Do you live in a Kentucky county named after someone who enslaved Black people?
Kentucky became a state in 1792 at a time when slavery was the law of the land. Over the next 120 years the state was divided into 120 counties and each county was given a name. At least 74 of Kentucky's counties were named after slaveholders.
Some of them were names we still remember today, like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, while others are largely forgotten like frontiersman Richard Calloway and Revolutionary War Capt. James Estill. Here are the names of the former slave owners we still honor in Kentucky with counties named for them.
More: How many Kentucky counties are named after someone who enslaved Black people? A lot
Kentucky Gov. and U.S. Sen. John Adair
Col. John Allen, killed in the War of 1812
U.S. Rep. Richard Clough Anderson Jr.
War hero and Kentucky state legislator Bland W. Ballard
U.S. Rep. Joshua Frye Bell
Frontiersman Daniel Boone
U.S. Rep. and Lt. Gov. Linn Boyd
U.S. Rep. and Chief Justice, Kentucky Court of Appeals, John Boyle
U.S. Sen. John Breckinridge
Kentucky Lt. Gov. Alexander Scott Bullitt
Kentucky Lt. Gov. John Caldwell
Frontiersman Richard Calloway
Charles Carroll, who signed the Declaration of Independence
Kentucky state Sen. William Grayson Carter
War hero William Christian, who founded Fort William, which is now Louisville
Gen. George Rogers Clark, who is credited with founding Louisville
Gen. Green Clay
Kentucky Gov. and U.S. Sen. John J. Crittenden
U.S. Rep. John Milton Elliott
Capt. James Estill
Founding Father Benjamin Franklin
Kentucky Gov. James Garrard
U.S. Sen. William Grayson of Virginia
Gen. Nathanael Greene
Kentucky Gov. and U.S. Rep. Christopher Greenup
John Hancock, signed Declaration of Independence
Benjamin Harrison, Virginia legislator who co-authored Kentucky’s first constitution
Maj. Nathaniel Hart
Land speculator Richard Henderson
Founding Father Patrick Henry
Capt. Paschal Hickman
Gen. Samuel Hopkins
President Andrew Jackson
President Thomas Jefferson
Vice President and U.S. Sen. Richard Mentor Johnson
Frontiersman Simon Kenton
Marquis de Lafayette
Early settler John Larue
Virginia Gov. Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, father of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee
Kentucky Gov. Preston Leslie
Kentucky Gov. and U.S. Rep. Robert P. Letcher
Explorer Meriwether Lewis
Gen. Benjamin Lincoln
Robert Livingston, who helped draft the Declaration of Independence
Gen. Benjamin Logan
U.S. Rep. Chittenden Lyon
Capt. Virgil McCracken
Kentucky Gov. and U.S. Sen. James B. McCreary
U.S. Rep. Alney McLean
President James Madison
Gen. Francis Marion
U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall
U.S. Rep. John P. Martin
Founding Father George Mason
Kentucky Gov. and U.S. Sen. Thomas Metcalf
President James Monroe
Gen. Richard Montgomery
Gen. Daniel Morgan
Gen. Peter Muhlenberg
Thomas Nelson Jr., who signed Declaration of Independence
Col. George Nicholas
Edmund Pendleton, Continental Congress
Kentucky Gov. Lazarus Whitehead Powell
Kentucky Chief Justice George Robertson
U.S. Sen. John Rowan
Kentucky Gov. Charles Scott
Kentucky Gov. Isaac Shelby
President Zachary Taylor
Col. John Todd
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Trimble
Gen. Joseph Warren
President George Washington
Gen. “Mad Anthony” Wayne
Kentucky state Rep. and Sen. Nathaniel Wolfe
Joseph Gerth can be reached at 502-582-4702 or by email at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: List of Kentucky slave owners with counties named after them
