The Kentucky Room before it was recently remodeled in December, 2006.

(Photo by Philip Naff)

A Genealogical Day Trip in Cynthiana

At the beginning of every Indiana Jones movie, if Dr. Jones doesn’t already have it, he has to go looking for it before he can go any further.  What is “it”?  After packing his fedora, a bullwhip, a pistol, he has to have a map showing the way to the treasure, of course!  If you are planning on fulfilling a genealogical quest this year in Harrison County, then save this article, for it can be the map that will help to put you on the path of discovering skeletons in your closet, uncovering some long-forgotten family secrets, and finding the records which go into filling your own family treasure vault.

Although it may seem the obvious place to go, the court clerk’s records aren’t kept in the large white 1853 courthouse on Main Street any more.  Look for the Harrison County Court Clerk’s sign over at 313 Oddville Avenue (US 62).  The court clerk’s office is the first place you should go, whether you are short on time or are in Harrison County for just a day.  The records “vault” is open 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. weekdays (Closed weekends), but if you are an “early bird” they may let you in the Property Valuation Authority (PVA) entrance on the side of the building as early as 8 a.m.  The office is also open until 6 p.m. on Thursdays.  Two clerks staff the vault at most times, and both are knowledgeable and experienced in finding any record.  However, you should remember that the 1700s and 1800s were a pretty long time ago, and so they may not be as familiar with the older records as they are with those with which they deal day-to-day.  They will accept brief and specific phone ((859) 235-0513) and e-mail (harrclrk@setel.com) queries as to the availability of particular records, but they will not do genealogical research for you.

“Must see” court records (whether you are in the court clerk’s vault or using the public library’s microfilm collection) are marriage records (licenses, bonds, consents, and certificates), probate records (wills, inventories, sale bills, divisions, etc.), and deed and mortgage records.

All marriage records have been indexed, and you can use either the original handwritten indexes which are bride and groom indexes, arranged by the first letter of either the bride or goom’s surname, then chronologically thereafter, or the corresponding modern transcriptions of these same indexes, which are alphabetical, every name indexes (The latter have become much preferred).

Two series of deed indexes exist, the older general indexes, which cover the first hundred years of recorded deeds, up into the 1890s, and the more modern grantee and grantor indexes.  Be aware that there is some overlap between the periods covered by the two sets, and that there are different methods used in compiling each type of index.  Each mortgage record volume has its own index.

Probate records and their indexes are situated just in front and to the right of the deputy clerks’ desks in the vault.  To effectively use these indexes, you need to have an approximate date of death for any research subject, as each volume covers a range of forty to fifty years, and within each the records are then indexed by the first letter of the surname of the deceased, then chronologically thereafter.  The first probate record index, which covers the period from 1794 through to the mid-1850s does include an alphabetical index in the front of the volume, but Vol. 1 of the Pease abstracts offers a much better examination of probate records for this period (The abstracts are behind the clerks’ desks to the right).

Other types of records which are not so prominently featured in the vault are also available such as guardianship documents, court order books, plats, and selected military records.

For your own future reference be sure to write down or photocopy any and all indexed references that you may find to the surname of your interest.  Also be sure to make note of which indexes do not contain any references to that same surname, as well (Knowing where something isn’t can prove just as valuable as knowing where something is).  After you have a good idea of what exists and what you need you can then start copying the actual documents from the record books.

Copies are “self-serve” and are 25¢ per page (You can bring a supply of coins, inserting one at a time, or pay at the desk for the total sum when you are done).

Of course, you may save some time by checking online indexes before you go by using those at HarrisonCountyKy.US and other online resources, for instance.

From the court clerk’s vault it is only a short trip over to the public library.

The Christine Burgan Kentucky Room of the Cynthiana-Harrison County Public Library, one block north of the Harrison County Courthouse on U.S. 25 at 104 North Main Street in Cynthiana ((859) 234-4881), has as many resources as anyone would need to fill out a Harrison County family tree without ever having to venture anywhere else:  microfilm of U.S. Census records, microfilmed county court records (marriage, deed and probate records, orders, etc.), statewide vital records indexes (birth, death, marriage and divorce), death certificates, local cemetery and burial records, and indexes of monument transcriptions as well as funeral home records, court record extracts and abstracts (such as the 15-volume set of Pease abstracts), and local publications and county histories.  There are also published genealogies, family surname files, and the E.E. Barton Papers.  Phew!

