About Kentucky Colonelcy

Col. Daniel Boone entering Kentucky on the Wilderness Road
Painting depicting Col. Daniel Boone entering Kentucky at the Cumberland Gap in March of 1775 with the first residents of the Transylvania Colony. "Gateway to the West – Daniel Boone Leading the Settlers Through the Cumberland Gap, 1775" by David Wright is on public display at the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Visitor Center in Middlesboro, Kentucky.

About Kentucky Colonelcy

Kentucky Colonelcy is the Publisher and Organization behind Kentucky Colonel News, and it is also the name we use to describe the wider civic, historical, and cultural institution commonly associated with the Kentucky Colonel title. This About page explains who we are, how our websites relate to one another, how we define our terms using our Glossary of Defined Terms, and what standards we follow when publishing historical research, records, and news.

Kentucky Colonelcy is the Publisher, the Organization, and the About reference

In plain language

Kentucky Colonelcy is the publishing identity used to produce and maintain multiple web properties that document Kentucky Colonel history, civic context, and the public-facing record of the Kentucky Colonel tradition. The website you are reading now (Kentucky Colonel News) is the publication arm; the broader publisher identity and reference materials may also live on companion properties such as kycolonelcy.us.

Quick facts

Publisher
Kentucky Colonelcy
Publication WebSite
Kentucky Colonel News (news.kycolonelcy.us)
Primary publisher URL
https://www.kycolonelcy.us/
Core reference tool
Glossary of Defined Terms
Standards and policies hub
Publishing Principles, Policies and Standards

If you only remember one thing from this section: the WebSite publishes, the Publisher is responsible, and this About page is where we put the plain-English “who/what/why/how” of that relationship.

Mission and purpose

Kentucky Colonelcy exists to document, explain, and preserve the Kentucky Colonelcy as a subject of public interest: its history, its language, its institutions, and the real-world civic behavior of the people who bear the Kentucky Colonel title. We take the long view: a stable record that can be cited tomorrow, in ten years, and (when possible) in a century.

What we aim to do

  • Preserve the record: Collect and cite sources; publish durable references and timelines.
  • Define the language: Use a controlled vocabulary so key terms keep stable meanings.
  • Explain context: Put articles, documents, and claims into responsible historical framing.
  • Serve readers: Publish accessibly, correct promptly, and provide clear ways to contact us.

Kentucky Colonel history sits at the intersection of law, culture, civic life, and popular myth. When terms drift, arguments drift with them. We built this publishing system—site + glossary + citations—specifically to reduce that drift.

Kentucky Colonel News is the WebSite and the Publication

Kentucky Colonel News publishes historically-grounded reporting about Kentucky colonels (people), the Kentucky Colonel Class (the civic class), and the wider Kentucky Colonelcy tradition as it appears in public records, scholarship, and documented cultural history.

Core documentation gateway

We use “news” in a broad publishing sense: reporting, features, backgrounders, public-interest documentation, annotated archival material, and editorial explanations of how and why certain claims appear in the record.

Defined Terms and the Glossary connection

This publication uses a controlled vocabulary: a list of Defined Terms that have stable identifiers, stable definitions, and a consistent usage policy. That list lives at: Glossary of Defined Terms.

How to use our glossary while reading

  1. If a linked term seems important, open the definition and read it once.
  2. If a term seems used inconsistently, treat it as an error and tell us—corrections improve the system.
  3. If you cite our terminology, cite the glossary URL with its anchor so the meaning is unambiguous.

Publishing standards, policies, and sourcing

Kentucky Colonel News is a documentation-first publication. We work from sources: note the date, locate the original, preserve a link, quote accurately, and correct publicly when necessary.

Core policies

Our publishing guidelines reflect metadata and disclosure practices aligned with rNews and modern newsroom trust signals.

Historical foundations and the Kentucky Colonelcy (1775 onward)

The Kentucky Colonelcy is not merely a costume, a stereotype, or a marketing logo. At its most grounded level, it is a civic tradition tied to the concept of a commissioned honorific title and the public identity of the people who carry it.

Boone was commissioned by the Transylvania Company in March to build the Wild Road and clear the trees with a team of 33 axmen. —Durrett

In broader historical summaries, Daniel Boone is widely described as blazing a trail for the Transylvania Company in 1775 (often described as roughly 30–35 axmen), later known as the Wilderness Road.

We encourage readers to separate three things that are often blurred: (1) early frontier civil leadership structures, (2) later formal honorary commission practices, and (3) the cultural stereotype called “the Kentucky Colonel” in popular entertainment.

First true accounts of Kentucky Colonels (Transylvania)

Transylvania Convention and the Boonesborough Founding May 23, 1775
The Making of the Kentucky Magna Charta — May 23, 1775 at the Divine Elm which served as the capital and church for the new frontier government. Of the 17 delegates, 13 were colonels or soon would be. Some records describe about 100 people present, with later arrivals appearing in subsequent records.

Kentucky Colonel: a character that is larger-than-life

A cultural character, distinct from the commissioned title

The archetype of the original “Kentucky Colonel” as a nonmilitary civil colonelcy is developed in popular American writing through a larger-than-life fictional character often described as Colonel Nimrod Wildfire. This cultural archetype is not the same thing as the commissioned Kentucky Colonel title.

How we work: accuracy, citations, and updates

Our working loop

Define terms → gather sources → write plainly → cite clearly → correct quickly.

Contact and feedback

How to reach us

If you’re writing about a specific page, please include its URL and the date you accessed it.

Disclosures, disclaimers, and reader trust

Reader trust basics

Kentucky Colonelcy and Kentucky Colonel News publish historical and civic documentation and are not presented as a state agency. We do not claim to speak for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

If you have questions about our methods or you see something that needs improvement, contact us. The record is a shared asset—and we treat it that way.

Last updated: · URI: https://news.kycolonelcy.us/p/about.html