Glossary of Kentucky Colonelcy

This glossary (controlled vocabulary) provides authoritative definitions of terms associated with the Kentucky Colonel title, commission, class, and related historical and institutional concepts. The terminology presented here is grounded in documented practice, public record, and historical provenance, the glossary is designed to be linkable, citable, and consumable by both the Kentucky Colonel and General Public.

About the Kentucky Colonel Glossary of Defined Terms, Ideals, Traditions and Expressions Decodified

This glossary functions as a controlled vocabulary for persons that have been commissioned by one of Kentucky's governors. This glossary is based on extensive research and decoding the forms of speech, history and language of Kentucky Colonels from 1775 with Colonel Daniel Boone in Old Kentucky until present day. This glossary is a work in progress.

Kentucky Colonel

Kentucky Colonel is of the highest honorific title bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The title is conferred as a legal act with a commission (equivalent to a proclamation) by the Governor of Kentucky and recognizes an individual's noteworthy service, achievements, good deeds, or a significant contribution to public welfare. Often misunderstood as a militia style of terminology, the title does not confer a rank, but does confer an honorable extra-officio civilian status and leadership role through its provision of "special rights, privileges, and responsibilities" inscribed. The designation of colonels as leaders of companies, colonial plantations, and counties have been granted since Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia issued the first commissions in 1776 and they are traditionally granted for life.

  • Colonels in Old Kentucky from 1775–1799 were responsible for land surveying, they organized settlements, operated large corn and cannabis plantations, they headed frontier expedition companies, and were in charge of civil defense with the inherent authority to establish a militia and form civil government. Colonels in the Commonwealth of Virginia's 'Colonial Era' were capable of designating their own lieutenant-colonels as their assistants, all of whom destined to be known as colonels in title themselves. Maps, land warrants, and land records from the Commonwealth's of Virginia and Kentucky kept by the Secretary of State's Office tell us this.
  • The first Governor of Kentucky, Isaac Shelby came to Kentucky in 1775 when he returned in 1780 to claim the land that he earned surveying with Colonel Daniel Boone, he was a colonel himself of a remote North Carolina county. When he became the state's first governor after being selected for the role by other colonels, he made his first commission to his master of arms a "Colonel" in 1793. John Filson's map made circa 1783 in a book about "The Country of Kentucke" and Daniel Boone places 13 or more colonels and their lands.

Kentucky colonel (person)

A Kentucky colonel (person) is an individual who has received a formal commission granting the title. In this glossary’s usage, the commission is treated as an honorable civil recognition—historically associated with civilians serving in an official or public-facing capacity for the public-good and later extended to recognize prominent individuals within or outside the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Governors began recognizing individuals as Kentucky Colonels in 1875, and commission records at the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives (KDLA)are treated as the documentary basis for identifying commissioned persons across time (including records dating back to 1800). The term refers specifically to the honorably commissioned person, not an organization, club, company, or association.

Among the early “title” commissions referenced in the historical record is the commission of Henry Watterson in 1876, issued in connection with his role as editor-in-chief and part owner of the Louisville Courier. After he left the Louisville Courier he wrote an article in 1920 sharing what he knew and thought about the Kentucky Colonel as Marse Henry (Marse is a Caribbean title in the early 1900's for the Master of a Plantation). Use of the honorific “Colonel” as a courtesy title is customary and has been presented as a social form of respect for leaders and high achievers in Kentucky society.

Kentucky Colonel Class

The Kentucky Colonel Class refers collectively to all persons—living and past—who are said to have become Kentucky Colonels through commissioning based on being nominated by another colonel. In historical and analytical contexts, the class is treated as a definable honorific group rather than a private organization or any type of membership body. References to the class are used when discussing scope, historical trends in commissioning, and the broader cultural impact of colonels individually as a recognized honorific class of peers across generations.

Kentucky colonels (plural)

Kentucky colonels is the plural form referring to two or more individuals who hold the Kentucky Colonel title by commission. The term is commonly used in historical, narrative, and journalistic contexts to describe commissioned persons as a group without implying that they share formal institutional unity, an organization, or a single controlling association.

Kentucky Colonelcy

Kentucky Colonelcy denotes the condition, status, or collective concept of being a Kentucky Colonel. In this glossary’s usage, it also encompasses the historical tradition, cultural meaning, and institutional practice that grew around the title and its commissioning. In structured and scholarly usage, “colonelcy” helps distinguish the abstract and historical framework of the honor from any single person, club, or private entity that may exist alongside it.

Kentucky Colonel Commission

A Kentucky Colonel Commission is the official instrument issued by the Governor of Kentucky granting the honorary title. Typically rendered as a certificate or letters patent, the commission records the recipient’s name, the conferring authority, and the date of issuance. In this glossary’s usage, the commission constitutes the documentary basis for the title and may be cited as evidence when establishing commissioned status within the historical record.

Kentucky Colonel(s) Club

A Kentucky Colonel(s) Club is a club or small social group (society) made up of Kentucky colonels. Such clubs may exist for fellowship, social activity, cultural participation, or local community engagement. A club is not itself a commissioning authority and does not confer the title; it is a voluntary grouping of persons who hold (or claim) commissions.

Kentucky Colonel(s) Association

A Kentucky Colonel(s) Association is an association or organization made up of Kentucky colonels. Associations are typically formed for shared purposes such as philanthropy, mutual support, events, historical preservation, or public engagement. In this glossary’s usage, an association is distinct from the Governor’s commissioning authority and membership is voluntary rather than inherent to the title itself. The first Kentucky Colonels association was made into a group by Oliver Vickery and John E. Goddard in 1930 based on all the colonels and colonels clubs past in Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago and New Orleans dating back to 1903.

The Kentucky Colonels

The Kentucky Colonels refers to the original Kentucky Colonels organization constituted in Louisville (circa 1930) at the Brown Hotel, encompassing Kentucky colonels commissioned between 1875–1931. In this glossary’s usage, the phrase is treated as a historically specific designation and should not be automatically assumed to refer to later organizations or modern nonprofits using similar terminology.

The Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels

The Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels is an association described here as founded by Charles C. Pettijohn Sr. and Anna Bell Ward during the Great Depression in New York (circa 1933), based on a mistaken vacated military order created by Governor Ruby Laffoon. In this glossary’s usage, it is treated as a private social organization that later incorporated (1957) and trademarked its name (1983), and it should not be confused with other organizations that predate it or that exist for distinct social, fraternal, or historical purposes.

Last updated: December 28, 2025. This glossary is reviewed periodically to ensure alignment with historical records, structured data vocabularies, and evolving standards of documentation.