The library stays open till 7 p.m. most weekdays (Fridays until 6 p.m. and Saturdays until 5 p.m), so after visiting the courthouse, you can either pick up where you left off using the library’s court records on microfilm, or if you are short on time, or just examine those records resources which are unique to this library, such as the E.E. Barton Papers, genealogies, vertical files, yearbooks, microfilmed records, the Pease abstracts, and local funeral home records.

If a book interests you enough to pick it up, be sure to make a note of it and take notes from it.  For only a dollar or two you might want to photocopy the title pages of those books you consult and make notes on the backsides to have an accurate and ready reference of the titles you have examined.

A few of the library’s genealogical research resources may be available at other libraries, or available for loan or purchase in one format or another, but you can save some time and money by completing your research at the Cynthiana-Harrison County Public Library, where they are open until 7 p.m. and photocopies are still only 10¢!

(For more information about researching at the library, visit www.CynthianaLibrary.org and click on “Family History” or click on “The Kentucky Room” link at the home page of HarrisonCountyKy.US).

Although the Harrison County Historical Society (P.O. Box 411, Cynthiana, Ky. 41031) does not occupy a building of its own, many of its members “hang out” on weekends at the Cynthiana-Harrison County Museum.  If you happen to be researching in Cynthiana on a Friday or Saturday (10 a.m. - 5 p.m.), you can stroll over to the museum from the library to its new digs in the Old Rohs Theatre at 124 South Walnut Street ((859) 234-7179).

The museum has hundreds if not a thousand or more artifacts on hand, which have been donated by those who have lived history, know of its value, and who would like to see it preserved.  You may even be able to locate some actual piece of your family’s story on display.

One mustn’t forget that he real experts on genealogy and family history are all local, and you shouldn’t dismiss the value of a well-written query to the genealogy or history society for the locale where your research subjects lived.  The Harrison Heritage News, the monthly newsletter of the Harrison County Historical Society, for example, welcomes genealogical queries and publishes them at no cost to members and non-members alike.  Also, such letters requesting research aid have often been read to those in attendance at the monthly meetings in Cynthiana.  With the price of gas these days, the $12 annual membership fee can go a lot farther to bring history to your doorstep and for a lot less.

The publications of the society are also available for purchase at the museum, and you can examine their indexes before you arrive by looking at the publications page online at HarrisonCountyKy.US/Historical-Society/.

The Harrison County Circuit Court Clerk’s office, in the Justice Center at 115 Court Street ((859) 234-1914), offers limited resources for the visiting genealogist, but if there was ever any kind of legal dispute among your ancestors, relatives, or neighbors, this is the court they took it to.  Most, if not all, of the court’s original records have been removed and sent to the Department for Libraries and Archives in Frankfort, Kentucky, however the original multi-volume index of those records has been retained in the office (Hours - M-F:  8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; Sat.: 9 a.m. - noon).

If you are arriving in Cynthiana from afar, you might want to make some inquiries of the Cynthiana-Harrison County Chamber of Commerce.  While they may not be able to assist you directly with your genealogical research, they can provide a good deal of information about Cynthiana and Harrison County.  At their location at 203 West Pike Street ((859) 234-5236) you can pick up copies of the Cynthiana Democrat’s Answer Book, as well as the annually-updated county maps and calendars also published by the Democrat.  Local telephone books are also available, to help you discover who in the county shares the same surnames you are researching and who might be your cousins.  Brochures detailing the city’s architectural and historical sites, such as the Old Jail and points of interest regarding Confederate General J.H. Morgan’s two “tours” of the city in 1862 and 1864, just to mention a couple, are also available.

Like Robert Stack said on the Unsolved Mysteries series he hosted, there is always somebody who knows the answer, it is just a matter of finding who has it.  With genealogy that is generally true as well, it is just a matter of tracking the answers down.  The point is, that people just didn't "disappear;" it is only that you haven't found them yet!

