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. It is surrounded by four Kentucky counties, with the Ohio River as the northern border.The county was named for Albert Gallatin, born in Switzerland, who was a U.S. Senator, 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, which was first known as Ohio River Landing, 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 slaves, and 2 free coloreds. By 1860 the population had increased to 4,348, according to the U.S. Federal Census, and excluding the slaves. Below are the numbers for the slave owners, slaves, 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
- 170 slave owners
- 539 Black slaves
- 169 Mulatto slaves
- 13 free Blacks
- 1 free Mulatto
- 601 Blacks
- 97 Mulatto
- About 5 U.S. Colored Troops listed Gallatin County, KY, as their birth location.