Cases Heard By the Kentucky Court of Appeals
1792 & Later

Abstracted by Bill Utterback

These are abstracts of appellate cases which were heard by the Kentucky Court of Appeals, which was created when Kentucky was granted statehood in in 1792. Appellate cases can often provide genealogical information, even if the only such information is the location of the parties involved and when they were there. Many of the cases in the early appeals time frame are associated with land disputes. Primarily, the issue involved warrants for surveys on land that was already claimed by preemption. The cases were brought to prevent another individual from settling on land through treasury or military warrants which had been settled earlier by what was commonly known as "squatting".

The abstracts present the essential information in these appellate cases, as found in the Opinion of the Kentucky Court of Appeals. The case files themselves, which would contain the actual depositions, petition and answer(s), and other materials are no longer extant for Kentucky appellate records until 1863, due to a fire. Copies of the full opinion (to be scanned and sent via e-mail attachment) in any case can be requested from me at billco@ARN.NET .

Users should be aware that given names are not always shown in the case opinions. In some cases, only the surnames are shown, especially for neighbors and others who may be corollary parties to the case. In addition, in the early Appellate Court decisions, the county in KY is not always given. In the "Other Names" field, be aware that these names, unless identified as a neighbor, witness, or other particular individual, may have no relationship to the plaintiff or defendant in the case, and that there is no other information in the opinion to identify these people more specifically. Plat maps of some of these land surveys are included in the opinions. These have been noted in the abstracts by: [plat map]. Additionally, it should be remember that these cases represent only those which were appealed - there were undoubtedly many dozens of others which were filed, and decided, at the lower court level, but which the losing party did not appeal.

This is a part of a continuing project by this contributor to abstract cases heard before the Kentucky Court of Appeals, which came into existence in 1792.

The information contained in these abstracts is public domain material. The format and arrangement is © 2006-2007.

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Abbreviations:

(W) = Witness
(N) = Neighbor
(TW) = Treasury Warrant
(MW) = Military Warrant
(PE) = Preemption Claim
NG = Not Given
OGI = Other Genealogical Information
HAL = Heir-at-Law

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COUNTY: Not shown
CASE: Parmenas Briscoe v. James Speed
DATE: October Term 1793
TYPE: Land
OTHER NAMES: Patrick Doran; Joseph Early, assignee of George Moss
OGI: None – 1400 acres in question
CITATION: 1 Hughes Rpts. 81

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COUNTY: Not shown
CASE: Peter Consilla v. Permenas Briscoe
Case Type: Land
DATE: October Term 1793
OTHER NAMES: N: Martin Stall(N); Silas Harlan(N); Patrick Doran(N); James Harrod(W); Mark Lee(later settled on land); Jacob Sodowski(W); Harman Consilla; Thomas Denton(W)
OGI: Harman Consilla came to KY with James Harrod in 1775. Enlisted under command of Col. George Rogers Clark and went to IL and was killed. Peter Consilla was his brother, and heir-at-law. Sodowski was with Consilla in Mercer Co. [Plat Map]
CITATION: 1 Hughes Rpts. 93

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County: Fayette
Case: Thomas Hinton, HAL of Joseph Hinton, deceased, by William Morrice[Morris], his next friend, v. The Heirs of William Stewart, deceased
Date: June Term 1787
Other Names: Cyrus McCracken
OGI: Preemption of Thomas Glenn, deceased, assigned by David Glenn, HAL to Thomas, to said William Stewart, because Thomas Hinton, HAL of Joseph Hinton, deceased, by William Morrice, his next friend, claims the same by an older improvement, for which the Commissioners for the District of KY granted a certificate to the said Joseph Hinton on 4 Feb 1780. 100 acres improved and marked in 1776. [plat map]
Citation: 1 Hughes Rpts. 2

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COUNTY: Not given
CASE: William Egan v. Samuel Hench, HAL of John Hench, decd., and John Jack, HAL of Samuel, decd.
DATE: October Term 1793
CASE TYPE: Land
OTHER NAMES: Joseph Conway(N); Isaac Greer(N)
OGI: Wm Eggan, 1000 acres PEW #937, 1782[?]; John Jack was “…of full age…” [Plat Map]
CITATION: 1 Hughes Rpts. 93

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COUNTY: Not given
CASE: Thomas Swearingen, HAL of Thomas Swearingen, decd. v. Parmenas Briscoe
DATE: October Term 1793
CASE TYPE: Land
OTHER NAMES: Harman Consilla; -----Irvin(N); -----Caldwell (N)
OGI: Thomas Swearingen, son of Thomas.
CITATION: 1 Hughes Rpts. 91

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COUNTY: Not given
CASE: Thomas Whitledge v. Thomas McClanahan
DATE: May Term 1794
CASE TYPE: Land
OTHER NAMES: Richard Henderson, agent for Thomas Whitledge, 1000 acres; John Townshend (name cut on tree on land)
Daniel Wilcoxson assignor to Thomas McClanahan; John Martin (W); Edward Bradley(W); Robert Whitledge(W); John Waller(W); Patrick Jordan(W) [Plat map]
OGI: None
CITATION: 1 Hughes Rpts. 95

