A few days since the County Clerk, in moving old books and papers in his office for the purpose of having some repairing done, brought from their long hiding place a bundle purporting to be the Commissioners' books for Boone County during the early part of its history. These books contain about two quires of heavy paper each, about the size of foolscap. The Binding and all the ruling in them was done by hand, in fact, they are purely homemade, and have somewhat an antediluvian look, having grown yellow with age. The oldest one we could find was for the year 1802. Upon examining this, we found that in those days the property was listed without the valuation being appended. Real estate was given in by classes, there being three classes, first, second and third, and a man living in Boone gave in all the land he owned in other counties, always giving the name of the county in which the land was located, and in whose name it was entered.
In 1802 there was 39,998 acres of land listed. Of this there were 516 acres first class, 17,551 acres second class, and 21,901 acres third class. All the first rate land listed this year was situated in Franklin and Fayette counties. John H. Craig owned 1,650 acres of second-rate land, being the largest amount listed by anyone at the time. James Marshall was the largest owner of third class land his list being 1,462 acres. This year there were 232 whites over twenty-one years of age, 137 blacks and 599 horses and mares. There was no agricultural list given. There was but one carriage in the county at the time, and this belonged to Jeremiah Kirtley.
During the next decade the first class land increased to 2,776 acres. All of this class except 33 acres was in Boone County. Of this amount Cave Johnson, Peter Gregory and William Willis each owned 600 acres; Jeremiah Kirtley, 153 acres; Thomas Noble, 150 acres; and Paddy Wallace, 120 acres. The remainder was owned in lots of 100 acres and less. In this year, 1812, there were 536 whites over the age of 21; 332 blacks over the age of 10, and the whole number of blacks in the county was 755. 1,962 made up the list of horses and mares. In 1802 there was no store in the county, but since that time Zerah Tousey had embarked in the mercantile business at what was then called Touseytown. This is the first store of which the records of our county give any account. Abner Gaines and Joseph Davis each were returned as tavern keepers. It seems that taste for pleasure was being cultivated and rapidly developed in these youthful days of county. The owners of pleasure carriages were becoming more numerous, and during the ten years from 1802 to 1812 the number of these conveyances was increased to three, Peter Gregory, Samuel Hedges and William Willis each owning one.
It was our purpose to enter into a more minute account of these early days, but when we commenced our investigation we found the records upon which we relied were not perfect, there being several links of the chain for a considerable period gone. The gleanings, which we present, are sufficient to give some idea of the wealth and population of our county at the early date. To look upon the wealth, improvement at the present date, and then compare it with the state of affairs those ancient records develop, we are compelled to rejoice that we enjoy the advantage of the improvements upon the foundation laid by the early settlers for our prosperity.
Boone County Recorder 30 Nov 1876
