How do I find early Kentucky birth records?
I'm trying to establish a definitive birth year and birth location for Sarah Robins (FamilySearch ID: GC2Q-G68). Per the Tree, her parents are Vincent Robbins (G396-4DP) and Charity Ryker (LCMZ-RGT), but no posted documents support this. They married on 22 Dec 1787 in Jefferson County, Kentucky District, still part of VA (well supported). Per the 1850 and 1860 Census, Sarah was born between 1790-1792 in Kentucky.
Part of the problem is evolving location. KY became a state on 1 Jun 1792. If Sarah were born before that, she'd have been born in Jefferson County, Kentucky District, VA; if later, then in Jefferson County KY or Shelby County KY, which formed from Jefferson on 28 Jun 1792.
Per a KY Census substitute on Ancestry, Vincent was in Jefferson in 1789. (I checked the 1790, 1791, 1792, and 1793 Rolls for Jefferson, but Vincent didn't appear.) The next record I found for him was a 1795 Tax Roll from Shelby County. (I checked the 1792, 1794, 1796, 1797, and 1799 Rolls for Shelby, but Vincent didn't appear.) He may well have remained in the same place (though it's hard to understand how he avoided the tax man), but the borders changed around him.
As no municipality recorded births, I thought church records might help. Unfortunately, I'm unsure what churches existed. While I'm aware of the Bear Grass (Baptist) church, founded in 1784 in Jefferson County (six miles east of Louisville), I don't know the family's denomination or in which of these areas I should actually search. Perhaps they relied on a "circuit rider," a practice that continued until about 1830. That would make it even more difficult to substantiate.
Do you have any suggestions on how I should proceed? Thanks for any assistance that you can provide.
Answers
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Southern US states were late arrivals at the vital records party. If you are very lucky, you may find a baptismal record but not a birth record.
The FS Wiki is a great place to check for what records and what substitutes are available.
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