Resources and References

There are more than 373,000 print references online about the most Honorific US title and style still in use today. This page represents a small collection of some of the resources we found at the Library of Congress.

Resources Collection

The following resource page is a dedicated list of references that prove the existence and use of the term and title "Colonel" in "Colonial America" as an honorary appointment and prestigious title prior to its use as a title in the United States, notwithstanding the US Military. This work will show that most of the early settlements were founded and chartered by non-military colonels well into the middle of the 19th century.

It is the contention of our creative work that the title was adopted by the US Military in 1802 and was only used during the Revolutionary War to raise private non-state militias, then later in the War of 1812 and the Civil War by the states of the Union and the Confederacy. From 1802 forward Colonel became a military rank which was more relative to France, England, Spain and Germany using the rank in their hierarchies; the military rank does not have any bearing on the prenominal title or plantation owners, county officials, explorers, wagon-train pioneers and retired officers from the Revolutionary War or their use of it.

By 1931 when Governor Flem Sampson made 677 including a baby, Kentucky colonels became upset.

Historical Newspaper Articles about Colonels

There are more than 1,000 articles that can be viewed at the Library of Congress newspaper collection that directly reference "colonels" and the use of the honorary or civilian title. The Kentucky Colonelcy website has its own collection of articles; what is important about our collection is that most of these articles have nothing to do with the Kentucky type of colonel.