For instance, I have lost all trace of people in my own tree using local records alone, whether they were located in Harrison County or other counties in Kentucky.  Sometimes they had an unexpected or untimely death (like between U.S. Censuses when they were buried, perhaps with a grave marker that hasn't been seen in a century!), sometimes dying out of the county (where the probate records would be filed, and maybe where they were buried), maybe they married or remarried out of the county, or just moved farther away than you might have expected.  Sometimes you just have to squeeze really hard what indexes and records there you can find to try to pinpoint that all important date or event that you are looking for.  I still have a few loose ends after 15 years of working on my trees, but I know the answer is out there . . . somewhere!

"Good Luck" with your research!

Philip Naff

(Originally published as Indiana Jones & the Quest for the Family Jewels in The Genealogy Box, a supplemental newsletter for genealogy and family history research in Harrison County, Kentucky, published ten times a year with the Harrison Heritage News, the monthly newsletter of the Harrison County Historical Society)

County Specific Resources on the Web

Sometimes the answers aren't to be found in books, in files, or in courthouses, sometimes other researchers who share a common interest in a family can be found online at the following sites:

Harrison County, Kentucky USGenWeb Site at Rootsweb.com

     Several links to resources available online can be found at this site devoted to Harrison County, Kentucky research.

     The following are USGenWeb gateways to the sites of counties which border Harrison County:

• Bourbon County

• Nicholas County

• Pendleton County

• Grant County

• Robertson County

• Scott County

KYHARRIS Mailing List
     Subscribe to this list devoted to Harrison County genealogy and post queries, and hopefully you will find the answers you are looking for, and maybe some new friends and cousins.

KYHARRIS Mailing List Archives
     Search or browse the archives of this KYHARRIS mailing list from 1997 to the present.

Harrison County, Kentucky Genealogy Message Board at Rootsweb.com
     Post your genealogical queries here and look for answers.

Harrison County, Kentucky Genealogy Message Board at Genealogy.com
     Post your genealogical queries here and look for answers.

Harrison County, Kentucky USGenWeb Archives Project
     Quite a few genealogical and historical records can be found archived at this site.
 

Harrison County, Kentucky AHGP Member Website

     Several links to resources available online can be found at this site linked to the 'American History and Genealogy Project' which is devoted to Harrison County, Kentucky research.

     Anna H. Lee's USGenWeb site is also an AHGP member site listed for Harrison County.  Her web page is listed below.

     The following are AHGP links to the sites of neighboring counties, some of which may be the same as those of the USGenWeb project listed above:

• Bourbon County

• Harrison County (Harrison County has two sites linked to the AHGP)

• Nicholas County

• Pendleton County

• Grant County (Grant County has two sites linked to the AHGP)

• Grant County

• Robertson County

• Scott County

The E.E. Barton Papers

First and foremost among genealogical resources for Harrison County is the E.E. Barton Collection of Northern Kentucky Families, a collection of genealogical and family history files and records compiled in the 1930s and 1940s by Edward E. Barton, a Pendleton County, Kentucky lawyer.  All of his papers have been preserved and microfilmed and are available to the public only at a few libraries in Kentucky, of which the Cynthiana-Harrison County Public Library is one.

This collection is in the microfilm drawers of the Kentucky Room at the Cynthiana-Harrison County Public Library and in the Reference Room at the Pendleton County Public Library in Falmouth.  Both libraries offer an index (comb-bound as well as in a three-ring-binder) which will help you determine if there are any records regarding the surname you are researching.  If you care to check in advance, the index is also available online at the USGenWeb site for Pendleton County, Kentucky.

What kind of information is included in the E.E. Barton Papers?  You never can tell, but depending on how much work you have already done, they will either be full of surprises or just corroborate the facts in the research you have already done.  My first experience with the E.E. Barton papers was discovering one revelation after another, some of which I may still not have known about had I not examined these important papers.  Certainly there will be family group sheets, transcripts of interviews, questionnaires filled out by family members, texts and transcripts of court records, and excerpts from local histories.  If you would like to see a sampling, please go to my web page entitled Joseph and Lydia Cummins:  Research Notes - E.E. Barton Papers.  The page is devoted to a discussion and presentation of those E.E. Barton files that I have found regarding my 4th-great-grandparents, Joseph and Lydia (Fleming) Cummins, and their son, George Cummins, Sr., and his siblings.

Genealogies and Local Histories on the Shelves

There is a small collection of genealogies and local histories on the bookshelves of the Kentucky Room which one can peruse.  Most all are indexed and include texts which touch on some family tree or bit of local history.