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COUNTY: Not given
CASE: Hannah Miller & Mary Miller, infant co-heirs of Andrew Miller, decd. By Thomas Davis and Thomas Murray, their next friends v. The Heirs of Arthur Fox
DATE: October Term 1794
CASE TYPE: Land
OTHER NAMES: John Craig(N); Robert Johnston(N); Humphrey Marshall(N); Edward Holeman (N); John Briscoe(N); Cyrus McCracken(N);p Bartlett Searcy (N); John Craig, Jr(N); Richard Fox; Jesse Ellis
OGI: 1400 acres to A. Miller in 1780; A. Fox 1480 acres on TW 16651 – 1784 [Plat map}
CITATION: 1 Hughes Rpts. 100

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COUNTY: Not given
CASE: Benjamin Frye v. John Essry
DATE: May Term 1795
CASE TYPE: Land
OTHER NAMES: B.Frye, 1000 acres on TW; Jacob Myers on TW; Adam Shepard(grantee from Myers) [Plat map]
OGI: None
CITATION: 1 Hughes Rpts. 103

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COUNTY: Fayette/Mercer
CASE: George Bryan & William Smith v. John Bradford & Andrew Gatewood
DATE: May Term 1795
CASE TYPE: Land
OTHER NAMES: Wm. McDonald(grantee from Bryan); William Smith(grantee from McDonald); Dominic Flanagan; John Todd, Jr.(N); Simon Kenton(assignee of Flanagan) PEW 2420; G.Bryan 1780 PE, 1400 Acres; Francis Patterson(N); Nathaniel Evans (N); Christopher Greenup(N); Alexander McConnell; Samuel McDowell(N); Morgan Bryan(W); Samuel McMillian; Levi Todd {plat map]
OGI: None
CITATION: 1 Hughes Rpts. 108

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COUNTY: Not given
CASE: Brackett Owens & Joel Jackson v. Aquilla Whitaker & Daniel Sullivan
DATE: May Tern 1795
CASE TYPE: Land
OTHER NAMES: Johnathan Smith, 1780, 134 acres on MW; Margaret Pendergrass(N); ---- Holman(N); Nicholas Mereweather;---- Porter(N)
OGI: A. Whitaker, PE of 1000 acres; George Wilson intermarried with Margaret Pendergrass; Daniel Sullivan(deputy surveyor at time); Meret Price acted as witness; Whitaker left the district and returned in January 1784; Squire Boone, pilot for Sullivan; William McCoy, surety on bond. [Very long case]
CITATION: 1 Hughes Rpts. 123

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COUNTY: Shelby
CASE: Joel Jackson & Bracket Owens v. George Wilson & Margaret, His Wife, Late Margaret Pendergrass
DATE: May Term 1795
CASE TYPE: Land
OTHER NAMES: Nicholas Merewether; John Porter(W)[Margaret ’s agent]; ---- Holman(N); Daniel Sullivan(Deputy Surveyor); Aquilla Whitaker; Squire Boone(Surveyor & Witness); William Pope(W); Benjamin Pope(N)
OGI: Margaret Pendergrass: PE, 17 Nov 1779; Improvement made 1777; 1400 acres, total; Jonathan Smith, assignor to Brackett Owens & Joel Jackson; Richard Taylor & Robert Breckenridge(W’s); William Roberts(W); Silas Ashby(W); William Taylor(W); David Standeford(W); David Gwynn(W); Jonathan Boone(W)[Deputy Surveyor]; Garrett Pendergrass, husband of Margaret; Samuel Shannon(N); Henry Ditto(W); Robert Elliott(W) {Long case]
CITATION: 1 Hughes Rpts. 155

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COUNTY: Washington
CASE: John Smith v. Nathaniel Evans
DATE: August Term 1795
CASE TYPE: Land
OTHER NAMES: Reuben Gutherie 1779 assignee of Thomas Hartgrove; Village of Boonesboro nearby; 1400 acres; James Penny(N); James McCollough(W) hunted with Thomas Denton(W); James Penax(W); Patrick Doran(W); Charles Ewing(W); William Crow(W); William Fields, neighbor of Crow; James Little(W); Mark Hardin(W).
OGI: William White, HAL of Charles White, decd. Nathaniel Evans, assignee of William White. [Plat map]

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COUNTY: Lincoln
CASE: Alexander Sinclair v. Christopher Singleton
DATE: August Term 1795
CASE TYPE: Land
OTHER NAMES: John Reed(N); James Brown(N); Alexander St.Clair(N); George Givens(N); Patrick Stone(N)
OGI: Alexander Sinclair 1000 acres on TW, 1780; Owen Dever 1780 PE Improved 1776; Dennis Dever, HAL of Owen Dever [Plat map]
CITATION: 1 Hughes Rpts. 176-

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Cases heard by the Kentucky Court of Appeals (1792 & Later)

 
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Cases Heard by the Virginia Supreme Court for the District of Kentucky
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