From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Estill, Monk
(died: 1835)Monk Estill arrived in Kentucky in the 1770s as a slave but was later freed, becoming the first freed slave in Kentucky. He made gunpowder at Boonesborough, KY. His son, Jerry, was the first African American born in Kentucky. For more see the Kentucky Encyclopedia 2000 [electronic version available on the University of Kentucky campus and off campus via the proxy server], and The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians, by A. A. Dunnigan.