Genealogies:  When skimming through the titles of the genealogies on the shelves, keep one thing in mind, that just because the surname of the title of the genealogy may not be the one you are researching, doesn't mean that there is nothing of interest in the book for you.  Many family genealogies intertwine with one another, and it is not uncommon to find branches of one family tree located in the genealogy of another family.  I have been surprised on many occasion to even find some people mentioned in any book, such rogues were they  ;-), but there they were, in someone else's family tree!  Be sure to check out the card catalog of Cynthiana-Harrison County Public Library the before you make a visit.  Genealogies of the Kentucky Room can be located using this online resource.  Enter "genealogy" to see a list of over thirty different subject headings; you may have to browse the headings a little, as the genealogies and family histories that the library has are listed under several subject headings.

Local Histories and Maps:  Also, be sure to check out the indexes that are available online for many of the publications of the Harrison County Historical Society.  Almost all of the society's publications have been indexed and are available online, including the reprint of the 1896 "Special Edition" of The Cynthiana Democrat and the reprint of the 1905 "Souvenir Supplement" of The Log Cabin.

Vertical Files in the Drawers

Also, be sure to check out the file drawers of vertical files for folders full of information on the family surnames you are researching.  There are several file drawers full of folders with information on local surnames.  There are query letters in these files sent to the library asking for information, and the writers of these letters may be cousins of yours that you need to get in touch with.

Not only are their surname files, but other folders full of local history and information, news clippings, cemetery records and notes on cemetery research, church histories, and various topical items of interest.

Musings on File:  If you happen to be in Cynthiana and stop by the Cynthiana-Harrison County Museum at its new address at 122 South Walnut Street, and if you have the time, you may want to consider using a research resource that has been largely kept under wraps until recently.

The late George Slade, author of Railroads of Harrison County, Kentucky, columnist ("Museum Musings") of the Cynthiana Democrat, and regular contributor to the Harrison Heritage News, maintained a set of files on various topics which would be of interest to anyone interested in Harrison County research.  While his files fill nearly six drawers of file cabinets, they seem to be only a beginning attempt to catalog the happenings and people of Harrison County of the past two centuries.  But if you are interested in a particular topic about which no book has been written or for which no records index has been compiled, then you might want to take a look at the file cabinets that are stored in the museum and which are under the watchful eye of Harold Slade and the museum staff (Even the CIA doe.  The alphabetized tabs of the individual files of the larger four-drawer file cabinet indicate coverage of the following topics, historical figures, and personalities:

Ads from Newspapers, etc.

Australia Trip

Beale, A.J., Dr.

Bicentennial

Black History

Boyd, Lucinda

Boyd, Lucinda (Duplicates)

Bridge, Old Covered (Cynthiana)

Bridges

Businesses - Factories, Assemblers, Etc.

Celebrations

Cemeteries - Burials and Disinterments

Churches (2 files)

City Records

Civil War and the Post War Period

Clippings (Newspaper)

Coleman, Wm. T.

Communities

Courthouse and Jail

Curtis Jett Trial, Cynthiana

Cynthiana Carriage Company

Death Valley Scotty

Depression, Great

Disasters - Wrecks, Misfortunes, Tragedies, and Accidents

Distilleries, Prohibition, and Moonshine

Doctors and Related Items

Documents, Deeds, References, Maps, and Plats

Electric Light Company

Entertainment, Sports, Leisure, and Special Events

Fennell's and their Horse Boots

Fires, Explosions, and Firefighting Equip.

Flood of 1997

Graveyard (Old Cemetery, Cynthiana)

Haviland, W.S.

Hemp

Historical Society Library (Kentucky Historical Society)

History - Cynthiana, Harrison Co.

Hodson and Phillips Families

Hospitals

Humorous

Ice

Iris

Landmarks and Business Houses

L.L.L. Highway

Maiden City (Cynthiana)

Monticello

Museum Musings

Murders and Killings

Museum

Newspapers

Personalities (4 files)

Photos

Poindexter, Robert

Post Office

Public Property, Annexations, and Franchised Utilities

Reynolds Family

Rivers and Dams

Robberies

Schools

Sheely, David

Slade, G.D. - Publicity

Slade, Harold

Slavery

Smiser and Shawhan

Smith House

Tebbs Family

Tobacco/Agriculture (Other Crops)

Todd, George, Dr.

