Depositions From The Shelby County Land Records

These early Shelby County land records were prepared by Shelby County Historical Society members Neal Hammon and Charles Long, Editors, on January 20, 1998. As shown, the records of Shelby County, Kentucky contain a number of depositions by some of Kentucky’s first pioneers, mainly pertaining to land claims in this area. This publication is a transcript of these depositions, using appropriate records. The earliest depositions are found in Deed Book B, with a few more following in Deed Book C. Afterward, a separate book was provided for such records, labeled the Shelby County Complete Book. This volume included those depositions contained in the deed books.

In almost each and every case, depositions are preceded by the reason and authority for taking the deposition. Upon recording these depositions into the county books, a brief description, the authority and date is given, after which it is signed by the county clerk, who during the entire period happens to be James Craig.

In editing such old manuscripts, it was often difficult to read the script, punctuation was poor to non-existent, capitalization was questionable, and spelling and aberrations were archaic. The editors generally copied the text as it appeared to them. In the appendix the editors have attempted to include information about the land in question whenever such material is available. In all cases several index references have been consulted and quoted on the tracts of land mentioned.