From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Caldwell County (KY) Enslaved, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870
Caldwell County, surrounded by six Kentucky counties, is located in the western section of the state. It was formed in 1809 from a portion of Livingston County and named for John Caldwell, a veteran of the Indian Wars, a Kentucky Senator, and the second Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky.The first community was Eddy Grove and the first county seat was Eddyville. The new county seat of Princetown was selected around 1817, named for landowner William Prince; the town name was later changed to Princeton.
The 1810 population for Caldwell County was 659 [heads of households], according to the U.S. Federal Census, and that increased to 6,912 by 1860, excluding the enslaved. Below are the figures for the slave owners, enslaved, and free Blacks and Mulattoes from 1850-1870.
1850 Slave Schedule
- 566 slave owners
- 2,723 Black slaves
- 384 Mulatto slaves
- 95 free Blacks
- 43 free Mulattoes
- 433 slave owners
- 2,013 Black slaves
- 418 Mulatto slaves
- 22 free Blacks
- 16 free Mulattoes
- 1,342 Blacks
- 656 Mulattoes
- About 228 U.S. Colored Troops listed Caldwell County, KY as their birth location.
