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

Combs, George Robert

(born: Feb. 13, 1881  -  died: Mar. 1, 1923) In 1920, Republican George R. Combs was thought to be the first African American councilman in Nicholasville, KY when he was elected to represent the Herveytown Ward. However, Andrew McAfee had been elected a city councilman in 1898. Combs, a Kentucky native, managed a grocery store and was an undertaker in Nicholasville, according to his World War I draft registration card. 

Combs was the husband of Lula M. Combs (b. 1883 in KY); they and their child lived on Hervey Street. Herveytown was an African American community on the east side of Main Street in Nicholasville, named after James Hervey, a banker who had owned most of the land where the community was located.

George R. Combs died three years after becoming a councilman, March 1, 1923; he is buried in the Locust Grove Cemetery in Nicholasivlle [source: Find A Grave]. For more see Herv[e]ytown Ward under heading "Politics" in The Crisis, vol. 19, issue 3, January 1920, p. 149 [online at Google Books].

Kentucky County & Region

Read about Jessamine County, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Kentucky Place (Town or City)

Read about Nicholasville, Kentucky in Wikipedia.
Read about Hervytown, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

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NKAA Entry: McAfee, Andrew

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“Combs, George Robert,” Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, accessed March 29, 2024, https://ukscrc001.net/nkaa/items/show/2379.

Last modified: 2022-06-10 16:31:17