Sheriffs of Bullitt County

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1. Wesley Phelps, sheriff during the Civil War period, is buried behind the Melton’s IGA store in the Settler’s Gap Cemetery.
2. William Wallace Swearingen, 1803-1869, is buried in the Shepherdsville Pioneer Graveyard.
3. Thomas J. Joyce, 1811-1879, is buried in the Shepherdsville Pioneer Graveyard.
4. Frank Monroe, before becoming sheriff twice, was also county jailer in 1918.
5. The first fiscal court meeting of Bullitt County was held February28, 1797 at the home of Benjamin Summers. The county of Bullitt had been authorized by the state on December 13, 1796.
6. J. W. Croan had been State Representative from Bullitt County in 1889-90.
7. Might be John Jacob Peacock, born 12/8/1765 in New Jersey; died 11/3/1845 in Bullitt County. He migrated to Bullitt in 1785. Buried in Hessey Cemetery in Mt. Washington, on the corner of Highway 44 and Branham Way. Peacock’s daughter, May, married her cousin (also named John Peacock, who is buried in the Peacock Cemetery on Watergate Drive).
8. Tom Hibbs was also jailer about 1943-1957. Shepherdsville Marshal 1962-1964. Died 1967.
9. Dawson that lived at Pitts Point, and was a private in Co. H 6th Ky. Inf. CSA during the Civil War? He was a member of the “Orphan Brigade”. When he became sheriff, several of his deputies had also been members of the Orphan Brigade.
10. David Greenwell resigned, effective 28 Feb 2017; Donnie Tinnell was appointed as interim sheriff to serve the remainder of the term.
11. William Simmons through William Wallace Swearingen are identified by the Month/Year they presented their commissions to the County Court and were officially accepted. Jesse Wilson was late getting his commission due to the refusal of James Alexander to accept one in 1822. Alexander was then selected sheriff in 1825, but died sometime prior to November 1825 when his deputy William Caldwell was commissioned to complete the two-year term. Then James Samuels died in 1847, and his deputy Henry C. Thomas completed his term.

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This list of Sheriffs of Bullitt County, Kentucky has been drawn from several sources researched by Betty Darnell, Charlie Long, David Strange, Bobby Darnell, and Brenda Rittman.

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