Kentucky Colonel Commission

Kentucky Colonel, An Internationally Respected Title and Privileged Honorific Style

Since 1895 only a Kentucky Colonel (or someone close to the governor) could nominate another to be commissioned with the honorable title (that was the tradition until 2019), now since February of 2020 nearly anyone with an email, phone number, a street address, living anywhere that uses their real name can recommend that a person receive a Kentucky Colonel Commission. The applications are screened and commissions are issued, sometimes over 100 per day; likewise there are probably many that are also turned down. Only the most forthcoming, sincere and well-elaborated applications are screened.

The act, which is letters patent, bestows the honorable title holder a Kentucky Colonel Commission which is a civilian officership as a goodwill ambassador for the state. A Kentucky Colonel can use the title to start a business, an association, an organization, a company or a civilian militia; a colonial colonel could also designate who the justices of the peace, schoolmasters, sheriffs, coroners, doctors, firemen, merchants and lieutenants were in their colonies. The main duty of the colonel was to organize the colony by establishing a civil government honorably for his commissioner. Colonels also performed weddings and officiated civil order perhaps they still can? 

Slowly but surely the colonel replaced themselves with the governments they created; the US Military adopted the title as a rank in 1802, but for civilians the title remained as it was applied to the heads of land companies, large plantations, distilleries, and other companies before the corporation was created in the 1850s. By 1895, Colonel William O'Connell Bradley had recognized more than 100 of his closest friends and fellow attorneys as Colonel when he became governor, most of them had not fought in the Civil War. By the time Governor Bradley left office he had a personal staff of Kentucky colonels, a ceremonial honor guard, a mounted cavalry for parades, had many more friends who were colonels and started bestowing the title upon others as a civilian honor for great deeds that warrant the attention of his office.

Kentucky Colonelcy is the greatest, oldest and most widely recognized honorary American civil officer commission. To be recognized today as a Kentucky Colonel, a civilian is granted letters patent under "Kentucky Common Law and Customs", it is a legal status, a license to conduct oneself as a colonel and invitation to adopt the honorable title as a prefix to their name. It was recently discovered based on research in 2021 that "colonels" were the most important figures in the Commonwealth's founding history dating back to 1775, not the others that came with money from 1780 forward; but the origin of colonelcy in America dates back to 1651, the Colonial Act, the adoption of English Common Law in 1776 and the founding of the United States. Most of the US states were founded or settled by early civilian, company and militia colonels, many from Kentucky.

Before they were called Kentucky Colonels, they were Commonwealth and Kentucky County Colonels!

Few people know, but the Kentucky Colonel Commission (Kentucky Colonelcy) actually has its roots in the Commonwealth of Virginia, not in Kentucky. Gov. Patrick Henry Jr. commissioned the first "colonel" to Kentucky County on December 21, 1776. It can also be said that the "first" Kentucky colonels were the pioneer statesmen who wrote the Kentucke Magna Charta, which included Colonel Daniel Boone, Colonel Richard Henderson, Colonel James Harrod and ten or more other colonels on May 23, 1775 at the end of the Wilderness Road in Boonesborough. We have identified many sources for Kentucky colonels since these early dates, this site is about where we believe it all began leading up to today. Traditionally, Common Law colonelcy was granted from one colonel to the next to establish forts, towns and villages to form colonial governments.

Virginia stopped commissioning colonels honorarily in the 20th century, they still may serve on the governors actual staff. "In the Old Dominion statesmen should remember that Commonwealth Colonels are born, not made. " 1898

Our project here is dedicated to the historic origins of the "Kentucky Colonel" the first and original Kentucky pioneer and a great American cultural icon. Our website offers over 750 links to original references from American newspapers, literary works like encyclopedias, books, folklore, fiction and fact that illustrate the idea and how it became such a popular title. Kentucky colonels are responsible for most of the Commonwealth's firsts like thoroughbred horses 1775, whiskey in 1780, a university in 1780, 75 of its counties 1777-1851, first hemp crops in 1775-1784, horse racing in 1873, baseball in 1892 and a quartet in 1896. Ever since the book, A Kentucky Colonel by Opie Read in 1890, Kentucky colonels became popular across the United States. To truly understand how great Kentucky Colonelcy has become you must review our website.

How to be a Kentucky Colonel

All persons who wish to become a Kentucky colonel should read our website as if they are participating in a university level history/sociology course, treat our website like a Kentucky Colonel Course. Our upcoming book has all the resources you need to exemplify your honorary standing, start your own independent Kentucky colonels social group or an independent civil society organization in your own state or country. We also show colonels how to promote themselves better using their honorable title, while quaint, perhaps corny or even pomperous, is potentially impressive and serves well as an attention getter when it is used at the right moment. Read more in our Guide to Kentucky Colonelcy to make sure being a colonel is right for you. Also read what people are saying about the Kentucky Colonel Certificate at Indeed Certifications.