From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)

Anderson County (KY) Enslaved, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870

Anderson County is located in central Kentucky within the Bluegrass Region, bound by seven other counties. Enslaved people arrived with the first settlers in the 1770s. County seat Lawrenceburg was incorporated as Lawrence in 1820. Anderson County was established in 1827. There were 573 persons [heads of households] counted in the county in the 1830 U.S. Federal Census, excluding the enslaved. By 1870, there were 5,500 persons counted in the census. Below are the number of slave owners, enslaved, and free Blacks and Mulattoes in Anderson County between 1850 and 1870.

1850 Slave Schedule

  • 307 slave owners
  • 1,021 Black slaves
  • 259 Mulatto slaves
  • 19 free Blacks
  • 11 free Mulattoes

1860 Slave Schedule

  • 285 slave owners
  • 1,211 Black slaves
  • 146 Mulatto slaves
  • 10 free Blacks
  • 4 free Mulattoes

1870 U.S. Federal Census

  • 646 Blacks
  • 67 Mulattoes
  • About 93 U.S. Colored Troops listed Anderson County, KY as their birth location.

For more see "Anderson County" in The Kentucky Encyclopedia, edited by J. E. Kleber; and History and Families Anderson County, Kentucky, by Turner Publishing Co.

Kentucky County & Region

Read about Anderson County, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Kentucky Place (Town or City)

Read about Lawrence, Kentucky in Wikipedia.
Read about Lawrenceburg, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Item Relations

Cited in this Entry

NKAA Source: The Kentucky encyclopedia (online full text)
NKAA Source: History and families, Anderson County, Kentucky

Related Entries Citing this Entry

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Cite This NKAA Entry:

“Anderson County (KY) Enslaved, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870,” Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, accessed December 8, 2023, https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/2277.

Last modified: 2023-08-21 16:35:13