According to the U.S. Federal census records, Alfred Burnett
was born in the state of Kentucky in the year 1812. Since the federal census is conducted every
10 years, the first census that was held after Alfred’s birth would have been in
1820.
We descendants of Alfred Burnett are strong DNA matches to descendants
of a John Burnett born in 1750. You can read more about that by clicking here. Looking
for clues in the 1820 census we find there were several children of John
Burnett residing in Grayson County, Kentucky in 1820. The children of John
Burnett who resided in Grayson County in 1820 are listed below.
Matthew Burnett
Thomas Burnett
Isaac Burnett
Absalom Burnett
John Jr. (likely resided in Grayson County, but not
enumerated)
Below is a 1820
county map of Kentucky.[1] The blue shaded area is Grayson County, KY. Oral family history tells Alfred was born
near Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. The red
oval is the outline of Mammoth Cave. As you can see, in 1820 Mammoth Cave was
located partly in Grayson County. Please note that the county boundaries have changed and today Mammoth Cave is mostly located in Edmonson County.
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| 1820 Kentucky County Map |
So, what does this tell us?
It confirms the Burnett families who match our DNA resided near
Mammoth Cave, Kentucky at the time of Alfred Burnett’s birth.
More research is needed in how these Grayson County Burnett families
are related to each other and what line of Burnett’s they are descendants of. Unfortunately the Grayson County courthouse
had a fire in 1896 which destroyed all records.
