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

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

Boone County is located in northern Kentucky along the Ohio River, bordered by three Kentucky counties. Named for Daniel Boone, it was formed from Campbell County in 1798. The county seat is Burlington.

In 1800, the county population was about 1,534: 1,194 whites, 325 slaves, and 15 free coloreds, according to the Second Census of Kentucky. [See the Boone County, KY, website for additional information.] At the completion of the 1850 U.S. Federal Census, the population, excluding slaves, was 9,165. Below are the figures for the slave owners, slaves, free Blacks, and free Mulattoes from 1850-1870.

1850 Slave Schedule
  • 194 slave owners
  • 676 Black slaves
  • 116 Mulatto slaves
  • 36 free Blacks
  • 1 free Mulatto
1860 Slave Schedule
  • 468 slave owners
  • 1,256 Black slaves
  • 489 Mulatto slaves
  • 35 free Blacks
  • 12 free Mulattoes
1870 U.S. Federal Census
  • 1,013 Blacks
  • 207 Mulattoes
  • About 20 U.S. Colored Troops gave Boone County, KY, as their birth location.
For more, see the Boone County entry in The Kentucky Encyclopedia, edited by J. E. Kleber; History of Boone County, Kentucky, by A. M. Yealey; and A Brief History of Slavery in Boone County, Kentucky, by M. S. Caldwell.

Kentucky County & Region

Read about Boone County, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Kentucky Place (Town or City)

Read about Burlington, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Item Relations

Cited in this Entry

NKAA Source: "Second census" of Kentucky, 1800; a privately compiled and published enumeration of tax payers appearing in the 79 manuscript volumes extant of tax lists of the 42 counties of Kentucky in existence in 1800
NKAA Source: The Kentucky encyclopedia
NKAA Source: History of Boone County, Kentucky : reprint of articles published in newspapers over a period of fifty years
NKAA Source: A Brief history of slavery in Boone County, Kentucky: A paper read before a meeting of the Boone County Historical Society, Florence, Kentucky, June 2, 1957

Cite This NKAA Entry:

“Boone County (KY) Enslaved, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870,” Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, accessed June 3, 2023, https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/2282.

Last modified: 2023-01-10 20:15:29