How many ky counties in 1792

Kentucky contains some counties that no longer exist because they were discontinued, renamed or merged with another county. These are important for genealogy research purposes. The below counties formerly within the area of the State of Kentucky no longer exist:.

It was dissolved on April 29, by the state Court of Appeals for not being formed in accordance with the state constitution. Only marriage and postal records remain. Originally named Josh Bell County at its formation, the name was changed to Bell County by the legislature on January 31, History and Facts of Kentucky Counties.

Table of Contents hide. Are you sure? Thus, Kentucky entered statehood on June 1, with nine counties. The new state needed a governor, and there was only one man for the job: Isaac Shelby. Originally from Virginia, Shelby had spent many years serving in various political offices. Kentuckians were soon dissatisfied with their constitution, and in they wrote a second one.

The new constitution delegated great power to counties, and they became the most significant agencies of government. As Historian Steven Channing says, "Kentuckians were capable of creating - and did create - new counties at the least provocation.

There's a much more practical reason the counties began to form. Tax collectors at one time would visit the landowners to collect the money. Once the population grew, this method was not practical so the citizens had to pay the taxes at the courthouse.

If you were in a large county living near the border, it may takes days to travel to and from the courthouse. Thus, the lawmakers decided each taxpayer had to live within a day's ride to the courthouse. Thus as the population continued to grow, so did the counties. The headlong rush continued to create new counties that could accommodate horse-and-buggy transportation, as well as local pride and individual ambitions. Within just a few years, six more counties had been carved out of those three.

Between and , people living in those counties held ten conventions on the question of statehood; on 18 December Virginia's General Assembly passed an act allowing Kentucky to apply for statehood and on 1 June , those nine counties became a state, with the full consent of Virginia.

The Library of Virginia has the following original records pertaining to counties that are now part of Kentucky.