Processed by Beth Eifler; machine-readable finding aid created by Beth Eifler
Kentucky Union Land Company records
1791-1935, bulk 1880-1899
University of Kentucky Libraries, Special Collections
Organized into the following series: Correspondence (1811-1935, undated), Financial Papers (1864-1934, undated), Business and Legal Papers, Maps, Miscellaneous, and Oversize Materials.
Collection is open for research.
[Identification of item], Kentucky Union Land Company records, 1791-1935, bulk 1880-1899, 59M110, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington
circa 6 cubic feet (12 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
The Kentucky Union Land Company (KULC) was a subsidiary of the Kentucky Union Railway Company and was responsible primarily for conducting surveys, purchasing lands through which the railway would run, and securing the right of way for the railway. The Kentucky Union Railway line eventually crossed over 500,000 acres of valuable coal, iron, and timber lands, lying mostly in the eastern Kentucky counties of Breathitt, Perry, and Letcher. Two of the land company's agents were George W. Sewell, who was also a Kentucky legislator, and James McGuire of Irvine, Kentucky. Capt. J.M. Thomas and Mr. Benjamin Crawford were also responsible for purchasing a large body of lands for the KULC.
The Kentucky Union Railway Company was reorganized in 1894 as the Lexington and Eastern Railway Company and later purchased in 1909 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company.
These papers relate to the Kentucky Union Land Company, in particular its efforts to secure lands in eastern Kentucky for the Kentucky Union Railway Company. Materials consist of correspondence, financial papers, legal documents, and maps. The financial papers include bills, receipts, cancelled checks, expense reports, agreements, stock certificates, memorandum, and some correspondence. Legal documents include surveys and surveyors' reports, deeds and indentures, and court records dealing with land disputes. Most of the deeds, indentures, and surveys in the collection are copies made in the 1870s-1890s, but there are also a few original materials dating from 1791-1869. Some family histories may be traced through the deeds and other court documents, including that of Samuel C. Young, the McGuire Family, and Baronness Caroline Von Roques of France. There are also a few miscellaneous documents relating to businesses owned by the land company, including the Three Forks City Company, St. Helen's Land, Coal and Iron Company of Frankfort, and the Kentucky Industrial Consolidation Company of Clay City.
Letters mostly concern land purchases. Arranged chronologically by date.
Included are stock certificates, cancelled checks, bills, receipts, expense reports, agreements, memorandum, and some correspondence. Arranged chronologically by date.
Materials include agreements, judgments, rights of way, powers of attorney, deeds, surveys, and other legal papers. Papers relating to specific families and tracts of land have been kept together as much as possible.
These files were created by the Kentucky Union Land Company and pertain to cases regarding specific tracts of land. The files have been left in the order prescribed by a list provided for each file. These files are incomplete and researchers should be aware that other papers relating to these tracts of land may be found elsewhere within the collection.
Deeds concern lands in the following Kentucky counties: Owsley, Bourbon, Lincoln, Estill, Powell, Clay, Montgomery, Breathitt, Woodford, Clark, Madison, Morgan, Mason, and Lee; as well as the Virginia (now West Virginia) counties of Kenhawa (now Kanawha), Monroe, Harrison, and Fayette. There are also some indentures, powers of attorney, and surveys included with the deeds. Land records detail the names and relationships of sellers and purchasers, a description and location of the real estate and/or personal property in question, the selling price, and sale and filing dates. Often provided are the names and relationships of prior owners, ancestors, and neighbors. Arranged alphabetically by grantor's last name; chronologically by date thereunder.
Surveys are often accompanied by field notes and maps.
These files include copies of surveys of lands in Fayette and Madison counties made between 1783 and 1798.
These field notes mostly pertain to land owned by the St. Helen's Land, Coal, and Iron Company.
Arranged alphabetically by name of tract.
Included are stock certificates, options to buy land, proxy votes, powers of attorney, and agreements. Arranged chronologically by date.
Included are hand drawn maps and blueprints of maps. The maps are typically plats, showing property lines as well as the size of the land. In some cases, maps reveal the history of land ownership for that property. Organized alphabetically by family or plot name associated with the land portrayed on map. Additional maps may be found in the Oversize section.
For preservation purposes, these maps have been arranged according to size. Untitled maps have been identified using names of land owners and/or key locations depicted on the map. Dates have been noted when present, but most of the maps are undated.