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

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

Gallatin County, located in north-central Kentucky, was formed in 1798 from portions of Franklin and Shelby Counties. Surrounded by four Kentucky counties, the county's  northern border is the Ohio River.

The county was named for Albert Gallatin, , a U.S. Senator who born in Switzerland; he was also the longest serving Secretary of the Treasury and the founder of New York University. (There are other U.S. states with a county named Gallatin.) The county seat of Gallatin County, KY, is Warsaw, first known as Ohio River Landing and established in 1814. The name was changed to Fredericksburg and incorporated in 1831. There was already a Fredericksburg in Washington County, however, so the name was changed to Warsaw in honor of author Jane Porter's work of fiction, Thaddeus of Warsaw [full-text at Google Books and Project Gutenberg].

The Gallatin County, KY population in 1800 was 1,291, according to the Second Census of Kentucky; 960 whites, 329 enslaved, and two free coloreds. By 1860 the population had increased to 4,348, according to the U.S. Federal Census and excluding the enslaved. Below are the numbers for the slave owners, enslaved, free Blacks, and free Mulattoes for 1850-1870.

1850 Slave Schedule
  • 141 slave owners
  • 512 Black slaves
  • 75 Mulatto slaves
  • 33 free Blacks
  • 1 free Mulatto
1860 Slave Schedule
  • 170 slave owners
  • 539 Black slaves
  • 169 Mulatto slaves
  • 13 free Blacks
  • 1 free Mulatto
1870 U.S. Federal Census
  • 601 Blacks
  • 97 Mulatto
  • About five U.S. Colored Troops listed Gallatin County, KY as their birth location.
For more see the Gallatin County entry in The Kentucky Encyclopedia, edited by J. E. Kleber; History of Gallatin County, Kentucky, by G. M. Gray; and The Negro Population of Kentucky, by A. L. Coleman and D. I. Kim.

Kentucky County & Region

Read about Gallatin County, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Kentucky Place (Town or City)

Read about Ohio River Landing, Kentucky in Wikipedia.
Read about Fredericksburg, Kentucky in Wikipedia.
Read about Warsaw, 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 Gallatin County, Kentucky
NKAA Source: The Negro population of Kentucky : status and trends, 1970

Related Entries Citing this Entry

NKAA Entry: Records: Race=Negro

Cite This NKAA Entry:

“Gallatin County (KY) Enslaved, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870,” Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, accessed December 2, 2023, https://ukscrc001.net/nkaa/items/show/2347.

Last modified: 2023-09-01 16:31:00