Twentieth Century and the Millennium

Wars

Water

WCYN

Weather

Wells, Virgie (Mayor of Cynthiana)

If you are particularly interested in the history of railroads which passed through the county, beginning with the construction of the Covington & Lexington Railroad in 1854, the bottom, or fourth, drawer of the larger file cabinet contains the papers and resources used by George Slade in compiling his book, Railroads of Harrison County, Kentucky.

All together, these files form an informative resource to be used by future historians and genealogists in the county.  The museums hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, by appointment, . . . or by chance!

Local High School Yearbooks

There aren't too many old record books or histories that provide photographs of the "natives", so the Kentucky Room's collection of local high school yearbooks presents a rare chance to disprove all of the old jokes about Kentuckians and their genealogies, for Harrisonians are a fine looking lot overall.  ;-)  You may not find many ancestors pictured in these books, but doubtless there are many cousins who did attend any one of the schools featured in the volumes discussed below.

The yearbooks that the library has on hand for public use are largely those for Cynthiana High School and Harrison High School, although yearbooks for other schools do still exist, and the yearbooks of Berry, Buena Vista, Connersville, Oddville, Renaker, and Sunrise High Schools can be seen during a visit to the Cynthiana-Harrison County Museum.

The collection consists of reconstructed yearbook volumes and original yearbooks, and both are located near the front of the Kentucky Room (The photo above shows them in their old location, before remodeling).  The reconstructed yearbooks are either comb-bound photocopied or scanned versions of the original editions.  (CDs with complete images of these scanned yearbooks were offered for sale a few years back, and are still available for purchase from Lowell Maybrier.)

The first yearbook for Cynthiana High School was published for the class of 1919 and entitled The Royal Purple.  It wasn't until 1924 that it took on the name of The Cynthian and it didn't change again until 1949 with the publication of The Bulldog, when the yearbook's title alternated with that of The Cynthian every now and then.

If you can't get enough of looking at old school pictures, or if after hours of research in the Kentucky Room you get a little hungry or just need some exercise, you can walk over to Biancke's Restaurant to see some more class photos.  The restaurant not only serves good food, but it also has a unique collection of Cynthiana High School class portraits hanging all along its walls.  The Cynthiana High class photos are on loan from the Alumni Association and they form a complete set dating from 1918 to 1962.  Judy Spicer of Biancke's writes that "the Cynthiana High School Pictures originally were scattered thru out town, the courthouse, another restaurant and the library.  There was such a great number of them no one space was large enough to house them, making Biancke’s the perfect home for them."

Microfilmed Records

If you should find yourself short of time during a visit to the Harrison County Court Clerk's vault out on Oddville Pike, make a quick trip over to the Cynthiana-Harrison County Public Library.  The library keeps later hours and you can pick up there where you left off when the clerk's offices closed.  Or if you just want to spend the entire day at the library looking at court records, that is an option, too.

Rather than scrolling through entire reels to get to the one page I am looking for, I always prefer flipping through the books themselves, but don't always care to heft the massive things onto the copying machine.  Most books, however, can be taken apart and so that individual pages can be photocopied with much greater ease.  Be aware that sometimes microfilmed court records sometimes don't make for great photocopies and a direct copy from the original book may be best solution, so plan your trip with these cautions in mind.

Copies are only 10¢ each at the library for 8½x11-inch (letter-sized) photocopies, and 25¢ each for letter-, legal- (8½x14 inch), and ledger-sized photocopies, at the clerk's office.

There are two file cabinets of microfilm in the Kentucky Room of the Cynthiana-Harrison County Public Library.  The fourth drawer down of the cabinet which contains microfilmed court records is the first which contains Harrison County court records.  The topmost (4th) drawer of court records holds probate records, mortgages, tax lists, and marriage records and indexes.  The next two drawers of Harrison County court records contain deed records and indexes.  The last drawer of Harrison County records contains microfilmed court order and minute books located in the clerk's office.  Other drawers of microfilm include county records from Bourbon, Robertson, and Nicholas Counties, counties which border Harrison County on all sides, some of which were 'parent' counties of Harrison (Bourbon and Scott), as well as "offspring" (Robertson).

