Offers a guide to census indexes, including federal, state, county, and town records, available in print and online; arranged by year, geographically, and by topic.

The story of the Ohio River and its settlements are an integral part of American history, particularly during the country's westward expansion. The vibrant African American communities along the Ohio's banks, however, have rarely been studied in depth. Blacks have lived in the Ohio River Valley since the late eighteenth century, and since the river divided the free labor North and the slave labor South, black communities faced unique challenges. In On Jordan's Banks, Darrel E. Bigham examines the lives of African Americans in the counties along the northern and southern banks of the Ohio River both before and in the years directly following the Civil War. Gleaning material from biographies and primary sources written as early as the 1860s, as well as public records, Bigham separates historical truth from the legends that grew up surrounding these communities. The Ohio River may have separated freedom and slavery, but it was not a barrier to the racial prejudice in the region. Bigham compares early black communities on the northern shore with their southern counterparts, noting that many similarities existed despite the fact that the Roebling Suspension Bridge, constructed in 1866 at Cincinnati, was the first bridge to join the shores. Free blacks in the lower Midwest had difficulty finding employment and adequate housing. Education for their children was severely restricted if not completely forbidden, and blacks could neither vote nor testify against whites in court. Indiana and Illinois passed laws to prevent black migrants from settling within their borders, and blacks already living in those states were pressured to leave. Despite these challenges, black river communities continued to thrive during slavery, after emancipation, and throughout the Jim Crow era. Families were established despite forced separations and the lack of legally recognized marriages. Blacks were subjected to intimidation and violence on both shores and were denied even the most basic state-supported services. As a result, communities were left to devise their own strategies for preventing homelessness, disease, and unemployment. Bigham chronicles the lives of blacks in small river towns and urban centers alike and shows how family, community, and education were central to their development as free citizens. These local histories and life stories are an important part of understanding the evolution of race relations in a critical American region. On Jordan's Banks documents the developing patterns of employment, housing, education, and religious and cultural life that would later shape African American communities during the Jim Crow era and well into the twentieth century.

The First Census of the United States (1790) comprised an enumeration of the inhabitants of the present states of Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. Unfortunately, during the War of 1812, when the British burned the Capitol at Washington, the returns for several states were destroyed, including those for Virginia, of which Kentucky was a part. In 1940, this "First Census" of Kentucky: 1790, was published, being developed from tax lists from the nine counties which comprised the entire State in 1790. Individuals are listed alphabetically, and following each name is the county of residence and the date of the return. The cumulative returns for Kentucky are included on page one. Also included at the end of the book are the "Land and Tax List of King George County [VA], 1782;" "Personal Tax List of Fayette County, 1788;" "Personal Tax List No. 2 of Fayette County, 1787;" "Land Tax List of Prince William County [VA], 1784;" and the "Land Tax List of Charles City County, 1787." More than 10,000 names listed in this work. Paperback, (1940), repr. 2000, 2012, Alphabetical, viii, 118 pp.

A genealogical work covering the origins of one Texas family; Clois Miles Rainwater and Nancy Jane McIlhaney. Includes genealogical research, historical photos, personal anecdotes, and register reports.

The history focuses primarily on the first five generations listed above. However, my research covers all the male descendants of Hiram Dempsey. Where possible, I have documented the husbands of the female descendants. All this research covers 596 descendants of Hiram Dempsey of Tennessee, their wives, and some of their children; however, it does not include all the children of each descendant.