By Abigail Roberts
As one of Kentucky’s three original counties, Lincoln County has some of the oldest records in the state.
As part of an effort to preserve some of the state’s most important historical records, Lincoln County Clerk Nancy Jackson has signed an agreement with familysearch.org to digitize some of the county’s – and the state’s – oldest records.
Jackson updated the Lincoln County Fiscal Court on that effort Tues., Aug. 12 during a regular monthly meeting.
“I am going to apply for a grant this fall…we have several books that are in really bad shape. One of our books is a land book from 1779 to 1803 I think, it’s been kind of hidden because it’s in such bad shape. But it’s probably one of the oldest books in the state,” she said. “So we’re going to apply for this grant…and they are going to rebind that book in acid-free paper and preserve the actual pages.”
Jackson said she is confident they will receive the grant funding to preserve the aforementioned book as well as several others in the office.
“I’ve also signed an agreement with Family Search (familysearch.org)…they put all of the records online that are in the library on microfilms archived right now. So, they’re already public records available, but they will go in there and digitize those for us and they’ll be online for free for anybody to look at,” Jackson said. “So that’s just one other way we’ll have our records preserved.”
The Kentucky Genealogical Society praised Jackson for her effort in preserving Kentucky history.
“Because the courthouse has avoided the catastrophic record losses suffered in many counties, these documents remain intact—and now, thanks to this agreement, they will be preserved digitally and made accessible to researchers everywhere,” the group said on Facebook. “This is more than a local project. It’s about protecting a unique window into early Kentucky and American history, ensuring that future generations can trace the paths of Revolutionary War veterans, pioneer families, and everyday people who shaped the nation.”
