On December 21, 1820, the General Assembly passed "an act for the benefit of poor widows" to aid the "many poor widows in this state, with numerous helpless children, destitute of homes." The resources to do this existed since "there is vacant land new in this state, which might be of great utility to the poor and indigent." Any widow able to prove that she has "not in her own right estate to the value of one hundred dollars" shall be given a land warrant for one hundred acres of land which may be located "on any waste and unappropriated land in this state" except "west of the Tennessee River and south of Walker's line."
Survey map. Circuit Court Records, Greenup County, Kentucky. Survey maps showing women and children as landholders are relatively rare. However, this survey from Greenup County lists "Commissioners allotment to Lucy Johns & children 228 acres" and "to Mary Jane Johns & children 251 acres," which implies that these awards may well have fallen under the Act from 1820. Kentucky Historical Society Collections.
