The Kentucky area was surveyed in 1748. Kentucky was then under the jurisdiction of Augusta County, Virginia. Fincastle County, Virginia, was organized in 1772. It included all of present-day Kentucky with Harrodsburg designated the county seat. In 1774, Harrodsburg became the first permanent English settlement in Kentucky, founded by a group that arrived via the Ohio River.
The Transylvania Company purchased from the Native Americans all land lying between the Ohio, Kentucky, and Cumberland rivers in 1774. Daniel Boone blazed the trail from the Cumberland Gap (at the junction of present-day Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee) to the interior. This path between the Cumberland Gap and central Kentucky became known, through the Transylvania Company's publicity, as the Wilderness Road. In 1775 Boonesborough was established as the headquarters of the Transylvania Company.
During the Revolutionary War, the settlements in Kentucky were
largely ignored by the Virginia government. The Commonwealth of
Kentucky was admitted to the Union as the fifteenth state on 1 June
1792. Early settlers included Revolutionary War veterans
staking claim to bounty-land grants. They were joined by
Scots-Irish, German, and English individuals and families from
Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
The slave issue divided the people of Kentucky before and during the
Civil War. Kentucky was neutral during the Civil War until
September 1861 when it actively began support of the Union,
though the Confederate States continued to consider Kentucky as one
of their own.
Following the Civil War, tobacco and coal became leading commodities
in Kentucky's economy. Kentucky's bluegrass pastures have produced
an exceptional number of thoroughbred horses, leading to worldwide
recognition in horse racing. Fort Knox, originally Camp Knox, began
as a permanent military post and later became an official U.S. gold
depository. In the twentieth century it has been a major training
center for military recruits.
Kentucky is important as one of the first frontiers and as a gateway to the west. We believe the study of Barton families in Kentucky is important to understanding the migrations of Bartons throughout the nation. We invite all to identify their families in the censuses of Kentucky.