According to the first enumeration of residents in Fayette County taken in 1790, there were thirty-two free African-Americans. This small group of individuals had purchased their freedom and that of their family members. Some of them helped secure the freedom of other individuals, as well. Before 1861, the number of freed men and women had increased to nearly six hundred. These men and women bought and built homes, other real estate and paid taxes; the businesses they owned and managed provided service to the growing Lexington community. Their names appear in deeds as trustees of churches and educational institutions and in written histories and news articles concerning the upward movement of African-Americans in the decades after 1865.
The Site Map will link to the pages containing information about them.
