Family History Writing Challenge Day 12

A suggestion given to me by members of the Tri-State Genealogy Connection on Facebook when I asked for assistance regarding my Hightower broken branch was to go to the Campbell County Clerk’s Office in Alexandria, Kentucky. As the Campbell County Historical Society is also located in Alexandria, I decided to visit both places last July.

Campbell County Historical Society

It made sense to me to begin with the historical society as I felt like the volunteers there could give me guidance on what records and documents would be available to me at the clerk’s office. A wonderful woman assisted me at the society, which is housed at the beautiful old courthouse. As the building is no longer functioning in that capacity, it was nice to see that it still serves a useful purpose in the community.

Pouring through old books, family histories and documents I found no references to any Hightowers, or Hopper family members for that matter. I did photograph some information about early Baptist churches in the area in case that information would later be helpful.

Heading over to the Campbell County Clerk’s Office, I had a bit more success. While there was no one to give me any guidance in the facility, I had free reign of the old documents and books. As I mentioned in an earlier post, which can be found here, this office is where I was able to see the actual marriage bond between Thompson Hightower and his wife as opposed to a transcription of it. Seeing the actual document led me to the realization that Elizabeth Hopper’s father was in fact not deceased at the time of her marriage as I had assumed. That information will enable me to follow a different trail in researching him at some point.

George Hightower land purchase 1810

As property deeds are housed in this office - and indexed, thank goodness - I pulled and made copies of every deed that involved a Hightower or a Hopper. There were none for Thompson as he most likely would have been in Kenton County at the time he would have been of age to purchase land. However, there were quite a few transactions for George Hightower. If I can ever prove that he is my 4th great-grandfather, then I will spend some time deciphering where his land was located when he lived in Campbell County.

At the end of the day, though, there were no records that linked Thompson to George. Just as I thought I had begun to climb that brick wall, reality brought me crashing back to the ground with a resounding thud.