Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Dycusburg Ferry: Some Notes

Fellow genealogist Brenda Joyce Jerome pointed out a few things regarding the ferry at Dycusburg. (Check out her site at http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com).

She explained that military land grants in this part of western Kentucky were reserved for soldiers and officers of the Virginia Continental Line.

"These military grants stopped before 1800 (I think it was 1798) and the lands were then thrown open for purchase by anyone who could meet the constantly changing requirements. Once a landgrant had passed from the hands of the original grantee or his assigns, itwas treated as any other piece of land--it could be conveyed and this conveyance was recorded in deeds in the county court house." The way to track a piece of land is start with the current owner and work backward, she noted. "Of course, the problem is that land was cut up into smaller and smaller pieces through the years. The way to track a ferry is to search the county court minutes as a ferry license was required. So, if you start with J.A. Graves in 1943 in deeds and county court minutes and work backward, you should find previous owners."

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