Contributed by D. Mitchell Jones, Liz Marcello and Ann Brown
JACOB RECEIVES LAND GRANT IN KENTUCKY!
The first official record that we have of our family in Kentucky is The Kentucky Land Grants, Volume 1, Part 1, Chapter IV - Grants South of Green River (1797-1866). In Book 14, on page 133,
- Jacob Atnipp, grantee, receives 200 acres on Buck Creek in Lincoln County.
--The land was surveyed on Dec. 2, 1798.
Joseph and Jacob, our Inabnit ancestors and sons of Hildebrand, are known to have moved to the Sinking Valley in Pulaski County, Kentucky by 1804-1805. Sinking Valley is located in the northeast part of Pulaski County near Stab, Kentucky, and north of Highway 80 and east of where the highway crosses Buck Creek. The valley is an area of rolling hills and an area where soil does not appear to be as fertile as that of the Holmes Creek area in DeKalb County, Tennessee. Sinking Valley is drained by Buck Creek that runs into the Cumberland River.
Sinking Valley was a magnet for several families that later were on Holmes Creek in DeKalb County, Tennessee. In 1799 Alexander McGinnis, Thomas Clark, William Dodson, Isaac Hays and Martin and John Trapp were living in the valley. Joseph Abnetin was there in 1805, and in 1806 he is listed on the tax lists as Joseph Atnip. In 1807 Joseph's brother, Jacob Atnip, appears on the tax lists for the first time. By 1808 the Trapps had moved from the area, and the Joseph Atnip, Hays, McGinnis' had left by 1810. The two most likely routes used to get to Tennessee at this time was to come down the Cumberland River to Caney Fork then up Caney Fork or the Old Kentucy Road which was the most logical way to get to White County.Jacob Atnip/Inabnit remained in Pulaski County where he appears as Jacob Inabnett on the 1810 census. Today, Jacob still has descendants using the surname spelling of Inabnit and Inabnit. Pulaski County is located in east south central Kentucky. It is bordered by Lincoln and Rockcastle Counties on north, Laurel County on east, McCreary and Wayne Counties on south, Russell County on southwest and Casey County, Kentucky on northeast. Somerset, Kentucky is the county seat of Pulaski County, and land for first courthouse was donated by William Dodson.
During the Civil War John E. Atnip, son of Benjamin Atnip and grandson of Joseph, was in Pulaski County in the Battle of Mill Springs where he was wounded. Did he know his father and grandfather had once lived in Pulaski County?
Joseph Inabnit (also spelled Inabnip) left a will in Pulaski Co., KY dated Oct. 3, 1818 in which he names 3 daughters and 2 sons. Of the two sons, only Joseph who married Sarah Stogsdill Oct 16, 1813 was to marry and have children. However, the Inabnit/Inabnitt surname would eventually become the predominant spelling in Pulaski Co. Of the three daughters, Susannah married Lindley Couch Oct 6, 1812 ; Rebekah married Isaac Sewell Feb. 26, 1820 and Sarah married Jesse Poynter/Pointer April 6, 1821. All of Jacob's children married in Pulaski Co., KY. By 1840, the Couch family would be in Missouri. By the late 1850's, the descendants of Rebecca (Inabnit) Sewell would be in Indiana and Iowa. Throughout the next few years, the descendants of Sarah (Inabnit) Pointer and Joseph Inabnit would intermarry many times over. Today, when you meet someone with the Inabnit, Pointer, Hawk, Price, Sears, Whitaker, Hargis, Randall (Randolph), Ping, Bradley, Hansford, or Raney surnames in Pulaski Co., KY, you are probably speaking to a double or triple cousin.
MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME - KY official state song (adpt in 1986)(words to song playing)Relax as you listen to the tune and imagine 'our' ancestors growing up in this beautiful state!
Books and References
Internet Sites and Newslists
- Arnow, Harriette Simpson, "Seedtime on the Cumberland", University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 1983.
- Arnow, Harriette Simpson, "Flowering of the Cumberland", University Press of Kentucky,Lexington, KY, 1984.
- Arnow, Harriette Simpson, "Old Burnside", University Press of Kentucky, Lexington,KY, 1977.
- Dick, Everett, "The Dixie Frontier", University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, 1993.
- Hogan, Roseann Reinemuth, "Kentucky Ancestry", Ancestry, Salt Lake City, UT, 1992.
- Rice, Otis, Otis K., "Frontier Kentucky", University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 1993
- Rouse, Jr., Parke, "The Great Wagon Road", The Dietz Press, Richmond, VA, 1992.
- Lincoln Co., KY GenWeb - created 1780 from Kentucky Co., VA. This original county was vast. It was later divided to form Boyle County in 1842, Casey County in 1806, Garrard County in 1796, Green County in 1792, Knox County in 1799, Logan County in 1792, Madison County in 1785, Mercer County in 1785, Pulaski County in 1798 and Rockcastle County in 1810. The county seat is Stanford. To subscribe to the Lincoln Co., KY Newslist, click here.
- Pulaski Co., VA GenWeb - organized 1798 from Green and Lincoln Co., KY. The county seat is Somerset. To subscribe to the Pulaski Co., KY Newslist, click here.
- Pulaski Co., Ky Vital Statistics - Here you will find actual births, deaths, marriages,divorces and Bible records that you can search online. This is a must site to visit for anyone researching any Pulaski Co., KY families.
- The Cumberland River Region (CRR) - This is the official website of the Cumberland River Region of Kentucky which covers the counties of McCreary, Knox, Wayne, Pulaski, and Whitley. Also researchers of Bell and Harlan counties are welcome. To subscribe to the CPR Newslist, click here. Also, don't forget to visit the Down Home Site Directory with webmaster and listowner, Margie Miles. This site is filled with valuable information to aid you in your rsearch.
- History, People, Places in South Central Kentucky - Links to selected articles in South Kentucky RECC Magazine including an excellent article on the Cumberland novelist, Harriette Simpson Arnow, Slavery in Pulaski Co., KY, making of molasses, Christmas traditions, etc. See how our ancesotrs actually lived their daily lives!
- KY GenWeb Project- Entry Page for ALL of KY counties! This is a MUST PAGE for anyone researching any KY county!
- KY Visitor Centre - GenConnect Boards -Click on County researching!