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

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

Clark County,  formed in 1792 from portions of Bourbon and Fayette Counties, is located in north-central Kentucky on the eastern edge of the Bluegrass Region surrounded by six Kentucky counties.

The county is named for George Rogers Clark, a Revolutionary War veteran born in Virginia who was a brother of William Clark of the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition. The county seat is Winchester, named for Winchester, VA.

The 1800 county population was 7,653, according to the Second Census of Kentucky: 6,075 whites, 1,561 enslaved, and 17 free coloreds. The 1810 county population was 11,519, according to the Third Census of the United States (1810 Census), Clark County, Kentucky: 8,562 whites, 2,934 enslaved, and 23 free coloreds. In 1830 there were two African American slave holders. The 1860 population was 6,727, according to the U.S. Federal Census, excluding the enslaved.

Below are the figures for the slave holders, enslaved, and free Blacks and Mulattoes from 1850-1870.

1850 Slave Schedule
  • 833 slave owners
  • 4,349 Black slaves
  • 574 Mulatto slaves
  • 103 free Blacks
  • 32 free Mulattoes
1860 Slave Schedule
  • 769 slave owners
  • 4,417 Black slaves
  • 347 Mulatto slaves
  • 113 free Blacks
  • 14 free Mulattoes
1870 U.S. Federal Census
  • 3,349 Blacks
  • 393 Mulattoes
  • About 398 U.S. Colored Soldiers listed Clark County, KY, as their birth location.
For more see the Clark County entry in The Kentucky Encyclopedia, edited by J. E. Kleber; A.C. Quisenberry, "Clark County, Kentucky, in the Census of 1810" The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, 1922, vols. 1-20, pp. 68-84 [available at Google Books]; and Clark County, Kentucky: a history, by Thomas D. Clark. See the "U.S., Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1863-1865" and other military service records in Ancestry for names and additonal information.

Kentucky County & Region

Read about Clark County, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Kentucky Place (Town or City)

Read about Winchester, 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: Third census of the United States (1810 Census). Clark County, Kentucky.
NKAA Entry: African American Owners of Enslaved Persons in Kentucky
NKAA Source: The Kentucky encyclopedia
NKAA Source: Clark County, Kentucky : a history
NKAA Source: Ancestry (online)

Related Entries Citing this Entry

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Cite This NKAA Entry:

“Clark County (KY) Enslaved, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870,” Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, accessed July 26, 2024, https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/2312.

Last modified: 2024-06-22 16:20:42