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

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

Clinton County is located in south-central Kentucky on the Tennessee border with three neighboring Kentucky counties. Clinton County was formed in 1835 from portions of Cumberland and Wayne Counties, named for DeWitt Clinton, a U.S. Senator and Governor of New York.

The county seat is Albany; some of the earliest settlers came to the area from Albany, NY. There were 631 [heads of households] counted in the 1840 U.S. Federal Census; the population increased to 5,523 by 1860, excluding the enslaved.

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

1850 Slave Schedule
  • 78 slave owners
  • 233 Black slaves
  • 29 Mulatto slaves
  • 35 free Blacks [most with the last name of Cowan or Cozens]
  • 3 free Mulattoes
1860 Slave Schedule
  • 77 slave owners
  • 181 Black slaves
  • 78 Mulatto slaves
  • 10 free Blacks
  • 10 free Mulattoes
1870 U.S. Federal Census
  • 202 Blacks
  • 108 Mulattoes
  • About 20 U.S. Colored Troops listed Clinton County, KY as their birth location.
For more see the Clinton County entry in The Kentucky Encyclopedia, edited by J. E. Kleber; and Clinton County, Kentucky: a pictorial history, by Clinton County Historical Society. 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 Clinton County, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Kentucky Place (Town or City)

Read about Albany, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Item Relations

Cited in this Entry

NKAA Source: The Kentucky encyclopedia
NKAA Source: Clinton County, Kentucky : a pictorial history
NKAA Source: Ancestry (online)

Related Entries Citing this Entry

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Cite This NKAA Entry:

“Clinton County (KY) Enslaved, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870,” Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, accessed October 22, 2026, https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/2322.

Last modified: 2024-06-20 16:51:23