Cabinet 1

Drawer

ID Numbers

Contents and Descriptions

Film Type

Drawer 1

7016130-7017496

Kentucky Death Certificates (1911-1924).

16mm.

Drawer 2

7017497-7020448

Kentucky Death Certificates (1925-1938).

16mm.

Drawer 3

7020449-7035563

Kentucky Death Certificates (1939-1951).

16mm.

Drawer 4

7038608-7043812

Kentucky Death Certificates (1952-1954).

16mm.

Drawers 5, 6, and 7

 1-141

Reels 1-78 (Drawer 5), Reels 79-141 (Drawer 6), and Reels 1-5 (Drawer 7) of Harrison County, Kentucky Newspapers. (See list).

35mm.

Drawer 8

 N/A

1810-1900 U.S. Census Schedules of Harrison County and its seven neighboring counties - Bourbon, Bracken, Grant, Nicholas, Pendleton, Robertson, and Scott, including the 1850 and 1860 U.S. Slave Schedules of Harrison County.

Also:

1790 U.S. Census of N.Y., N.C., and Pennsylvania

1790 U.S. Census of R.I., Vermont, and Virginia

1790 U.S. Census of Pennsylvania (2 Rolls):  Berks.-Lancaster Cos. and Montgomery-Philadelphia Cos.

1800 U.S. Census of Pennsylvania - Beaver-Chester Cos.

1810 U.S. Census of Virginia (2 Rolls) - Accomack-Buckingham Cos. and Campbell-Greenville Cos.

35mm.

Drawer 9

N/A

1910-20 U.S. Census Records of Harrison County and its seven neighboring counties - Bourbon, Bracken, Grant, Nicholas, Pendleton, Robertson, and Scott.

35mm.

Drawer 10

N/A

Empty.

35mm.

Drawers 11 and 12

172-261

E.E. Barton of Northern Kentucky Families, Rolls 172-238 (Drawer 11) and Rolls 239-261 (Drawer 12).

Also, a roll of The Mobleys and Their Connections by William Woodward Dixon (Drawer 12).

(To learn more about the E.E. Barton collection read the discussion here).

35mm.

Cabinet 2

Drawer

ID Numbers

Contents and Descriptions

Film Type

Drawer 1

 1-29, 1-15

Smith-Rees Funeral Home Records, Rolls 1-29.

Whaley Funeral Home Records, Rolls 1-15.

(To learn more about these funeral record resources visit HarrisonCountyKy.US).

Selected Church and Cemetery Records (See list).

35mm.

Drawer 2

N/A

Empty.

35mm.

Drawer 3

N/A

Empty.

35mm.

Drawer 4

N/A

Microfilmed Probate, Mortgage, Tax, and Marriage Records (See list).

35mm.

Drawer 5

N/A

Microfilmed Deed Records (See list).

35mm.

Drawer 6

N/A

Microfilmed Deed Records (See list).

35mm.

Drawer 7

N/A

Microfilmed Court Order Books (See list).

35mm.

Drawer 8

N/A

Microfilmed Robertson County, Kentucky Court Records (See list).

35mm.

Drawer 9

N/A

Microfilmed Nicholas County, Kentucky Court Records (See list).

35mm.

Drawer 10

N/A

Microfilmed Bourbon County, Kentucky Court Records (See list).

35mm.

Drawer 11

N/A

Empty.

35mm.

Drawer 12

N/A

Empty.

35mm.

Other Microform Resources in the Kentucky Room

of the Cynthiana-Harrison County Public Library

Drawer

ID Number(s)

Description(s)

Film Type

Located in various positions in the Kentucky Room, which may change from time to time.

Vital records on microfiche

Death Certificate Index, 1911-1995

Marriage Index, Grooms, 1973-1995

Marriage Index, Brides, 1973-1995

Divorce Index, Grooms, 1973-1995

Divorce Index, Brides, 1973-1995

All located in an open flip file on top of the central bookshelf.

Birth Index by Name of Child, 1911-1995

Birth Index by Name of Mother, 1911-1995

All located in a small plastic file box on top of the genealogy file cabinets.

Vital records on book form

Death Certificate Index available up to 1969

Birth Certificate Indexes available up to 1959

Both located on the wall of bookshelves to the left in the Kentucky Room

Microfiche