Ohio County Guardianships
Guardianship
proceedings occurred when minor children were orphaned or when the father or
"bread winner" died. The mother was allowed to retain guardianship
if officials considered
her circumstances sufficient to provide for the children. Another person
appointed as guardian may have been a relative, a friend of the family, or
one who could teach the minor(s) a trade. In some cases guardians or
administrators were appointed to handle the affairs of adults who
were deemed incompetent.
County officials (County
Court/County Judge) appointed guardians to provide minor children with
education or training, making it more likely that the minors would become
contributing members of the community rather than wards of the county or
state.
The
guardian must file periodic reports with the Court detailing all actions taken
by the Guardian, especially when the Guardian is handling money belonging to
the child or the incompetent adult (sometimes referred to as the Ward).
Guardianship
records usually give the name of the deceased parent(s) and the names
and ages of the minor children. The records have been kept by the clerks of either the
county courts or the circuit courts in Kentucky.
They are most often intermingled with probate or court records.
I
am unable to search the Ohio County courthouse records for guardianship data
but I have searched the online records for the Hartford Herald (1875-1926) and
the Hartford Republican (1891-1926) and found ninety-five mentions of
guardianships, which (I assume) would be substantially less than the actual
total. It would be a good project for
someone to search those records and write a book on this subject.
I
will post all ninety-five items that I found.
I will highlight the surname of the Ward to help you search. These are not in chronological order, but as
I found them when searching the online site for the newspapers. It will take several weeks to post all
ninety-five items.
Here’s what I found in the Hartford Herald:
1. Jan 9, 1889, pg 4, under
County Court Notes, Jan Term. BARNETT, HUFF, LACEY, DOUGLAS, and WRIGHT.
2. Mar 5, 1890, pg 3, under County Court
Notes. POOL, HAMILTON, HOLBROOK, WHITELY, AUSTIN.
3. May 25, 1921, pg 8. MADDOX, MILLER
4. May 11, 1921, pg 1. KERKOF, FAUGHT, SMITH
5. Sept 7, 1904, pg 3. WRIGHT, HODGES, RHOADS
