There have been a number of questions as to when Clay County became a county. The Kentucky Legislature created our county on December 2, 1806, but the effective date was April 1, 1807. It did not start doing business as a county until that date. Since this was the case, I feel 1807 should be used.
If you look at the plaque in front of the courthouse, it says the county was named in 1806 for Green Clay. It does not say it became a county in that year.
The first deed in book A is dated 07-13-1807, Thomas Calwell and George Walker purchased 44 acres in Jessamine County from James and Polly Todd.
The first marriage license issued was on 05-25-1807, to Drewey Thompson and Margaret Sweeten. For the curious, the second was issued on 05-27-1807 to Joseph Bowling and Nancy Bowling.
Someone tried to change this history by writing in one of their descendants as the first marriage in Clay County. I discovered that someone had written in James Wood marrying Martha J. Clark whose license was issued allegedly on 01-15-1807 and married on 01-15-1807. It said license was in file box 1. I checked, there is no record of this in the file box, which covers all the marriages for 1807.
The blue ink used in the entry to the index means it was a more recent addition. Therefore, someone tried to claim that they were married here before Clay County became a county. That person obviously was unaware of the effective date that Clay County became a county.
When Clay County was formed in 1807 it consisted of parts which would eventually become part of the following counties:
Harlan, Perry, Laurel, Breathitt, Letcher, Owsley, Jackson, Lee, Leslie and Knott.
1815 - part of Clay County was given to Estill County.
02-26-1821 - Perry County was formed from Clay, Knox, Rockcastle and Whitley counties.
02-13-1826 - Laurel County was formed from Clay, Knox, Rockcastle and Whitley counties.
04-01-1839 - Breathitt County was formed from Clay, Estill and Perry counties.
1843 - Part of Clay County was given to Perry County.
06-01-1843 - Owsley County was formed from Clay, Estill and Breathitt counties.
04-25-1858 - Jackson County was formed from Clay, Estill, Rockcastle, Laurel, Madison and Owsley counties.
04-01-1878 - Leslie County was formed from Clay, Perry and Harlan counties.
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