was a delegate to Kentucky's first political convention in 1869, and was appointed to the convention's committee on resolutions. In 1879, Marrs became the first president of the Kentucky normal and Theological Institute, which later became Simmons University.

"Whitney M. Young, Jr." (Kentucky State Publications Collection, KDLA)

Whitney Young, Jr.

Shelby County was the home of National Urban League leader Whitney M. Young (1921-1971).

Young was a tireless advocate for improving the lives of black Americans by obtaining millionsof dollars from major foundations and Fortune 500 companies for the league's many job training and social service programs. Young believed in the integration of the Negro race into American culture through the provision of special job training, increase of services, elimination of ghettos and massive employment programs.

Young's focus on the importance of activism to achieve civil rights, with emphasis on pride, self-respect and self-determination, won him respect with corporate leaders. Young was able to persuade business owners to hire black workers as well as securing positions for himself on the boards of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in addition to advisory positions with both Presidents Johnson and Nixon.In 1965, he was able to persuade the federal government to allocate millions of dollars for the establishment of job training and other probrams, such as Head Start, Street Academies and Project Enable. He was awarded the nation's highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, by President Lyndon Johnson.

"The only criterion I want to be measured by is whether or not I have helped to improve the economic, political, health and social future for black people...." - Whitney M. Young, Jr.

Source: Kentucky Files: KB - Young, Whitney, Jr.

Family History and Shelby County Research Resources

Below are some resources for genealogists and researchers interested in the Shelby County area.

County Clerk records

• Agency history
• Articles of incorporation books (indexed) - 1978-1995
• General index to deeds - grantee - 1793-1878
• General index to deeds - grantor - 1793-1867
• Deed books - 1792-1996
• Deed (loose) - 1861
• Commissioner's deed books - 1877-1973
• Marriage bond books - 1792-1865
• Marriage books (indexed) - 1795-1996
• Mortgage books - 1943-1989
• Order books - 1804-1868
• Tax assessment books - 1792-1892
• Veteran's discharge books (indexed) - 1919-1972
• General index to wills - 1792-1913
• Will books - 1792-1866 and 1914-1995

Circuit Court records

• Agency history
• General indexes to civil cases - 1948-1978
• General indexes to civil cases - plaintiff - 1792-1952
• General indexes to civil cases - defendant - 1792-1952
• Civil and criminal case files - 1828-191
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• Civil case files - 1801-1977
• Criminal case files - 1786-1952
• Civil judgment book (indexed) - 1926-1929
• Criminal judgment book (indexed) - 1926-1929
• Order books (indexed) - 1804-1885
• Civil order books (indexed) - 1885-1977
• Criminal order books (indexed) - 1882-1977
• Naturalization Records - 1903-1917

Court of Quarter Sessions records

• Case files - 1781-1803

Quarterly Court records

• Civil order books (indexed) - 1907-1958
• Criminal order books (indexed) - 1876-1968